Category: Sermon

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Ignited by a Passion for the Gospel: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-3

Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, reflects on his missionary trip to Thessalonica

Good morning, church! How are you all doing today?

What a privilege and an honour to preach the Word of God this morning and indeed I am so humbled to be filling the gap in the absence of our elders.

To begin, I wish to remind you of an incident in the Bible. Two people were on a journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus – walking frustrated and de-motivated after the crucifixion of Jesus. On the way, a stranger joined them and began to expound the Scriptures to them and their hearts burned within them.

He was none other than our Blessed Lord. As we dive into the passage for today morning, may the Lord open our hearts to see wonderful things from the Word and be ignited, encouraged, comforted, corrected and lifted up.

Let us turn to our text for this morning – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-3

For you yourselves know, brothers,[a] that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive

Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.

PRAYER …

On January 8, 1956, a 28-year old American missionary Jim Elliot was speared to death as a martyr on a sandbar called Palm beach in the Curaray river of Ecuador along with four missionary partners and friends.

They were trying to reach the Auca tribe for the first time in history with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Elisabeth Elliot – his wife – wrote down his story in her book – “Shadow of the Almighty”. This is where Jim Elliot was slain – in the shadow of the Almighty.

She had not forgotten the heartbreaking account of her husband’s death when she began writing 2 years later. When he was killed, they had been married for 3 years and had a 10-month old daughter.

The mission seemed to have ended even before it just began. Jim and his partners were preparing for this since months – trying to learn the language of the Aucas and circling their village with a plane and trying to make contact with them in some way or the other.

Finally, when the day came to meet them personally – due to a misunderstanding – the villagers speared them to death. Seemed like an open and shut case until Jim’s wife – Elisabeth, decided to go to the same tribe which murdered her husband – to give them the love of Christ. Seriously? The same uneducated, unloving murderers? They who had destroyed her family and home – left her alone with a 10-month old kid? Why did she do that? How could she do that?

In this passage, Paul seems to describe on her behalf and on the behalf of many who threw their lives for the sake of the Gospel. They were bitten by the Gospel virus – as Jeff described last week. They were ignited with a passion for the Gospel. No one infected by the Gospel virus could stay the same.

The man who penned down this passage – Paul – who was responsible for the killing of many of the followers of Jesus Christ – when the Lord encountered him on the road to Damascus – you remember what happened to him? “He who once persecuted the people of God was now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

The man who speared down Jim Elliot once bitten by the Gospel bug went to the US and preached the story of God’s love which came after him even though he tried to destroy it. Beloved, the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes us radical Christians – empowered by the Holy Spirit.

As I attempt to describe the passion that was ignited in Paul’s heart for the Gospel’s sake – in his message and his life – let us examine our own hearts – cause honestly, all of us – having been bitten by the Gospel bug years ago need a reminder again and again – week after week – daily – of what Jesus did for us in laying down His life for us and redeeming us and making us his own.

So, here in this passage – we see Paul – being ignited by a passion through and for the Gospel – how he ministered to the Thessalonians – through the message of the Gospel and through a life saturated by the Gospel. I would like to title my sermon – “Ignited by a passion for the Gospel” and drive home these following truths from the passage:

Passion for the Gospel is:

  1. Characterized by boldness in conflict and
  2. Enriched by the purity of the Gospel

Characterized by boldness in conflict and

A guy bitten by the Gospel bug is characterized by boldness in conflict as mentioned in verse 2 and I quote – “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

Paul had just come out of a great conflict – beaten at Phillipi, thrown into prison, wrongly charged, shamefully treated – for the Gospel’s sake. He could have packed his bags and gone off for a vacation or a recovery break. He had enough of reasons not to go on for his next challenge.

If it was me, I can imagine myself trying to find out which is the next flight home – I have a wife and a kid to take care of. But not so with Paul. Sufferings made him rely on God for more boldness to stand as a messenger of the Gospel.

Paul in himself was a weak man and when we think about any of the saints of old, let us not have a notion that they had a strength which was different from ours. Inspite of all his weaknesses, he says, “We had boldness in our God”.

Beloved, the Bible and our rich Christian heritage is filled with people who were weak, helpless, weary in themselves yet who were extremely bold in their God. Think about a Moses who killed a man and ran away from Egypt and was feeding his father-in-law Jethro’s sheep for 40 years.

When God asked him to go to Pharaoh, he had so many questions – “Who am I to go? I smell of sheep”, “What if they will not believe me or listen to me?”, “I cannot speak. I am a man of stammering lips” and finally – “Please send someone else”.

Don’t we resonate with the same objections and questions in our lives? What about Gideon – He was hiding in a winepress when the angel of the Lord said to him, “O mighty man of valor?” – “What? Who? Me?” Jeremiah said, “I am just a child”; Isaiah – “I am a man of unclean lips”. The apostles when they were beaten and were commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, they went back and prayed for what? – Boldness!

Dear brothers and sisters, do we find our passion for the Gospel running out due to fear and struggles and sufferings? I exhort you this morning to seek for boldness in our God inspite of conflicts, sufferings, struggles and weaknesses.

When Jim Elliot was killed, Elizabeth found boldness in her God to go out to her husband’s killers and preach the Love of God through the Gospel. Conflicts do not kill passion, rather they only serve to increase it even more. Conflicts do not end Gospel stories – they only begin another new chapter.

Beloved, the Gospel welcomes you this morning to find boldness in God to stand firm in the midst of much conflict and not be bogged down by sufferings and taunts from unbelieving family members and friends. Paul says – “We have a treasure in our earthen vessels.

We are hard-pressed on all sides, yet not crushed. Perplexed – yet not driven to despair.” He says elsewhere in Galatians 6:17 – “We carry in our bodies the brand marks of the Lord Jesus Christ”. Conflicts and sufferings are going to be an integral part and brand of a Christian’s life yet his boldness in his God will enable him to carry out great exploits.

But our boldness in God must stem from a deeper understanding of the Gospel which brings me to point 2.

Enriched by the purity of the Gospel

Let me read to you what Paul says from verse 3 – “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive”. Beloved, Paul has a Gospel message – free from impurity and error – which makes him appeal to the Gentiles in boldness.

He is so passionately caught up with the Gospel message that it burns like fire in his bones – He knows that the Gospel is the power of God to those who are being saved. He need not add or subtract to the Gospel that he received.

He warns as well in the epistle to the Galatians that ‘let anyone who preaches to you any other Gospel than that which you received from me – let him be accursed.’

He knows that the Gospel is sufficient to save – both himself and his hearers and so he preaches it. He knows that nothing else other than the Gospel can ever save and so he preaches it even more.

What is the Gospel? “I am a great sinner. Jesus Christ is a great Saviour”. The purity of the Gospel makes a man go passionately crazy such that they are termed as “fools for Christ’s sake”. Let me take an example here – Martin Luther – the leader of the reformation – when he was moved by the purity of the Gospel in the doctrine of justification – he turned the world upside down.

How else can you explain a person being willing to defy every authority structure of this world and to stand utterly alone as a young priest against all of the authorities of the church—against the pope, against church counsels, against the finest theologians in the land?

Martin Luther had a high and holy view of God. He trembled before a Holy God. He kept evaluating himself, not by comparing himself to other human beings, but by looking at the standard of the character of God—the righteousness of God.

As he saw himself so awful in comparison to the righteousness of God, after a while he began to hate any idea of the righteousness of God.

He had such a fear of the wrath of God that, early on in his ministry, somebody put this question to him: “Brother Martin, do you love God?” You know what he said? “Love God? You ask me if I love God? Sometimes I hate God. I see Christ as a consuming judge who is simply looking at me to evaluate me and to visit affliction upon me.”

Imagine a young man preparing for the ministry declaring that he goes through periods of hating God. Luther’s hatred was inseparably related to this paralyzing fear which he expressed that he had about God.

Then one night he was preparing his lectures as a doctor in theology to teach his students at the University of Wittenberg in the doctrines and teachings of the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans.

He then came to these words: “For the righteousness of God is revealed by faith, and the just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). And suddenly the concept burst upon his mind that this passage in Romans was not describing that righteousness of God by which God Himself is righteous, but the righteousness of God that He graciously and freely provides for you, me, and anyone who puts their trust in Christ.

Anyone who puts their trust in Christ receives the covering and the cloak of the righteousness of Christ.

Luther said: “It broke into my mind, and I realized for the first time that my justification, my station before God, is not established on the basis of my own naked righteousness, which will always fall short of the demands of God. Rather, it instead rests solely and completely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which I must hold on to by a trusting faith.

And when I understood that, for the first time in my life I understood the gospel. And I looked and beheld the doors of Paradise swung open, and I walked through.”

It’s like Luther said to the world, from that day forward, to popes and to counsels, and to kings: “The just shall live by faith; justification by faith alone. ‘God is holy and I am not’ is the article upon which the church stands or falls, and I negotiate it with no one because it is the gospel.” Is that crazy?

Brothers and sisters, if that’s crazy then I pray that God would send an army of insane people like that into this world so that the gospel may not be eclipsed.

