Tag: Hope

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1 John Sermon

Friendship with our Heavenly Father: 1 John 2:28-3:3

Good morning church! Hope everyone’s doing good this morning. Just wanted to welcome our friends who have joined us online via Zoom & Facebook Live & our friends who are at the church hall this morning. We pray that the service this morning encourages your heart to move toward God.

As a church we’ve been going through a series titled “Faith-filled Friendship” from the letters of 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. So far we’ve explored quite a bit on what does Friendship with God actually look like. This morning we find ourselves in 1 John 2:28-3:3 where we will try to unpack what does it mean for us to not only be friends with God but also relate with Him as our Father. Brother Saju covered a very similar topic a few weeks back so I’ll be building upon what brother Saju shared with us. Let’s look to God in prayer.

To start with I’ll piggyback on one of the themes that brother Saju asked us a few weeks back. When you and I think of God as Father, what are some thoughts that come to your mind? Do you think about God being distant and absent most of the time? Do you think God have an angry & condescending face toward you? Or do you see think about God as someone who spoils you? Many times these ideas about God come from our broken experiences with our own parents or in our own parenting.

And yet having a right perspective of God being our Father is so essential.

What if I told you that your response to temptations, fears, anxieties & pressures of life today are closely connected to what you think about God & what you think about yourself?

And I’m not referring to our Sunday declarations where we’ll sing that “God is our good Father & we are children of God”. I’m referring to our street level daily lives where we are either living as orphans or as children of God & that has a massive impact on our lives. Therefore, it’s not a small matter. We need to know what it means for us to be children of God. 3 main points from the passage:

1. We’ve been given a new NAME

By new NAME I’m not suggesting that we need to change our names, but rather to remind us that we’ve been given a new identity, a new position in the family of God. We are no longer orphans.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
– 1 John 3:1

3 things about our new Name:

  • Undeserved Name – “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God”

As believers one of the things that we need to frequently remember is that becoming a child of God is an undeserving gift – it’s not something we could have earned or achieved. It’s not due to our popularity or talent or family background or potential or good looks which made God adopt us. In fact, we have more reason as to why “we don’t qualify & are absolutely unfit to be His children”.  

Ephesians 2:1-3 plainly states: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Imagine going to the most dangerous jail cell in the world where it holds criminals who have committed the most heinous of crimes and then deciding to adopt them as your family members. Most people will say that is not a good idea & yet isn’t it amazing that God in His love chose to adopt those who were once “children of wrath”. It’s an absolutely undeserving gift.  

  • Costly Name –“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God”

I love the expression of great love being “given” to us so that we can become children of God. When these bible passages are talking about love, it’s not talking about worldly love which is self-centered; where we love someone because they love us back. Biblical love is sacrificial – it’s loving someone even when the other person is not in a position to love back – it’s unconditional. And this kind unconditional love gift came at the expense of Jesus’ own life.

For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

– John 3:16

Jesus was the only man who lived a perfect life in the sight of God and then He took the punishment was meant for the “children of wrath”. He bore our sin & shame and died in our place. Three days later he rose from the dead so that whoever turns away from their life of sin & trusts in Jesus and what He did for us, they will become children of God.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

– John 1:12

It’s a costly Name! The price penalty to buy this new Name came at the highest cost of Jesus’ blood.

  • Intimate Name – The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1b)

In this verse, John is telling us that the hostile, opposing response that an unbelieving world has toward God will now be directed toward us as His children.

Although this is a sad reality, but I also want to say that it tells us that our identity is so intimately tied to God’s identity in Christ, that the world responds to us in the same way as it does to the Father. In Acts 9, when Saul as an unbeliever was on an aggressive violent mission to drag Christian believers from Damascus and bring them back captive to Jerusalem, his life had a 180 degree turn when He encountered Jesus.

I find it so interesting that Jesus asks him “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Jesus didn’t say why are you persecuting the believers or why are you going after the church? No, it was a direct attack on Jesus himself & He needed to intervene. Isn’t it amazing that we as believers have the same privilege? Our name is intimately tied to God’s name.

When I was in college, I volunteered at the VISA Home for 3-4 months. Some of you know that VISA is an orphanage started by a believer called John Abraham (not the actor). During those months, I received insight into their ministry up and close.  