So that we might understand that, in the presence of a holy God, we who are unjust may be justified by the fact that God in His holiness—without negotiating His holiness—has offered us the holiness of His Son as a covering for our sin. This is the Gospel for which Luther was ready to die!

Beloved, maybe there is someone here who has never experienced what this passion and craziness is all about. And it is our prayer that you would be ignited today with a fiery passion through and for the Gospel.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose” – Jim Elliot wrote this down in his diary.

Jim threw his life for the Gospel as he was ignited by a passion through the Gospel and Elisabeth continued the good work seeking boldness in an all-Sovereign God who entrusted them with the Gospel.

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

The Viral Gospel: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

Good morning Gathering

It’s such an honor to be with you this morning and it really is a gift to gather as God’s people in His presence like this.

We are continuing in a study that began last weekend of 1 Thessalonians. So, if you have a Bible with you, I’d invite you to turn there with me.

We’ll be looking specifically at 1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 this morning.

I think that all of us have a tendency to come into a church gathering and sort of go through the motions. To take this time for granted. I want to encourage you to recognize how sacred this time is for us this morning.

We get to approach The Word of God — which is God’s revelation to us about who He is & what He’s done & what that means for our lives.

We approach this living, active, breathing love letter from God. The thing that shapes us & molds us & corrects us & trains up. The thing that leads us into righteous.

We get to do that together as God’s people and see God move in our midst. As He changes us for His glory.

Brother & Sisters, this really is a sacred opportunity this morning

Let’s READ 1 THESSALONIANS 1:2-10

I want to spend some time this morning talking about THE VIRAL NATURE OF THE GOSPEL.

The concept of a virus that spreads rapidly should be one that we all understand pretty clearly right now given the dominant news around the world.

If you turn on any news outlet a lot of what you see is coverage of the Coronavirus.

The point for us is that the entire world is talking about this epidemic that could likely become a pandemic that’s spreading fear throughout the world. It’s almost like we’re conditioned toward fear whenever a new virus emerges.

As the virus spreads there’s fear, There’s uncertainty, There’s death. Well, this is how God designed the gospel to spread to the ends of the earth, But with a disease you have fear & death the gospel brings HOPE & LIFE.

The Apostle Paul gives us a picture of the viral nature of the gospel and how it spreads. He shows, how you and I are meant to be carriers of the gospel who infect people around us with our actions & with our words.

That’s what I want to look at today

I’d like you to hold onto this principle as we work our way through the text

Principle:  The gospel comes to us in power, it transforms us and then causes us to live radically transformed lives as it moves through us to people around us

In other words when the gospel invades the human heart, we’ll see is a movement of God upon us.

Which, He initiates with us, When that happens, it never leaves us alone it never leaves us the same. It radically transforms us at the core level of our nature and then radically transforms what comes out of our lives over time

To the point where it moves through us to infect & impact the people around us. That’s the principle that we talk about so often.

That’s what we’re talking about this morning and I want to flesh that out for you in 3 movements that we can observe in the text.

1) We have been chosen by God as objects of gospel renewal

Look again at verses 2-5… .“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”

Please understand what Paul is driving us toward here: 
We are objects of gospel renewal. God acted upon us, He initiated with us, This renewal wasn’t our idea, Our idea was rebellion going our way instead of God’s way.

This is a common theme that we see in all of Paul’s writing.

In Titus chapter 3 Paul explains what life outside of Christ looks like. It’s a life that’s defined by selfishness & self-gratification. It’s marked by malice & envy & relational conflict. And then he describes how all of that changes, when God moves upon us

He says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,”

Please don’t miss this,

You didn’t find God, He found you.
You didn’t choose God, He chose you.
You didn’t stumble upon the gospel, the gospel came to you IN POWER

You are an object of God’s love & mercy & grace. When He targets you, The gospel comes in Word & in Power, Meaning — it’s not just intellectual, it’s not just something that we hear & understand, It moves in our hearts in power to radically change us.

This is what Paul means when he says that it brings conviction. It awakens the heart to the truth of our sin & rebellion and convicts us while simultaneously allowing for repentance & faith.

This is what salvation looks like And that salvation belongs to God

It creates relational intimacy with each other — that’s marked by love. Paul says, “We’re thankful for you, we’re praying for you, we constantly remember you.” And — it’s all because of what God has done to radically transform them.

You can think about it like this, Reconciliation with God — is the only thing that allows for reconciliation with one another.

God moves on us as objects of renewal .That moves in us in power — as it changes us, Which shapes how we interact with other people.

And — that’s our 2nd point: 

2) We have been chosen by God as agents of gospel renewal

Look again at verses 5-7:  “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”

God’s work in us — isn’t really about us. It’s the way that He’s chosen to glorify His name in the world — THROUGH US.

Paul is reminding the Thessalonian believers that he, who was once far from God — lived out his gospel transformation among them. He was with them — and they were able to see the power of the gospel at work in Paul Which is what God used to bring the gospel to them — as Paul proclaimed the truth…

All of this means that we are called to IMITATE & MODEL.

 Remember the viral nature of the gospel?
God’s design is to work through the infectious nature of the gospel at work in us. We catch transformation from His work in others and we spread transformation as we model it for others.

And — let me point out 2 important things as it relates to this: 

This requires proximity. Notice the words “AMONG YOU”.

This only works if you’re in close proximity with people. The same way a virus will only spread if you’re with people.

The 2nd important thing to note here is that:  Imitating & Modeling happens best when we’re suffering for the gospel. You want to see what someone really believes — see what they do when they begin to face affliction.

** God glorifies Himself in a unique way through us — when He allows us the privilege of suffering for the gospel. This shouldn’t surprise us when we look at Jesus, The disciples, The early church, The historical church & the current persecuted church throughout the world.

** Peter — there Spirit rests upon you when you suffer.

So — get this We’re OBJECTS of gospel renewal as God moves in and changes us. That leads us to be AGENTS of renewal. Where God uses us to model the gospel to others.

3) We have been chosen by God as carriers of gospel proclamation to the whole world

Look again at verses 8-10:  “For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

The gospel will not let you sit still. It will necessarily propel you out into the world as an agent of renewal — a gospel proclaimer — wherever you go.

And — there’s nowhere you can’t go.

You and I — are carriers of the gospel — are charged with speaking the gospel into a culture that is riddled with IDOLATRY. I’m not just talking about outward — visible idolatry that we see so pervasively in India. I’m talking about the idolatry of the heart.

Idolatry is slavery. The gospel brings freedom!

Here’s the thing: The church becomes a viral movement — when you see the ruthless dethroning of idols in people’s lives. The gospel brings that freedom in our hearts and then we get the privilege of being able to speak that into the lives of other people

So, 

We have been chosen by God as objects of gospel renewal
We have been chosen by God as agents of gospel renewal &
We have been chosen by God as carriers of gospel proclamation to the whole world

This is the vision that we must have as the church if we’re going to be viral in how we live out the gospel.

Here’s the hard truth: 

The longer that someone is a Christian the greater the tendency to quarantine themselves to just hang out with other infected people.

We must push back against this,

++ Be reminded of the gospel at work in your life — God’s Sovereign rescue of you

++ Be reminded of your calling to live that out & proclaim it in the lives of people within the family of God

++ Be reminded of the calling on your life to take that gospel near & far

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Faith Unpacked: 1 Thessalonians 1:1

Good morning church! I’m humbled & it’s a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to preach the Word this morning. We just completed a topical series last week titled “The church”. And we get back to our book study as we begin 1 Thessalonians.

I think this is a continuation on the topic of “the church” because it talks about the “abiding” or the “continuing faith” of the church.  

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace. (v1)

“Christianity is at risk”! This was the title of a news report in a UK newspaper Daily Express in 2019. They saw a dramatic decline in the number of people that call themselves as Christians in Great Britain. From 66% in 1983 to 38% in 2019. And this is a similar declining trend that is seen all over Europe where thousands of churches have been closing due to lack of attendees (Wikipedia).

Even in a country like the US that has been the source of a lot of good resources and writings, they’ve seen 10-15% churches shut down. People are turning to atheism or modern spiritualism where they take what they like from each religion to create their own version of a religion that suits them. And in the face of these real facts, I’m sure the question that the church asks is: Is faith in Jesus temporary like a trend or can there be genuine, abiding faith? Will my faith last till the end? Not just me – but will the faith of my brothers and sisters in Christ abide and survive till the end?  The theme of the letter to the Thessalonians is like an answer given to us to help us navigate and find help to these critical questions.

3 points of observations:

1) Christian faith is validated by perseverance

When Paul starts out mentioning “the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” & as he continues throughout the letter – he actually remembers the context in which the church was formed.

In Acts 17, Paul arrives in the cosmopolitan, business capital city of Thessalonica (similar to a city like Mumbai). And he arrives to Thessalonica after being beaten & imprisoned in Philippi. One would think that Paul, Silas and Timothy would’ve been intimidated by that previous experience but they were instead fearless because they immediately go to a Jewish synagogue (sort of like a gospel community or a small group) over 3 Sabbath days & they have open discussions with the people gathered out there on what the Scriptures tell about the necessity for the Messiah to suffer & rise from the dead.

Paul tells them that Jesus whom He proclaims is the Christ! Some Jews believed, a lot of Greek worshippers believed & many prominent women also believed!

Isn’t this is awesome? To have new believers in this amazing, fast paced, influential city. They were at the tipping point of a vibrant church expansion movement. But unexpectedly even before Paul could make the most of this new discipling opportunity, some of the unbelieving Jews who were jealous got together some people who were experienced in stirring up riots and a crowd and started attacking the house of Jason (probably the church met at his house).

They couldn’t find Paul and his companions so they dragged Jason and some of the new believers in front of the city authorities & accused them of being international troublemakers & more severely saying there is another King called Jesus apart from Caesar!

The only way in which they released Jason and the others was with a money security – to guarantee that Paul wouldn’t cause any more disruptions by continuing to preach in that city. That same night Paul and his companions were sent away from the city. All of this all tells us that the Thessalonian church wasn’t born out of a marketing strategy or a pastor’s big vision. This church was born in the midst of humiliation, pain and suffering!

The fact that they were standing in the midst of severe suffering showed that their faith was genuine! I find that a stark contrast to how we evaluate the genuineness of our faith. We say our faith is genuine because we know all the worship songs at church, we are fairly regular at church, and also we have a good relationship with the pastor and other church members – so we assume that’s what certifies our faith.

Instead the bible tells us that “Count it all joy, my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness”. (James 1:1)

Losing our job, sudden loss of a family member or a loved one, a broken relationship, an unexpected illness, long wait on God to answer a prayer for a good thing like a spouse for marriage or a job, taunts and insults being hurled at you because you’ve chosen to follow Jesus – these are all very real and painful.

But at the same time suffering exposes our heart idols. Those idols of inconvenience, comfort, self-love, self-reliance, pride, anger, impatience suddenly come to the fore when we are met with unexpected suffering. And it’s not as though someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus will not undergo suffering. But here’s the difference – Genuine Christian faith will be displayed through repentance & faith in God.

Even though there might be seasons when believers doubt, are confused and might even look to sin for comfort but true believers will eventually come back to God in repentance and faith. Why? Because they can’t abandon the Lord who gave them a new heart to love Him. They can’t abandon the Lord who has placed His Spirit within them. They will indeed return back to him.

Maybe some of us have been frustrated or discouraged by the season of suffering that you’re going through. If you’re in that place today, could you ask God to reveal those areas in your heart that need repentance & faith in God? Could you ask God to use your current situation to display His mercy? Genuine Christian faith is validated by perseverance.

2) Christian faith is personal & yet inter-connected

Our Christian faith is personal in the sense where God has a unique and direct relationship with every person who believes in Jesus. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12)

But at the same time Christian discipleship happens in community – with other brothers and sisters. Throughout the whole letter it’s filled with language that mentions the presence & necessity for deep relationships within the church.

You became imitators of us and the Lord (1 Thes 1:6)

But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. (1 Thes 2:7-8)

I remember a time during my first-year in college when this truth hit home for me. Now I had been a believer for about 2 years or so but Christian life for me was just Sunday. I was the most spiritual and most committed on a Sunday but the rest of the week I lived a double life – isolated from the rest of the church & world and joyless.

I assumed that was what Christian life was for most people. About that time, I was introduced to a brother who came to India on a two-week trip during his college break to share the good news about Jesus. I accompanied him throughout those two weeks, watching his life closely, paying attention to his words and I was amazed to see the joy & purpose with which he lived his life.

In every conversation I saw him have, he would somehow bring every conversation back to Jesus because it looked like he truly loved Jesus. For him time with the Word wasn’t a duty or a Sunday activity, he enjoyed reading the Bible and telling people about what he learnt. Plus, I was amazed to see a young college student come to India on a trip to tell people about Jesus during his summer break when he could’ve spent it with his friends.

Just imagine what this did to a young believer like me. This brother didn’t sit down and preach “discipleship” to me – but I saw him live it out during those 2 weeks. God used that brother to rejuvenate my relationship with God.

And I really want to challenge you brothers and sisters today. Maybe just like my experience, you see yourself as a Sunday Christian and desire to change. Let me encourage you to find a brother or sister in the Lord whom you know is living for Jesus & just go and spend time with them.

Observe how they are loving Jesus and allow them to speak into the insecurities & fears & doubts of your heart. That is God’s design for us to experience full joy. Christian faith is personal & yet inter-connected.

3)  Christian faith is based on God’s faithfulness

As we are reading through chapter 4 & 5 in 1 Thessalonians, if we read it without any context, we might be mistaken to think that it is simply a bunch of rules: abstain from sexual immorality, help the weak, admonish the idle, pray without ceasing.

We may assume that Paul is telling us that “Jesus has done half the work of saving you, now it’s up to you to perform and make sure that Christ receives you as perfect in the end”. Although we may say that we theologically don’t agree with that but practically we might believe it’s true.

What I mean is this – there is a reason why we feel super happy and assured on days when we read our bibles early in the morning, are able to have a productive day at work, manage to minimize our sinful behaviors & even share the gospel with one person.

At the same time, we struggle with immense guilt and condemnation on days when we aren’t able to do any of the above. On those days we don’t “feel” like God’s child. We instead “feel” like we are orphans.

If we are absolutely honest, all of us will confess that even on our best days – even our best efforts aren’t good enough before a Holy and Perfect God. There’s nothing we can do to make ourselves a loved child or an accepted child of God. So then what does that mean? Can our faith survive with this kind of failed record?

1 Thessalonians is a reminder for our hearts that when we fail – and fail we will, God still remains faithful. Even when we feel like we’ve let go, God continues to hold on those whom He has chosen. Think about it – Paul and his companions thought they lost these new believers.

They were anxious and thought that these believers may have gone astray in the midst of severe suffering and persecution. Instead when Timothy meets them, he is overjoyed to find them loving Jesus no matter what it may cost them. How come? The Lord Jesus remains faithful. He doesn’t let go.

No one can snatch them out of my hand – says Jesus in John 10:28

At the end of the letter in chapter 5 – Paul says some remarkable things – read with me in v23, 24:  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. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Who sanctifies or makes us Holy? God does. Who will keep us – people who fail and sin blameless? He will. Because He who calls me is “FAITHFUL”. He will surely do it. Does this cause us to be lazy in our faith? No, in fact it makes us zealous to serve him because of His faithfulness.

For some of us who are feeling like they’re orphans this morning in spite of believing in Jesus, I believe we should be reminded that our faith, our identity, us being the child of God is not based on our performance.

It is based on God’s faithfulness – His faithful Son who lived a perfect life and died the death that we deserved so that through His resurrection our faith is firmly anchored in His faithfulness. For some others, it’s probably the first time where God has opened your eyes to His faithfulness.

Till now you’ve been living a life against God, apart from Him but today God’s moving your heart to trust Him. And God is true to His Word – if you believe in what Jesus has done for you, you will be saved. He will surely do it according to His promise.

Categories
Matthew Sermon The Church

Ministry of the Church : Matthew 28:18-20

We are on the last & final topic of the series called ‘The Church’.

The title of today’s sermon is ‘The Ministry of the Church’ and the passage we are looking at is Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus, after spending 33 years on earth as a human being, walking through this broken world with us, through all the vulnerabilities we humans go through so He can identify with our struggles, tempted in every possible way just as we are tempted but still lived a perfect and holy life pleasing to God the Father.

And after spending the last 3 years in ministry, preaching the Kingdom of God, making disciples out of uneducated, sinful men, teaching and enlightening them about the Kingdom of God, offering Himself to die on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sin and rebellion, he exchanged His righteousness with us & finally rose up from the dead and sealed this new covenant with us of restoring us back to Father. And now Jesus is at the end of His ministry and He is giving out his last commandment to his disciples.

These disciples after hearing these commands from Jesus, on His instruction they wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus waited when he started His ministry, and then scattered all around the world preaching the good news of the Gospel, making disciples and teaching them to obey.

Today we are the recipients of God grace because of these men who took Jesus’s command seriously against all the odds, challenges, threats, pain, suffering, even death and made Jesus and truth of the Gospel famous all around the world. A special thanks to Thomas who when led by the Holy Spirit travelled to our nation India in the year AD 52 and faithfully preached the Gospel, later was killed in AD 72 in Chennai for spreading the Gospel.

Brothers & sisters, we all are called & commanded to do the same. This is the ultimate purpose of our lives and the ultimate purpose of the Church as we saw a couple of Sundays back. It is to lift up Jesus to this dying world and communicate this message of hope.

And the funny thing is that this almighty, all-powerful God doesn’t need us to accomplish this task, he can do it on His own, but he invites us to have this amazing privilege to participate in His work as partners – For which He rewards us, on earth and in heaven.

Therefore, lets pay careful attention and understand this Great commission in depth and how it applies in our current context of life.