Once I remember, one of the kids received a note from the school. I glanced over and saw that it was addressed to the child and I was amazed that the surname of the child stated “John Abraham”. At that point I realized what a big deal that was. These were children whom he met at Railway Stations in Mumbai. When he met them, they didn’t have a home, they didn’t have a loving family, no safety, no food and no education. He brought them home & then adopted them as his own giving them his own name. Whatever the child did from that point on – good or bad, he was taking the responsibility on himself by becoming their father.

For me that was such a beautiful picture of the gospel right there. When we were lost as orphans with no spiritual protection, impoverished & dying, dirty in our spiritual mess, God reached out to us through Jesus Christ, picked us up and made us his children by giving us a NEW NAME. The day we put our faith in Jesus, he declared “You’re no longer an orphan; You’re mine”.

And one of the struggles that many of us go through in some form or the other is the craving for the approval & validation of others. It could be our parent’s approval, or it could be the approval of our spouse, it could be the approval of our boss or teachers, or the approval of our pastors, or it could be the approval of friends.

We know it’s a problem when our security and joy is dependent on the appreciation or criticism of others. And the gospel frees us by telling us that we’ve received a NEW NAME. 

The gospel gives us the security telling us that we are fully and completely accepted and approved in Jesus. The one whose opinion truly matters (God) has given His approval.

2. We’ve been given a new LIFESTYLE

29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. (1 John 2:29)

What John is telling us is that if we truly have become children of Holy God, then holiness would become part of our DNA. Why? Because God’s Spirit in us produces a heart that desires holy living.

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet 1:14-16)

And as I was reading through this and evaluated my heart, I realized that when I think about “holiness” or “set apart”, I can be selective about the areas of holiness in my life. But that’s not how God sees it. The passage from 1 Peter says “be holy in all your conduct”. Therefore, setting apart of our lives is all-encompassing.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1)

But does practicing righteousness and holiness mean sinless perfection? No, it means that if we are children of God, we can’t be okay if our relationship is not right with God.  Life is not okay for us if we are not experiencing joyful fellowship with the Father. Remaining in unconfessed sin isn’t a trivial thing for us that can be overlooked.

Just take a look at how the Psalmist describes his life when he was in sin:

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

    through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

    my strength was dried up[b] as by the heat of summer.

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,

    and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5)

It’s miserable to be in sin but the true believer longs to confess and be right with God. If the relationship with God is real and genuine, then someway or the other repentance will be sought because the relationship matters.

Let’s take a moment to pause for a minute – If you had to think through what are some places where you see selective holiness in your life right now? Or selective unholiness? What would true repentance look like for you?

3. We’ve been given a new HOPE

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

As children of God, we are in a WIP mode (Work In Progress) – the end goal is to become fully like Jesus. But let me clarify that being like Jesus does not mean being identical to Jesus. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man so we can never be Jesus identically. But being like Jesus means that when He returns our perfected humanity will match his.

Brothers and sisters, being made like Jesus is a wonderful thing – because that will fully be reversing the effects of the Fall. When Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, their physical and spiritual lives got corrupted with sin.

Aging bodies, sicknesses & diseases, physical death & spiritual brokenness are all the disastrous results of the Fall. But here’s the amazing thing – through Jesus all the broken effects of the Fall are being reversed. Which means that our perfected body which we will receive when Christ returns won’t age, won’t experience sickness, won’t experience death & decay and moreover will be fully cleansed from the presence of sin!

And that’s the hope for us brothers and sisters – maybe right now is a season when you’re experiencing the frailty and weakness of the physical body, you need to know that the finished product when Christ comes again will be totally free of that.

Maybe right now you’re in a season where you’re despondent over your patterns of sin, you need to know that the finished product when Christ comes again will be pure and perfect without an iota of sin. Without knowing and believing this truth, our lives will be hopeless and purposeless especially when we see the brokenness of our current lives.

This past week I heard a story of a woman went to the silversmith. Not sure if it’s a true story but I thought the illustration made a lot of sense. The silversmith held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘How do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy — when I see my image in it.’    

Similarly, God is so serious about His commitment in this relationship as a Father that He won’t stop until Jesus Christ is fully seen & made in us. He gives us a New Name, He gives us a Brand New Lifestyle and He gives us a New Hope.