I want to share four things from this passage that are important for us to know and learn.

1. It’s a command and not an instruction, from the highest authority.

We all work in corporate companies, imagine the Founder & Managing Director of your company invites you to his cabin and personally assigns you a task to do and also promises to reward you for doing it. How would you respond?

Will you say ‘I’ll do it whenever I get free time?”, or “I’ll see whether I want to do it”.

No, we will never say that, instead we will be so excited that we will keep aside every other work to complete the task, in fact some of us will even work extra hours to get the job done, just to please your boss and get his compliments.

Brothers & sisters, the one who is speaking to us is Jesus, to whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given. If an assignment from an earthly boss can move us and shake us from our comfort zone. Consider, the one who is speaking to us is almighty God.

And when the most powerful person on heaven and earth speaks to us, it’s not just an instruction that we can chose whether we want to do it or not.

There is no other option then to take Him seriously and get on with the task.

2. Go & tell, not come and see

The instruction is quite clear. It is to ‘go & tell’ and not ‘come and see’. – “Go therefore …”

In the Old Testament, or in the old covenant the presence of God resided in the “Tabernacle of God”, in the temple, where people would come with their sacrifices to receive pardon from their sins. But if we study the structure and ordinances of the temple we will learn that they were mere symbols pointing us to Jesus and the ultimate display of His work on the cross.

Instead of we bringing the sacrifice for the atonement of our sins, he came and gave himself as a sacrifice once for all. The Bible tells us that now we are the temple where God resides.

Today the church is not a building or a structure, church is the people of God – temple of God where God resides (1 Cor 6:19).

When Jesus is asking us to ‘go therefore’, he is telling us to take His presence with us into this dying world. Which means, when we invite and have a coffee conversation with a friend or a college we are allowing them to have close proximity with the presence of God residing in us. When we are talking to them and expressing our hearts, inviting them into our lives we are expressing God’s heart to them and inviting them to God’s Kingdom.

Here’s some practical ways in which we invite them to give us a listening ear. Remember, these are only effective when we are thoroughly soaked in the Gospel and are experiencing the transforming work of Christ in us.

  • Through Our vocabulary – Speaking the Kingdom language:
    • When we speak Words of Hope that help people see life beyond their present pain and suffering
    • When we speak Words of Life that put King Jesus on the pedestal for others to see and admire
    • When we speak Words of acknowledgment & gratefulness to God for others to learn and follow.
  • Through Our responses – Our faithful responses to the brokeness of this world:
    • Our response when we go through financial crises in trusting His provision.
    • Our responses when we fall sick in relying on His Sovereignty.
    • Our response when we are tempted to sin in saying ‘No’ at all costs.
    • Our response when we see delay in Gods answering our prayers in knowing that He makes everything beautiful in His time.
    • Our response when our bosses sit on out head in trusting in the ultimate authority.

Our responses to such situations testify the fact that nothing in this world bothers us because we rest in Jesus and his finished work on the cross.

  • Through Our values – Walking the talk:
    • Doing the right thing at all times regardless of what the consequences are.
    • Walking according to principles and commandment prescribed in the scripture. – Not out of compulsion but with joy.
  • Through Our service – Having a Servantheart:
    • Going the extra mile to bring the hope of Christ to a person in need, physical or emotional.
    • Serving the poor, caring for the orphans, providing for the widows.
    • Sacrificing our time, energy and resources to comfort others in need.

Remember, these are means through which we can invite others to hear us out, but the ultimate goal is Gospel proclamation. Sharing the True Gospel in a clear, meaningful, & effective manner is most important, not the Gospel that promises health, wealth & prosperity but the Gospel that promises eternal life in heaven whether in riches or poverty; pain, suffering or good health, not a work-based Gospel that says to get this you have do this, but a Gospel of grace, that says its a free gift we receive without doing anything in return – All we do is believe in the Son of God & trust Him.

3. We are called to make disciples, not mere friends and colleagues

Don’t settle and be satisfied that you have made some unbelieving friends and that you hang out with them often. Our job is not complete unless we make a disciple out of them.

And it just doesn’t happen like that, there is an investment of time, money and resources we need to consider if we have to walk and disciple people. If time, money, comfort matters to us more than saving our loved ones from pain, sorrow & misery then we have to consider offering them as a sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom.

Jesus left His glory and came for us, sacrificing everything, the disciples of Jesus left the comfort of their homes and sacrificed their lives so that we could find hope.

What is it that the Holy Spirit asking us to do? Are we making disciples or just friends with whom we like to hangout and chill, mostly so that we can feel good and relieved from the daily stress.

We ought to be making disciples, not just hang out with them as friends.

4. Teach them to obey, not just attend church and sing Christian songs

Let us not be like those parents who are happy that their children go to church, by-heart bible verses and sing Christian songs. Unless we’ve understood and experienced Gospel transformation and are walking in obedience to God word, no Christian activity will save our lives.

We are not inviting our friends to do Christian activities with us but we are inviting them to walk in obedience and to fulfil the God given purposes in their lives.

It is not the good feeling of being part of a church, or a good feeling of being part of an exuberant worship that brings life transformation. What brings life transformation is the truth of God revealed in our heart that leads us to walking in total surrender to Him.

Therefore, we need to consistently and faithfully encourage one other to walk in obedience to God’s word. Jesus said “If you love me you will obey me”. There is no loving without obedience. If you come to me and say you love Jesus, I will only be able to validate your love for Jesus if I also see unconditional obedience. – That’s how even Jesus will measure our love when we meet Him.

Teach them to obey, not just attend church and sing Christian songs.

In all of this, brothers & sisters, be encouraged – Jesus is with us and walking alongside us. He promised never to leave, never to forsake, his hand of protection, his comfort, his strength, his wisdom, his power is always with us.

This is the ministry of the church, the ministry of every single person sitting in this room. I hope I’ve given you compelling reasons to find your joy in serving in the Kingdom of God and tools to start acting on it. I believe you will be like the faithful servants who used their talents for God’s glory and when you meet your saviour and master in heaven you will hear him say “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master”.

Let’s pray

Categories
Sermon The Church

People of Church: Devoted & Faithful

Introduction:

Good morning Church! I am delighted to stand before you to share the word of God, I am thankful to God and our two elders for giving me this opportunity to preach the word.

Let us pray before we enter to our sermon.

Purpose of this sermon:

  1. You will live a devoted life to Christ and serve the church.
  2. You will be faithful to God in every area of your life.
  3. You will know your role and responsibility in the Church.
  4. You will know your life priority and fully commit to that.

Let us come to the first point.

  1. Fully Devoted to the Lordship of Christ.

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2: 42.

Apostle teaching: Scripture

Illustration: Little plant in my window.

Important of Devoting our life to Scripture:

1.Psalm 1. fruitful life,

2. You will be successful and prosperous Joshua 1: 9.

3. Bulletproof to fight against sin.

Psalm 119: 11.Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

4. Your word is a Lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105.

5. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17. so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Devoted to Fellowship : Church Worship Service.

(koinonia) it means to be as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ.

Illustration: Why believers are always happy.

Benefit of Church family.

  1. We fellowship better together. (1 Cor 1:10)
  2. We grow better together. (Col. 3:16)
  3. We Serve better together. (Phil.2:2)
  4. We worship better together. (Matthew 18:20)
  5. We reach out better together. ( Phil 1:27)

Application: “Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrew 10:25.

Devoted to Breaking of Bread : Reminding ourselves of the Dead of Christ for our sins.

Reminding every week that we are forgiven and Redeem by the blood of the Lamb.

Devoted to Prayer : Living a prayerful life.

# Elijah was a person just like us, and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and rain never came to the land for three years and six months. James 5:17.

# So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. (Acts 12:5).

Amazing things happen Angel came and released Peter from the prison.

Application:

All of us have to live a prayerful life, the church need a devoted man and women who live a prayerful life, we should be a believers who live a prayerful life.

We need to pray more, the church need to pray more.

Prayer will help us to achieve the impossible things.

Prayer will lead us to victory,

Prayer will heal the broken family, broken relationship, broken world.

What we need most at this time is a man and women of prayer.

What we need most is a praying Church.

let this Gathering church be a praying Church.

We need a person like Elijah, you can be Elijah in this generation.

2. Be Faithful till the End.

Ephesian 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

1 Cor 4:2. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

Rev. 2:10. Be faithful until dead and i will give you the crown of life” (Smyrna Church)

In a body of Christ we have different roles to play, example like hand have different role, leg has different role, eye has different role, Nose has different role but all these role are for one purpose to  the head which is Christ Jesus. Remember all different roles are equally important in the Lord.

God want us to use the spiritual gift to glorify His name, to achieve His purpose in our life.

Spiritual gift text. Roman 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesian 4, 1 Peter 4, we see God gives spiritual gift to every believers.

Illustration (The parables of the talents) Matthew 25.14-30.

1. This parable teach us that God gave everyone a Talent or gift or skill to serve Him.

2. The parables remind us that this life is not at all about us but our life belong to our Creator.

2.The Parables teaches that we are not all created equal.

3.The Parables teaches that we work for the master, not our own self purpose.

4.The parables of talents shows that we will be held accountable of the talents He has given us.

Application:

1. Have you recognise what your talents is? Did you know your spiritual gifts or talents?

2. If yes are you serving God with the talents or Are you Building up your own empire?

3. If you haven’t find your talent we all can help you find your talents.

4. Remember God will ask you, What did you do with the talent (Life) I gave you?

(you are accountable of your life).

5. Are you giving your best service to God with your Talent or Are you Squandering your life.

6. Great lesson from Rich man life  Luke 15.

(Wasted his time, money, life, He regrets how he has lived)

1 Cor. 15: 58.

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.

Ephesian 5.

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

John 9:4. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

Conclusion:

Beloved I pray that we all as a church will fully surrendered our heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and be fully devoted to Him all the day of our life.

Let us be faithful and walk worthy with our calling, we know our life is short on this earth, let us not waste our time anymore, we have wasted enough time, let us awake and arise and give our best to our master Jesus, the night is coming where we cannot work.

This is the best time to serve our living God.

May God bless you and keep you and May His face shine on you and give you peace.

Amen.

Categories
Romans Sermon The Church

People of the Church : Romans 12

Allow me to start this morning by sharing with you the story of this young violinist from London.

He was a young musician who had a very tough life but caught a break and went on to become wealthy and successful. One day he realized that it was his time to give something back to society and decided to use his talents to do something charitable.

As he entertained this thought he chanced to see a newspaper report of a homeless man who died in the street. He followed the story and found out that the burial of this man was to be done in an unmarked grave outside the city.

This was his opportunity to do something good for someone less fortunate, so the young musician decided to give go to the funeral and honour the life of this homeless man by playing at his funeral for free.

So on the day of the funeral he left the city and drove towards the church by outskirts where the funeral was to take place but along the drive, he lost his way.

He drove around for several hours trying to locate this funeral site. He finally arrived an hour late and saw that funeral guys had evidently gone and the ambulance was nowhere in sight. There were only a few the diggers left and they were eating lunch.

He felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. He went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. He didn’t know what else to do, so he started to play.

As he played a few old beautiful Christian hymns the workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. He played out his heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. He played like he’s never played before for this poor deceased homeless man.

And as he played ‘Amazing Grace,’ it was so I powerful and moving that the workers began to weep. They wept, he wept, they all wept together. When he finished he packed up his violin and started for his car. 

As he opened the door to his car, he overheard one of the workers say, “Man 27 years I have been laying septic tanks outside of the city, not once did anyone play music for us like this before”

I understand from your leaders that a few weeks ago you guys started a sermon series on ‘The Church’ . The goal of this sermon series is for you as a community to better grasp the Biblical design of the church so that you may live meaningful lives as the church in the city of Mumbai. Today I want to pick it up where Jinson left and continue on this topic as we look at what it means to be the people of the Church.

This morning I started with the story of the violinist because when it comes to the topic of church many are like the diggers in the story who enjoyed this melodious music but was totally oblivious and confused as to what its purpose was. 

You see even in the christian community today there are those who regularly attend church and maybe even weekly groups but are still left confused and disillusioned on what it really means to be the people of the church.

Most people have some view of what the church is, based on either their experience or someone else’s experience of Church. 

1. Some view church as just a part of their family tradition: This view is popular particularly in professing Christian communities. It’s simply done as what has always been done without thinking or feeling very deeply about the church. 

–church becomes a place we go to or something we do on Sundays

2. Then there are those who look from the outside and view church as a gathering of good people

This view is popular especially if you did not grow up in a Christian home, somehow we have brought into the idea that church folks are people that are morally superior and follow strict rules and regulations to reach or be closer to God.

Well firstly, if you have been around church folks for more that 5 minutes you will soon get over this idea, you realize that they are also folks that need God’s grace just like you. Secondly the Bible is very clear that Christianity is not primarily about rule-following but being captured and changed by the love of Christ.

3. There are also those who have completely rejected the idea of church

This could be based on painful personal experience to them or to someone they know.

-at times simply not understanding that the communion of saints (church) is also a communion of sinners leads to unrealistic expectations and disappointments. Think of it, if there was a perfect church somewhere when you and I join it and bring our imperfections to it, it will stop being perfect right?

4. Finally, there are those that have taken on the individualism and consumerism in our culture and transported it directly into their expectations and understanding of church approaching it as consumers. Church to them is a supply of religious goods and service that they are to be consumed

-this often leads to treating the church like a buffet line, we like worship in this one place, the preaching in this other place and we love community in this other place that we keep hopping from one place to the next without being known deeply or rooted in one community.

To some degree every single one of us in this room including me have a mixed view of what it means to be the people of the church. 

The good news this morning is that Jesus has not left church to our imagination but has given us much clarity on what it means to be the people of His Church, a people rooted and grounded in Him. So if you have your Bibles would you turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 12 as we read it together.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

The book of Romans is an amazing book that the Apostle Paul writes to the growing Church in Rome. There are some beautiful gospel truth that Paul gives us through this book, From chapters 1-11 Paul covers a variety of deep truth ranging from the the judgement of God against sinners, the righteousness of God offered in Christ, to what it means to be justified by faith in Christ. Now, by the time we come to chapter 12.

He takes this deep and high theological realities and brings it to street level. In the chapter that we just read together Paul shows us how this truth informs the way we live our lives, how we see ourselves and each other as the people of the church. He shows us at least three things to consider this morning from this chapter.

We see that the people the church are

  1. A Worshipping People
  2. A Diverse yet United People
  3. An interdependent People

What do I mean by this? Let’s take our brief time together to unpack what this means.

1.A Worshipping People

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 

In the very start of this chapter Paul’s appeal to us is to remember that we are a people created to worship God. He does not call us to this by giving us a list of do’s and dont’s. He simply calls us to remember the mercies of God offered to us in Christ In fact this is what creates true worship in our hearts.

Now this kind of worship in response to the mercy of God is not limited to singing songs for twenty minutes on Sundays but includes everything in our lives, it affects the way we live our lives on Monday, the way we respond to the person who cuts you off in traffic, the way you react when your colleague or your boss treats you unfairly?

The way we respond to the brokenness and need of our city. This kind of worship informs the way we live out our singleness and extends to the way we treat our spouse or children or spend our finances.

Paul reminds us that at our core, we are people who have been changed by the mercies of God given to us in Christ. Growing in an awareness of this truth starts to transform us from the inside out! 

Now, although we all know this basic truth, here is a reality. There are a million things in our own hearts and in the broken world around us that is distracting us from walking in this truth daily. Let’s face it, you and I struggle to remember this truth daily. 

If you are honest and take an inventory of your week, most of our lives are lived in response to two competing voice in our head and hearts. When we are doing well, when we are hitting our goals. When our day is going well we hear the voice of pride telling us “ Look at you, you are killing it, ‘way to go’, you are doing better than your neighbor.

On days and moments that you are not doing so well we hear the voice of condemnation and shame reminding us how miserable we are, that everyone else is doing well and that our life is spiraling down. Now living our days reacting to these voices will not create joyful worship in our lives. 

As a worshipping people, Paul is calling the church to take the focus of off ourselves and our achievements and failures and look to Jesus, remembering his mercy and grace freely given to us. Friends on our best day and our worst days the best thing about us is that we are the recipients of God’s abundant mercy through Christ.

Now the way that we walk in this truth is by remembering this truth often and we help each other to walk this gospel truth out everyday. This is why we gather on Sunday’s and through the week to sing together of the mercies of God, this is why we sit under the preaching of god’s word that reminds us of the mercies of god. We remind our forgetful hearts about the mercies of God in Christ as we come to the Lord’s table on Sundays. 

The people of the church are a worshipping people called to grow in our experience of God’s mercies.

In addition to this Paul shows us in this chapter that the people of the church are also a diverse yet united people

2.A Diverse yet united People

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

In the next few verses Paul shows us that this worshipping community is also a diverse community. Paul reminds us that the church comprises of people from diverse backgrounds, with diverse stories and a diversity of gifting and talents brought together by Jesus. He uses the analogy of our body and just as the different members of our body has to come together and work together for the body to function in health. 

Now if we were honest about our lives today, the bent of most of our hearts would be to gravitate toward people who look like us and have a similar experience, people who enjoy and like the same things as us and who are maybe even gifted in the same way as we are.

 Paul here exhorts the church against this very bent of our heart. Paul reminds us that God’s grace given to us in Christ should make us people of sober judgement. Here is what I mean by that, an experience of God’s grace frees us from our sinful tendency to define ourselves by our gifting, our experiences, our families of origins or our talents and resources.

The gospel of Jesus gives you and I the primary identity of being sons and daughters to God, a people loved and received by the Father through the finished work of Jesus on the cross. This means frees us to learn, to appreciate and encourage others in the body of Christ that may have a different experience or background than us. This will help us to approach each other with sober mindedness 

Here is what this practically means, as the diverse people of God in the church between each one of us stands Jesus. We now get to relate to each other only through Christ, I get to relate to Saju and Jinson and others in this body through Jesus. I don’t get to go around Jesus, I don’t get to go over Jesus, or under Jesus.