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Psalms Sermon

Gospel Hope in the midst of despair: Psalms 42

Good morning brothers and sisters! I’m sure all of us have experienced a really emotionally difficult last week with the passing away of our brother. Even as we are grieving with Punit’s family and all of you, do pray that God would give us the grace to share His heart.

As elders as we were trying to figure what to share, we arrived on this topic of Hope. Every person on the face of this earth (believer OR unbeliever) is living by some kind of ultimate hope. Either it’s a hope for a better life in the future.

Either it’s a hope to be happily married to someone. Either it’s a hope to get a well paying, stable job.  Either it’s a hope to buy a nice home someday. Or it’s a hope to move to another foreign country and settle there. These hopes drive our lives.

These hopes control our goals and ambitions in life. And so as we were trying to answer this question – what drives us to a point of utter despair? The answer isn’t actually a lack of hope but the fact that we’ve been trusting in a false hope. This false hope promises alot, but it never really delivers. And that’s why we despair.

In the background of all that happened this week even as we are dealing with grief and many unanswered questions in our hearts, I want us to ask ourselves “What am I hoping on? What is driving all the decisions that I make in my life? What am I hoping for which will give me true happiness?”

Even as we are thinking through the question, the Bible actually offers a real lasting hope called “Gospel Hope”. Let’s try to understand that through the passage from Psalm 42.

1. Gospel hope helps us to acknowledge the brokenness in our lives

Many times we imagine people filled with hope as people who are always happy, calm and unmoved by the sin and suffering in their lives and around them. But that’s a false picture & I want to tells us that Gospel Hope actually is quite different from that – it acknowledges the brokenness and is not in denial of the brokenness. In this very Psalm we see different ways in which the Psalmist acknowledges his brokenness:

A) Acknowledging the distance with God

As a deer pants for flowing streams,

    so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

    for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God? (v1,2)

I think many times we interpret this passage as a call to be desperate in our relationship for God but also when I read the context I realized that his desperation was because the Israelites were exiled away from their land as a result of their idolatry and sin.

We know that in the OT – access to God and God’s presence among them was signified by the Jerusalem temple. And now when they are exiled and in a foreign land as captives, there is this dryness that the Psalmist is experiencing in his relationship with God and he longs to come back to God’s Temple to relate and worship God more deeply. 

Now this is pre-cross in the OT, but let’s recognize the principle that true Gospel hope frees us to be able to acknowledge the season of dryness and emptiness in our souls. We don’t have to be in a perfect-believers to be able to have Hope.

This past few months I’ve experienced dryness and emptiness multiple times in my relationship with God. But I usually play that down by telling myself – at least I’m reading my Bible, at least I’m ministrering to other believers in the church, at least I’m sharing this with other believers so I think that’s alright.

But I would often forget is that we can honestly pour out our own dryness of our souls before a God who hears & responds. In fact as we will see later on, this Gospel Hope is what restores and rejuvenates our dryness.

B) Acknowledging the distance with God’s people

4 These things I remember,

    as I pour out my soul:

how I would go with the throng

    and lead them in procession to the house of God

with glad shouts and songs of praise,

    a multitude keeping festival.

As the Psalmist is looking backwards, he remembers that time when he was one of the main worship leaders leading God’s people into the temple. And now as a result of being in exile and displaced from their land as a result of the people’s sin, he now longs for the faith community. Right now as a result of the pandemic, the fact is that we’ve been displaced from our normal pattern of meeting together and fellowshipping with each other. And yes, it’s quite possible that a result of this lockdown and the sin of our hearts that loves isolation, that we can experience a distance with God’s people. It’s important to acknowledge that but also let this psalm encourage us to pray and cry out with longing to God – asking God to once again open the doors and means for us to meet together, sing worship songs together, break bread together, cry with each other, hug each other, encourage each other & challenge each other in the Lord. And even right now if we are experiencing that distance, ask God to redeem that and create avenues to enjoy genuine fellowship in this season. I would say in our Gospel Community, we have actually seen more openness and vulnerability in these last 5 months than prior to that. God is able to redeem this season for you and me.

C) Acknowledge our pain & helplessness within

3 My tears have been my food

    day and night,

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,

    and why are you in turmoil within me?

7 Deep calls to deep

    at the roar of your waterfalls;

all your breakers and your waves

    have gone over me.

The Psalmist isn’t hiding his pain and helplessness. He’s not pretending to be alright when he’s not. He’s not in denial of the troubles that are overwhelming him.