This is not just when everything is going well, even when I feel offended or misunderstood, even when I feel insecure about someone else’s gifting. I don’t get to lash out in anger or be passive-aggressive or refuse to participate and engage.

The Holy Spirit is reminding us that as recipients of God’s grace we are called to see the same grace at work in our brother and sister, we learn to submit to each other, encourage each other and approach each other and work with each in this diverse body.

We are called to move towards each other and fight for unity even when offended or in disagreements. In fact, a gospel formed diversity is necessary for us to grow in a deeper experiential understanding of God’s grace as we learn to give grace and receive grace in community.

Not only is the church a worshipping and diverse yet united people. Paul also reminds us that we are called to live our lives as 

3.An interdependent People

Look at the second half of this chapter, Paul here lists out the things that make you and I a  counter cultural witness of Christ to a watching world.

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Friends, God’s church is a sign and symbol of the rule and reign of Christ. Here is what I mean by that, all through Scripture we see that God’s plan is to put himself to display through the counter-cultural life and witness of His people.

His mercy and care for the world is  to be reflected in the way that His people live here on this earth. Paul gives us a list of things that sets us apart from a Christ followers,| The interesting thing though is that this is not a list that is lived out in isolation. We need each other to live out this list.

Over 59 times the NT mentions the one another’s. Serve one another, love one another, pray for one another, outdo one another in showing honor. Friends, we need each other to live out this list that Paul mentions here. It points us to consider the kind of interdependence that Jesus is calling his church to. Plainly put, we need each other, we need each other way more than we realize, and God has designed it that way. 

As the years pass I realize more and more how dependent I am on God’s grace flowing through the community of His people to faithfully finish the race well. The church does not merely comprise of a few Lone Ranger super Christians. We are a grace formed community of imperfect people whose life together puts to display the patience and mercy of a perfect God. 

Living individualistic lives of isolation is not an option for God’s people.

You and I need an arsenal of varied stories of grace from each other’s lives. We need them to inspire and encourage us to keep running our own race with diligence. We need the encouraging presence and prayers of a brother or sister as we fight sin and face temptations.  We need each other!

Friends, there is going to be seasons in our lives when we find ourselves taking turns to lay on that bed of trials and suffering, simply because that’s what it means to live in a broken world. God has given us the gift of each other to fight for us and to carry us and take us to the presence of Jesus in those seasons. Do we really treasure this gift? We need each other!

There will be a day when God will make his dwelling among his people and we will be rescued from the very presence of sin but even as we wait for that day, Jesus calls us today to rehearse this future reality by living together as worshipping people, a diverse but united people with  interdependent lives that serves as a prophetic witness to a watching world of the coming Kingdom of Christ.

So this morning, as we bring this to a close, maybe you have been attending the gathering church for a while now and maybe you would even call this your home church but you have still not completely given yourself to this community. Maybe you have had reservations about the idea of fully committing to be known by others in this body.

What if the real you would be rejected by others? Is it wise to risk that kind of vulnerability in the church?  If that’s you I want to say Jesus loves you, He does not love the future better version of you but knows the worst moments of your lives and has set His love on you. He invites you to walk in the freedom of being loved by Him and to be known in the community of his people. 

If you are here this morning and you’d say that you’re not a Christian, In the preaching of this word God is actually moving towards you. For you I’d invite you to come to Jesus. The church did not die for you but Christ did. He saves and he’ll add you to this imperfect community of people fitted and held together by Him. 

Categories
1 Peter Sermon The Church

Leaders of the church – 1 Peter 5:1-3

Good morning church! Right now we are going through an exciting series titled “The Church”. A couple of weeks back we understood that the church isn’t a building or an event we go to but it is the redeemed children of God. Last week we learnt that the church has an amazing purpose – to glorify God by preaching the message of His grace! This week we’ll try to understand a little bit about the leaders / pastors / elders (NT uses these words interchangeably) that God has appointed to lead the church.

But before we get into the passage, I want to start by asking a few questions. In today’s day and age, is it relevant to have pastors in the church and our lives? If we have the Bible and the Holy Spirit in us to lead us, do we really need a pastor? Or is it like every team needs a captain & every organization a manager, is that why we require a pastor? Do we really need another person to tell us what we should or should not do?

Let’s look to the Bible to understand God’s purpose in appointing pastors.

1 Peter 5:1-5

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

3 observations on pastors from this passage:

1) Being a pastor is a role and not a title

shepherd the flock of God that is among you (v2)

The word pastor actually means “shepherd”. What if we called the pastors we knew as “Shepherd so and so” instead of pastor? Suddenly is sounds less prominent and sort of funny. It’s a role and not a title. For many of us – the word “shepherd” although we know the meaning but the visuals aren’t familiar because there aren’t too many shepherds around us. But in that time and culture in ancient Israel, they knew exactly what Peter meant when he said “shepherd”. They knew that the shepherd’s duty was to keep the flock intact, protect it from predators and help the sheep find pasture to graze on.

Feed the sheep – In John 21 is a fascinating passage where Jesus basically asks Peter thrice if he loves Him. Peter responds “Yes” three times and after every response Jesus tells Peter to feed His sheep. In a sense Jesus was trying to tell Peter that he was to show his love for Jesus by feeding the church. With what? The word of God. The primary responsibility of the pastor is to preach, teach & guide the church with the Word of God. It’s not to entertain or plan programs but to preach and teach the Word of God because it’s the Word that will cause the sheep to love, trust and follow Jesus.

Protect the sheep – In Paul’s last meeting with the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he tells to pay careful attention to the sheep of Christ because “fierce wolves” are going to come in to draw disciples after them. Who are these fierce wolves? False teachers & teachings that are going to creep into the church. And the pastor’s role is to protect the sheep from that. I think nowadays with the access that all of us have to the internet, it presents a different type of challenge because we can allow false teachings and teachers to influence us even without meeting them in person. I think one way we’ve tried to address that is by coming back to the gospel and reminding people of what’s true & beautiful & life-changing.

Care for the sheep

exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; (v2)

The pastor cares for the church by watching over them willingly and eagerly. And that’s a challenging question because it deals the attitude of our hearts. If we don’t see any fruit in ministry, will we still serve the church willingly and eagerly? If we don’t see greater commitment and passion for Jesus from the members of the church, will we still continue to serve them willingly? And if the members don’t end up doing what we tell them to do instantly, will we still continue to serve them eagerly? If we don’t ever get anything from the church monetarily, will we still serve them willingly? Genuine care is displayed by willingness and not mere activity.

Model for the sheep

but being examples to the flock. (v3)

Pastors also called to model what trust & obedience looks like for the church. Their lifestyle matters. That’s why in all the passages that talk about qualifications for being a pastor – it always combines character qualities with competency. It’s not good enough to know theology but you have to live it out. In my previous church experiences, I noticed that some churches would automatically consider a person to be a pastor if he graduated from seminary even without paying attention to his life. This can be damaging for the church because instead of bringing people closer to God, a pastor whose life isn’t monitored or tested might take people away from God.

How do we apply this? Sometimes we end up placing pastors on a pedestal creating a divide between God’s expectation of godliness from them vs what He expects from a church member. And although God will hold the pastor accountable to the way he shepherded the flock, God’s expectation of intimacy with Jesus, purity, faith & love from pastors isn’t any different from the way He looks at us. Some of you might be called to pastoral ministry but some others might not be called to serve in the same way but yet God’s desire to see you mature & grow closer to Jesus is exactly the same.

2)  God calls broken people to pastor His sheep

Imperfect people – broken leaders! What? That’s crazy. I presumed that pastors were the best in the lot and that’s why they are chosen to be leaders. Not true. Look at v2 & 3. Peter addressing fellow pastors tells them to not serve out of compulsion, not do it for shameful gain & also not dominate or control people! He’s presuming that the leaders are going to struggle with these areas and they need a powerful reminder of what they’ve been called to.

Soul shepherding Institute sometime back compiled a list of alarming statistics regarding pastors in the US (unfortunately I didn’t have any Indian stats)

  • 77% feel they do not have a good marriage
  • 41% display anger problems in marriage as reported by the spouse
  • 38% are divorced or divorcing
  • 50% admit to using pornography
  • 37% report inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church

These are such sad figures. I’m sharing this not to justify any of the sins. It’s absolutely wrong & abusive to the flock of God. I can’t imagine the pain & hurt it has caused to the church members & families of these pastors. My intention in sharing this is to indicate that pastors are broken people in need of redemption. How do we comprehend this reality? For the members, I think it’s to recognize that your pastor cannot be your redeemer. If you are looking at your pastor to give you ultimate hope, satisfaction and peace – you will be end up being terribly disappointed at some stage because that’s something he is not capable of offering you. He himself needs to be redeemed. For the pastors, I think it’s important to acknowledge that we cannot be our own redeemer. Since we are used to advising & counselling people, we sometimes forget how sinful we truly are…more than we can admit or even imagine about ourselves.

3) Pastors are under-shepherds of Christ

4 And when the chief Shepherd appears (v4)

It’s a very crucial truth to realize because then that means pastors are accountable to Jesus Christ & it also means that no church belongs to an earthly pastor. The church solely belongs to Jesus Christ and pastors are “under-shepherds”. And I think in this lies the secret to redeeming the brokenness in the pastor & the church – Run toward the Chief Shepherd. Listen to what Jesus says in John 10

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. (John 10:11-13)

Imagine the same picture of a shepherd in ancient Israel. Jesus says that someone who is hired and doesn’t care about the sheep will run away as soon as trouble arrives for the sheep. When the weighty penalty of sin & it’s deadly consequences fiercely approached us, Jesus Christ our Good shepherd who owns us stood in the way and laid down His life to protect us! That’s the love & commitment of our Chief Shepherd. He doesn’t abandon us. He doesn’t leave us. He fights for us & lays down His life for us!

When pastors rest in this amazing assurance & when they learn how to pastor by mirroring the love and commitment of the Chief Shepherd, it’ll invariably transform the lives of the people in the church as well. Success in ministry isn’t determined by the flock that gathers around a pastor, but success in ministry is determined by the flock that gathers around the Chief Shepherd.

Pray for your pastors – pray for their intimacy with Christ & that they continue growing in repentance. And also, trust their leadership – not only when it comes to administration or initiatives but also when biblically they are challenging or correcting you so that your love & faith increases. (v5)

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Categories
Ephesians Sermon The Church

Purpose of the Church – Ephesians 3:8-10

We are currently doing a series on the topic called ‘The Church’.

Last Sunday, we learnt ‘WHAT is church’.

We learnt that church is not a building or a structure but a family of people redeemed by the blood of Christ –  Joined together in Him, Citizens of a heavenly Kingdom and a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday our goal is to discover the WHY and the passage we will be looking at is Ephesians 3:8-10.

For a Christian it is important to know the WHY of the Church because it unlocks the WHY of our own personal lives. In a fast-paced, ambition-driven, need-based society we are often distracted and blinded from discovering the God given purposes of our lives. We often define the purpose of our lives based on our upbringing, cultural influences and selfish desires of our hearts.

I believe as we discover the WHY of the Church it will allow us to see how our own lives are woven in this beautiful relationship with God and with one another. We will learn that for a Christian, outside of this relationship, life doesn’t exist.

Instead of realising this truth on our death bed when everything we strive for in life seem to fade away, its better to realise it now so we can live a happy and satisfied life in God, also leaving back a legacy for our next generation to follow and aspire.

If you are someone who really desires this life then follow with me… in Ephesians 3:8-10 where Apostle Paul writes…

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

I’m going to focus on five ‘key-phrases’ from this passage and use them interchangeably to explain what it reveals about the Purpose of the church.

The five phrases are:

“The very least of us”

“Preach to the gentiles”

“Unsearchable riches of Christ”

“Mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things”

“Through the Church”

The first key phrase I want to begin with is ‘through the church’.

Brothers & sisters, since the time we fell into Sin and made a mess of our lives, God’s been doing such amazing things to restore us back to Him, through generations old and new. And in the new covenant of Christ the important thing we all need to learn is that everything God has done in history post Jesus, what God is doing in the present and what God is about to do in the future is through the church.

Not through any single man or even a party, standing isolated from the world, shouting and yelling at the top of their voice – whether political or religious. It’s only through the church – the redeemed people of God – including you and me sitting right now in this small little dance rehearsal hall.

And here’s what is He is doing?

His is revealing “His manifold wisdom” to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

The very forces that are against the coming Kingdom of God, making every effort to destroy precious lives through deception and manipulations, in the name of tradition, culture, political freedom, health, wealth and prosperity. Non of which is bad by itself, bad only when its used to distract us from the truth – the ‘manifold wisdom of God’

This manifold wisdom of God is the “mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things”

Let’s take a step back and consider who we are talking about here.

We are not talking about a new movement started by a political or a business leader who wants to change the world – and we chose whether we want to go with Him or not. We are talking about God who created all things for His pleasure and none of us have a choice not to follow Him. Our choice will determine whether we will live eternity in heaven or in hell.

The mystery that was hidden for ages is ‘Christ’. Colossians 1:27 “God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”

When God made this world, he made us in his image, he wanted us to walk humbly and obediently in his presence, honouring him, glorifying him, worshipping him – but instead we chose to disobey and rebel because of which we had to be thrown out of this beautiful relationship and also away from his joy-giving, peace-filled promises – promise of a good life which we were meant to live when he created us – to live in a peaceful world.

The mystery is that now through Christ’s life, death and resurrection, as we repent and believe in him, we can be restored back into that relationship, which also unlocking the ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’ in us – the privilege of been adopted in His family, to be co-heir with Christ in heaven. – bestowed with the power to do greater things than He who sent us, to be change makers, mountain movers, pace setters, leaders of this world.

He chooses “the very least of us” as Paul points out about his own election. Not the healthy, wealthy, prosperous and wise people of this world but the sick, the poor, the needy and foolish people like us – and then joining us together, calling us church and sending us out into the world …

To do what?

“To preach to the gentiles the good news of this mystery which is Christ”, the hope of glory to each and every person who believes in Him.

In all this God is seeking His glory and the purpose of the church is to Glorify Him as we preach the gospel and see hearts been transformed.

The purpose of the church is not just gathering people every Sunday morning, singing songs and having a great fellowship. The purpose of the church, of every individual sitting here is to take this good news that which we sing about and cherish every Sunday morning, go out into the world and preach it to the dying world – in our neighbourhood, in our workplace, in our society, in our city, in our nation and the ends of the world.

How?

Through our lifestyle, our attitude, our behaviour, our love for one another, our service – but most importantly through our WORDS.

The word ‘preach’ means public proclamation, advocating the truth of the Gospel in every way possible. A lot of people quote St Francis of Assisi who said “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words”… That’s not what the scripture tells us – It tells us to go out and preach it.

In the world where humans (the image bearers of the God) are fighting against war, global warming, corruption, injustice, slavery, rape, abuse of power, religious oppression, CAA & NRC on the basis of ethics, values & human rights. God wants his church, the redeemed people of God to rise up and become channels through which he revels his manifold wisdom, the mystery hidden in Christ, the hope for all the problems – through public proclamation.

This is the ultimate purpose of the Church. And this is the ultimate purpose of every believer.

Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness for the people to see and be saved. We, the church are called to lift up Son Jesus to this world and call them out to repent of their sins and put their faith in Him so that their souls may be saved and restored.

There is nothing to be ashamed of while preaching the Gospel because we are not selling an insurance policy, we are proclaiming the truth, the only truth that can save them. Ultimately, its their choice whether to take it or not.

And before I point finger at you and ask you whether you are doing so, I want to confess my own failure to do so, because of my fears and insecurities. I think I sometimes fool myself by thinking that I am preaching the Gospel every Sunday, to every like minded brother and sister who comes to me for counselling. But I believe there is a difference between preaching the Gospel in a safe environment like this and preaching to the gentiles as Paul writes where my life can be in danger, where I am susceptible to rejection, mockery, hatred etc.

Church, lets rise up – to our calling, to our purposes, to our destiny.

Jesus said “Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is mandate given to the church, to every person sitting in this room.

This doesn’t mean that we throw off our jobs, abandon our responsibilities. But it means to recognise the context in which God has placed us, whether at work, in family, in society. And as we are participating in our daily earthly chores and fulfilling our God given responsibilities we are aware that our primary goal is to Glorify God by lifting up the name of His son Jesus, by preaching the good news to the gentiles, making disciples and teaching them to obey God.

In concluding my talk, I want to pray and plead with God for my heart this morning, to make bold and courageous, to become intentional in sharing the Gospel to my lost friends, neighbors, colleagues, and if that is what you feel convicted of this morning, I want to you to join me in praying and pleading with God.

Categories
Ephesians Sermon The Church

The Church: Ephesians 2:19-22

Today we shall look study Ephesian 2:19-22,

I titled my sermon as ” The church”. Bible uses the word “Body” as a metaphor of church,

Each part of the body has a different role. Similarly, each one of us has different roles in the body of Christ.

If we don’t know our roles and if we don’t work together, we will face confusion in the body of Christ, so in order to know the purpose of the church these few weeks, we are taking up the doctrine of Church, so that we all will understand what church is, the purpose and role of the church, and build up strong, biblical and healthy church.

Background of Ephesian.

We know apostle Paul wrote this letter, This letter to the Ephesian was written in Rome and was the first of the prison letters, written in 60 AD.

The theme of this epistle is

 “The church, Christ Body.”

Ephesian focus on the Basic Doctrine of the Church. What it is and how believers function within it.

The first 3 chapters of Ephesian emphasize doctrine and the last 3 chapters emphasize behaviour.