How does that kind of transparency and vulnerability come about? And I think that’s possible when we realize that we are not self-sufficient, all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present. It happens when we realize that God is God and we are not. And I feel like that’s counter-cultural for many of us. We’ve grown up and been trained in a culture where expressing any kind of pain and helplessness is looked down upon. So we are tempted to live our Christian lives that way – we wear our best clothes on Sunday and put on our best smile on Sunday and we sugar coat the pain and helplessness that we experience through the week. And this prevents us from getting the help that we need from God and from each other. Gospel Hope tells us that God knows everything about us – He knows our sins & our weaknesses that we will playout through our entire lifetime & yet He sent His Son to come after us. We can be absolutely honest with God – something I feel in this season that God is pointing my heart towards.

4) Acknowledge Hostility from the outside

while they say to me all the day long,

    “Where is your God?” (v3b)

10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,

    my adversaries taunt me,

while they say to me all the day long,

    “Where is your God?”

It’s not always pain that we experience pain from within but sometimes it comes from the outside. Sometimes the taunts of the world (maybe it could be family members that are unbelievers, it could be colleagues at work or college, or it could be some hostile neighbours) which can hurt & affect us.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12) We see out here that is invariably going to happen to every true believer in Christ. But as we acknowledge our weakest moments before God, the Lord’s presence will be more intimately revealed to us.

In the book of Acts, it’s amazing to see the journey of Paul from being a murderer zealous for the Jewish traditions to now being a follower of Jesus zealous for God’s glory. After his conversion, we see him boldly proclaiming the gospel to big and small people alike.

It didn’t matter how many people or who all persecuted him, he continued to boldly preach the gospel. But I love the fact that Scripture also tells us of moments of vulnerability like in Acts 23. After spending time in a Jerusalem prison, facing multiple hearings and fierce accusations, at that low point of discouragement, there this amazing verse in v11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Right across Scripture – whenever God says “Take courage” – it’s a response of care and encouragement to His people who are discouraged. That should encourage us to not hide the pain of hostility and opposition to a Lord who stands near us and encourages us!

But not only does Gospel Hope help us acknowledge the brokenness in our lives but it also

2. Gospel Hope helps us express our doubts and despair

9 I say to God, my rock:

    “Why have you forgotten me?

Why do I go mourning

    because of the oppression of the enemy?”

Sometimes when we read the Psalms, it surprises us with the kind of candid, open questions of doubt and laments. “Why have you forgotten me? One might think that’s not the way we talk to God and yet this is part of Scripture.

I think the reason behind this lies in the phrase “I say to God, my rock”. Rock was a symbol of security and refuge. And I think the reason why the Psalmist feels open enough to express this is because of the security in the relationship with God.

There is so much of security in the relationship, that allows the Psalmist to express what he is thinking and feeling.

Now we know that not always do our thoughts and emotions accurately reflect and respond to the character of God. But I find it astounding that God would create a space for us to express that and reason with him.

God tells Isaiah in Isa 1:18 –“Come now, let us reason[c] together,

This is an amazing truth because God really delights in our relationship and wants to relate with us as personal beings. We are not just robots following orders but we are created for a deep, intimate relationship.  There’s security in our relationship with God to express what is in our heart and mind. The end goal in our relationship is not for us keeping ranting to God, but grow in intimacy.

And that’s why we meditate on Scripture daily & walk with God, because He will use all that to shape our hearts to be able to pray more in line to His heart and character.

Because of the great security that we share with Christ- “no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28), there can be greater room for honesty in our relationship with God.

We don’t have to go through a filter process to figure which question, which doubt, which thought deserves to be shared with God. Allow God to filter that through Scripture and the Spirit’s work in your life.

But not only does Gospel Hope help us acknowledge the brokenness in our lives & not only does it help us express our doubts and despair

3. Gospel hope is hope because it is centred around God

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,

    and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

    my salvation and my God.

This is the main thing – brothers and sisters. When we encounter a season or multiple seasons of despair, let’s remember that the solution will be found not in any false hope in the world:

not relationships,

not our family,

not our jobs,

not our bank balances and

not even our pleasures

– they are all going to leave us empty & shattered. The only solution that will help us is the permanent and objective Hope of the Gospel.

When we look at v11, the Psalmist is not saying “Put your hope in God and everything will be fine “hopefully”. It’s not optimism or positive thinking. He says “Hope in God – for I shall again praise him (in the Temple courts), and the reason for His Hope is because He knows His God and He knows what His God can do.

We recognize that the pain, grief and despair we experience is a result of what happened in the Garden of Eden. It’s not the way that God had designed our lives to be.

When we think about what happened to Punit, that was not how God intended for His life. We know that all of this is a result of the darkness that is there inside our souls and also in our world.  We are all broken.

It’s so amazing that instead of leaving us in our state of brokenness and self-destruction, that the Son of God Jesus makes His entry into this broken world to introduce us to Gospel Hope.

Take a look at the description of Jesus in a prophecy that was made hundreds of years before his birth:

He was despised and rejected[b] by men,

    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief

and as one from whom men hide their faces[f]

    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

Here is our God not alien to the world of despair and grief, but He Himself experienced the full impact of the brokenness. And then as a response to fix the brokenness and reverse what had happened in the Garden, He gave up His life on the cross for you and me & rose victoriously from the grave on the third Day – to get us our Gospel Hope and healing not for a few years but for all of eternity.

Today we stand in the middle of that Story post cross and pre-Jesus’ Second coming.  And that’s why it is a Certain, objective, permanent Hope. If God can step into my broken world and sacrifices His own life to rescue me, then I know I can live in Gospel Hope.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Heb 10:23)

Can our God ever be unfaithful? No.

Can our God lie? No.

Can our God change His promises & plans according to what is convenient? No.

Because He is our Faithful God,

we can now have Gospel Hope which will never disappoint us. Even in our weakest of moments, God is still faithful. Even in our struggles with sin, God is still faithful.  Even if we are humiliated and hurt, God is still faithful. Even if we lose our job and our money, God is still faithful. Even if the whole world deserts us, God is still faithful. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, if He is your Hope, then know that your story will not end in brokenness but on the Day when Jesus comes back again we will be made perfect, like our Savior.

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Articles

Hamstrung by Porn


There is a popular video on YouTube of this athlete competing in a race where he stops running midway. Shortly after the race starts, he clutches the back of his thigh and goes down on one knee. His face is written with agony and he knew what was wrong. He tore his hamstring.

If you’ve watched or played any kind of sports, you know a hamstring injury can be bad because it puts you out on the sidelines.

I see sin like that sometimes. It’s like an injury that puts you out on the sidelines. Especially something as debilitating and guilt inflicting as the sin of pornography use. Considering its addictive nature and how it affects us, pornography use is bad for the Christian.

It affects us not only physically but emotionally and spiritually too, and there are three ways I think it does that:

 1) It affects, firstly, our sight towards God’s beauty. The Bible speaks of the beauty of God, his character, his attributes, his infinite nature, his power, his majesty and his love through Jesus Christ. The sun, moon and stars all declare the glory of God. Porn use blinds us and inhibits our capacity to enjoy and appreciate this God.

2) It makes us selfish. Porn use brings with it the inevitable guilt and shame. While we’re dealing with these avalanche of emotions, we tend not to look beyond our current predicament, but inwards. This affects all our relationships including relations with our brothers and sisters in Christ. As an important part of the local body of believers (our church), we are needed.

Porn use makes us selfish where we’re hiding ourselves from others, either to prevent exposing the sin or to try to deal with it privately.

3) A third insidious effect of porn use is how we look at women. Our sinful tendency to lust after women, in real life and on screen, is amplified with porn use. Porn shows women as objects to be taken advantage of or as nothing beyond flesh and bone that wants to have sex.

Unbeknown to us, our thoughts are trained to objectify women the more we use porn. This is tragic when we do this to our sisters in Christ and fellow image bearers of God.

Using porn is a serious sin and a problem. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Christian. There is hope.

Hope for the Christian

Yes, as born again followers of Jesus, we have hope. The strength to overcome this sin was made available when Jesus died on the cross, for it says in 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”

When Jesus died and rose again, and after we put our faith in him, we died to our former ways and are now alive with Christ to live a life of righteousness and purity.

With this new identity as children of God, we can now pursue him. And we ought to pursue him with all our might. God has chosen a few disciplines to follow in order for us to “live to righteousness”, and these disciplines are both private and public.