Meaning of Church

The word Church (Ekklesia) comes from 2 Greek words, “Ek” which means ‘out’, “Kaleo” which means ‘to call’.

So Ekklesia(Church) means – called out ones.

Thus it means that the church is a group of people who are called out from the darkness of this world to marvellous light to be a special people to serve the living God.


Remember the church is not a building which we go to, or denominations or social activities you take up.

Text Ephesian 2:19-22.NASB.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,

20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy [b]temple in the Lord,

22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

In order to understand these passages we shall go back to the previous verses.

Chapters 2 talk about the condition of the church before they received Christ.

  1. You were dead in your trespasses and sin. (2:1)
  2. You used to live in the ways of the world. (2:2)
  3. Walk according to the desire of Satan. (2:2)
  4. Living in the lust of the flesh. (2:3)
  5. Children of wrath. (2:3)
  6. Separated from God.  (2:12)
  7. Living without hope and without God. (2:12)

But the great news is in Ephesian 2:4-5.

4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

 5 even when we were dead [f]in our transgressions, made us alive together [g]with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

He chose us before the foundation of the world.(1:4).

Redemption through His blood(1:7)

Forgave our sin according to the richest of His grace. (1:7)

He has adopted us (1:5).

Sealed us by the Holy Spirit. (1:13)

Brought peace in our life.  (2:14)

He reconciled us to the Father.(2:16)

And Paul continues in verse 19-22,

We shall see 5 points under these texts.

  1. The church is the citizens of God’s kingdom. (19a).

19. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [p]saints, and are of God’s household.

– Our permanent home is in heaven we are just passing this world. John 14:1-2 Jesus is preparing a place for us and He is coming back.

– We belong to God’s kingdom.

Illustration: Matthew 7:21-24.

Application: are you sure of your citizenship in heaven.

Let us examine ourself and confess our sins and surrender our life to Christ.

  1. The church is the family or household of God. (19b)

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [p]saints, and are of God’s household”

Not only citizenship but be we are now God’s beloved family.

Illustration: Prodigal son Luke 15.

Application: Are you in the Father house?

  1. The church is built in the foundation of Christ. 20.

20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.”

Illustration: Two builders, wise and foolish builder’s. Matthew 7:24-27.

Cf Psalm 127:1-2.

Application: Are you building up your life in Christ foundation?

  1. The church are joined together to grow in Christ. 21.

“21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,”

We need to work together, we need to come together as one body in this church and grow together in Him.

Illustration: A baby that never grow.

We believe we need spiritual food daily. Meditating on the word of God and praying.

Application : Are you growing daily in the Lord?

  1. The church is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. (22)

“In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

The day you received Christ, Holy Spirit dwell in you. How are you maintaining your heart?

Illustration: Corinthian church.

1Corinthian 6:19-20.

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.

Application: Are you bringing glory to God through your body?

God bless you.

Categories
Sermon

Vision 2020: Intimacy with Christ

Today is the first Sunday of the year, and I was meditating & praying, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to ponder upon God’s heart, vision, goals and dreams for our lives.

which is…

1. To grow in Intimacy with His son Jesus Christ &
2. To grow in the awareness of the indwelling life of his son Jesus in us

No matter how big our personal dreams are, no matter how strong our individual desires are.. if our dreams, desires and pursuits in life are not helping us to move towards God’s goal for our lives then life will be a total waste where are chasing after worthless things that will only bring grief and sorrow at the end.

It may give momentary satisfaction to us externally but it will never bring internal transformation.

Similarly, as a church we can have a large vision and aspirations. But if the plans and vision we have for the church does not move us in the direction of God’s goals for our lives, then we will end up making church an idol.

And therefore, my desire as I preach this morning is to encourage and help us cultivate intimacy with Jesus and to walk in the awareness of His indwelling life in us that enables us to live victorious lives.

How do we grow in intimacy with Christ?

Very often when a sermon like this is preached, our immediate response is that from tomorrow onwards I will pray more, read the bible more, worship more… and that will put things in order.

But what happens? How many in this room made a decision like that and has been followed it through for the last one year. I’ve tried that many times in my Christian journey and have failed at it again and again.

And even if we are successful in doing that regularly, down the line we loose the excitement and it becomes dry and lifeless, a routine, a joyless activity.

So, if its not about doing all these spiritual activities then you may ask what does it really mean to walk and grow in intimacy with Christ? 

For that I want you to read with me, Psalms 63:1-8 and read the heartbeat of a man who knew what it meant to have an intimate relationship with God.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

I’m not going to expound on this passage but what we understand about Intimacy in this heart touching Psalm that is that Intimacy means living a life of complete surrender to God.

Where we grow up realizing that there is nothing better than Jesus, where our soul thirsts for him, our flesh faints for him, where we see His steadfast love better than life, where our soul finds satisfaction in Him alone, where our mouth is constantly filled with His praises, where we think about Him upon our bed in the night, where we wake up in the morning with songs on our lips.

Let me give you a visual picture of what that means. Here’s our heart

Filled in are all the bubbles of various aspects of our lives; a bubble for marriage, a bubble for career, a bubble for relationships, a bubble for friends, etc .. and along with all the bubbles, is a bubble for Jesus. We call this compartmentalization.

When we lived in sin our hearts, our minds, our will, our emotions were subject to the devil, we were slaves to sin; sin ruled over us.

But the day God mercifully opened our blinded eyes and convicted us, He brought us to a realization that there is more to life than what it seems to be. He revealed to us the depravity of our heart, the emptiness of life, the sorrow of this broken world.

And we then learn that all this is happening because of our broken relationship with our creator God, our Father. And the only way we can get back into that relationship with God is to accept His provision which he offered to us by the life, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.

When we repent of our sins and put our faith in Jesus he becomes alive in our heart, and God accepts us back into his loving relationship – This we call Justification.

Once we are in this beautiful relationship, we are now called to grow and enjoy that relationship, which is what we mean by growing in intimacy with Christ – This we call as Sanctification.

And the process by which we grow in intimacy with Christ is by surrendering every aspect of our lives to him and to make Him the ultimate goal and the ultimate purpose of life.

Where Jesus is not just an isolated bubble in the corner of our heart, but he becomes the larger bubble within which all other bubble fit.

At the end of it all what God is accomplishing in our heart as we surrender our lives to him is to take complete reign.

As human beings, still living in our flesh we will always resist this path of giving full control to Jesus, because we are prone to sin and it gives us momentary pleasure. Therefore, we have to constantly remind ourselves that seeking momentary pleasures will always hinder us from living a full life in Christ.

Practically, it means to give up that which we think is important for me or bothering me into the hands of a loving Saviour one by one, who knows what’s best for our life. It includes our career, our relationship, our marriage, our studies, our ministry, our dreams, our business, our job etc.

For example, when we get up in the morning, do our daily devotions and as we are on our way to work we think of all the task on our desk, the meetings we have to attend, the boss we have to face and all of a sudden we become anxious, anxious about our future, anxious about our growth in the company, anxious about our career.

And if growing in intimacy with Jesus means surrendering all to him, then what we need to do is take a step back, find a quite place, it could be in the washroom, spell out your frustration to Jesus and ask him to take control, saying Jesus, I am not going to worry about my career because you are better, and you know what’s best for me, I will let you have your way in me.

Even if I don’t get a raise in my salary, even if I lose my job, even if things don’t seem to be going in the direction I wanted. I will trust in you, and I will continue to love you.

To come to a place where we are able to say like Paul in Philippians 3:8 “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”

And once we’ve don’t surrendering that area of our life, wait on the Holy Spirit to speak to our heart, give us direction to what we need to do, how we need to behave… and if its a big step he is asking you to take, ask him to confirm through other sources. Once confirmed, trust in Him and go for it.

The same could be applied to a relationship, a marriage situation, dealing with a new born baby, teaching our children at home etc.

But remember we don’t try to accomplish this with our efforts, because our efforts will turn out to be futile and will ultimately fail us.

And therefore what we need is to grow in the awareness of the indwelling life of Jesus in us.

Let me show you some scriptures that talk about our dependence on Jesus.

“But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.”—Romans 8:10

“Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.”—2 Corinthians 4:6-7

“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”—Galatians 2:20

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”—Colossians 1:27

Brothers & sisters, I hope you are able to see what I can see in these verses.

What I understand from these passages is that, for me to grow in intimacy with Christ where he takes center stage of my life, it doesn’t happen because of our efforts but because of Christ himself who is in me, the hope of Glory who is accomplishing for himself the task of drawing us closer to himself. See how much God loves us and wants us, the length and breath of his steadfast love.

Therefor, my responsibility then is only to surrender myself to his Lordship over my life.

Praying everyday, reading His Word daily is the outcome of a surrendered life. It is not the means to grow closer to God. We can ‘do’ all those things and yet fail to live in intimacy with Christ since Christ is is still another bubble in our hearts who gets attention in the mornings and on Sundays.

True intimacy is when He gets our attention 24 x 7, 7 days a week & 365 days of the year.

This is God’s desire for us, which He is accomplishing in our hearts as we give ourselves in total surrender to Him.