1) The private disciplines to pursue God is through reading and meditating on the Bible and through prayer. We must be hearing this for the umpteenth time but let me share something that I’ve been told by someone who’s been discipling me: Bible and prayer is meant to help us know and love Jesus.

Bible study and prayer is done to grow in love and appreciation for Christ. It’s through this that God reveals himself, shapes us to be like him, confronts our sin and reassures our heart. Make this a habit. Even if the Bible and prayer hasn’t been making sense, don’t skip it, it’s too precious.

2) The public disciplines would be to participate actively in the life of the church. This means being there for Sunday morning services, being part of small groups, being discipled and discipling someone and reaching out to those who don’t know Christ.

How does following all this help? We get to hear God’s Word being preached, sing songs to him, be involved in the lives of fellow church members, build life-giving friendship that provide a place for accountability, gives us the chance to help another grow in Christ and help to reach a world that needs Jesus.
The need for all these public disciplines cannot be reiterated enough.

These private and public disciplines don’t save us, of course, but it is God’s appointed means for us to pursue him and kill sin.

The Fight Goes On

I’ve been hamstrung by porn far too many times than I can count, and I’ve been affected in the same ways that I wrote about. Yet the God who sanctifies is faithful and has shown me grace through the same disciplines I mentioned.

If we are in Christ, we are never out of the boundaries of God’s grace and forgiveness.

Let us make it our aim – as we fight on to overcome and kill this sin – to worship and behold God like Paul did: “To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)

This article first appeared on Quiricus

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

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

Good morning family!

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

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

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

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

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

1. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My Dad coming home

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

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

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

We see that in Verse 4-5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. To live a Morally and Spiritually engaged lives.

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

Here Paul writes in verse 6 & 7.

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. To live purposefully by encouraging and building one another

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. To live a Morally and Spiritually engaged lives.

4. To live purposefully by encouraging and building one another

Let me pray for us.

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

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Because He is Risen : 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15

Good morning everyone!

My name is Saju Joseph and I am one of the Pastors at the Gathering Community Church.

This morning I’m extremely happy and humbled to share with you the Easter message. If you’ve visited us for the first time, or hearing the name Easter, or heard this word before but don’t really know what that means, it is the day when all the followers of Jesus around the world celebrate his Resurrection – The rising up of Jesus from the dead.

You see, 2020 years back Jesus, an innocent man was brutally killed and hanged on the cross because he was exposing the sinful hearts of men and women at that time and publicly calling out their sins, asking them to repent and believe in the Kingdom of God.  He questioned the authority of the so-called leaders, teachers & kings. He even claimed He was the Son of God, he displayed a power that no one could understand. And therefore he was put to death out of anger and jealousy, but what we know from the Scripture is in fact that Jesus willingly gave himself to die on the cross.

What happened to Jesus was the fulfilment of a prophecy that was made thousands of years back, that the Son of God will come down to earth as a pure and holy lamp, offering himself as a permanent sacrifice for all our sins so that we can be forgiven and united back into the loving relationship with the Heavenly Father who created us and loves us.

Brothers & sisters, the Resurrection of Jesus is the proof, the evidence that he was who he claimed to be, the Son of God who came to die and restore us.

This morning as we all are experiencing this threat of a plague called COVID-19, the Resurrection message of Jesus should fill our hearts with Joy.

Let me give two reasons from our passage today why the Resurrection message of Jesus should make you happy and joyful.

1. The Resurrection of Jesus gives us HOPE.

The passage that was read this morning is a small portion of a letter written by one of Jesus disciples Paul writing to a church in a place called Thessalonica. And as he is reminding the church of the Resurrection of Jesus he is urging them to live as people filled with hope and not sorrow.

Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15, he writes “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no HOPE. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this, we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep”

It was a time when people were thinking deeply about death, the death of their loved ones, maybe their friends, maybe their family members, maybe a friends and was wondering what must have happened to the souls who already died and what will happen to them when they die.

What Paul is telling them is that since we know and believe Jesus not only died but also rose again from the dead, we have a Hope that one day we will get to meet all those who have fallen asleep. What he also meaning to say, is that there is life after death, now whether you will be with God in heaven or whether you be with the Devil in Hell is decided while you are alive on this earth.

God has done and is doing everything today to draw our attention to Him so that we can know the truth, this morning if you are listening to me it is no coincidence but God has orchestrated this moment for you to hear this good news of Jesus. We are all sinners in our flesh, enemies of God, unholy people who’ve sinned against Him and have no hope in ourselves to make it right on our own. The condition of the world today is not because God has inflicted it upon us, but it is because of our own sinful choices we’ve made to harm ourselves.

God the righteous judge who proclaims death penalty over you and me for our sin and rebellion, which is what we deserve, he also loves us dearly and because he loves us he sent his only son Jesus to die in our place, giving us an opportunity to simply humble ourselves…

Brothers & sisters, God is asking you and me to humble ourselves before him, he is not asking us to do a task we are not capable of doing, he is not asking us to climb a high mountain to feel closer to him, in fact, he came down from his highest position to us so that he can be saved.

God is calling us to simply humble ourselves, repent of our sins and fall at the feet of Jesus in worship. And today, he gives you and me the opportunity to decide whether after a death we want to be on God’s side or on the Devil’s side.

Brothers & sisters, if you have never heard this message before, I believe its not a coincidence that you are hearing it, I believe he is calling us and giving us an opportunity once again to make it right while we are on this earth. Will you respond to God’s loving grace in faith. Will you.

It is only to those who’ve responded to Jesus in faith, Paul is writing “do not grieve and feel sorrowful, for yourself and for those who’ve been taken away, because we know Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep”.

You know what this truth should do in your heart right. It should wipe out all the fear and anxiety you are feeling because of what is happening all around the world. 

Even if this world has to end with this pandemic, we have a hope that we will be with Jesus and come back to a new earth and rule the earth with Him. That’s a promise from heaven.

2. Because Jesus rose from the dead we will get to witness and participate in one of the greatest events in history.

In verse 16-17 Pauls writes “16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

I want you to think of the excitement you experienced as a child when your parents told you that they are planning to take you an Amusement Park like Esselworld, Imagica or Disney.  For some us, even now as an adult this news will bring a huge amount of joy and excitement.

This event mentioned by Paul here, even though it is written in a very sober language if we could close our eyes and visualise it for a moment.

By the way, can I ask you to close your eye right now and just listen to me? I believe you’ve closed your eyes. –  “Now imagine our Lord Jesus descending from heaven, through the clouds, with the voice of an archangel (I’m sure it’s gonna be the most beautiful voice ever), with the sound of the trumpet of God” … keep your eyes closed, take a moment and let that thought capture you.

You may open your eyes now.

Do you remember the other day when the whole of India came out on their balcony and Terrace and on the roads with all their dubba, batli, tumbler, plates and spoons and made that horrible noise, for some it may have sounded like music but not for me.

Now can you imagine hearing the sound of the trumpet of God on the arrival of His Son Jesus on earth? – Wouldn’t that drive us crazy?

And even though the Amusement park has many rides, this ride to heaven in the clouds I believe will be the most thrilling ride of all. Wouldn’t that take our breath away to see this beautiful earth as we are flying towards heaven without any thread attached on us – Just like superman. Taken away forever to be with our Lord Jesus.

Brothers & sisters, this privilege is again only for those who have truly repented of their sins, any fake repentance said or made just to please men will not help you make it to heaven in this manner. Only repentance that evokes an undying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Will you once again take some moments today and search your heart and be assured that you have truly repented and put your faith in Jesus.

All this made possible because Jesus didn’t just die a horrible death like humans do, but he rose again from the death and the scripture tells us that he is now sitting at the right hand of God the Father praying for our souls, to justify us and to sanctify us.

Meanwhile, for us to stay strong and know his will for our lives while we are on earth he gave us a gift, the gift of His presence, the Holy Spirit, who takes responsibility to lead us into all godliness and to transform us into the image of Son Jesus.

So, brothers & sisters, in the meantime here’s what we are asked to do.

Verse 18, Paul writes “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

We are called to encourage one another, since we have found comfort from the Lord and from each other, now to bring comfort to others. Since we have found joy, now to bring joy to others. Since we have found hope, to bring hope to others.

And how do we do that? By pointing them to Jesus – our friends, our relatives, our neighbours, our loved ones – point them to Jesus in this tough times, tell them the good news of Jesus, tell them because,

Jesus is risen from the dead that they can have hope, they can live, there is no fear of death, only joy for eternity.

Let’s bow our heads and pray.

Categories
Philippians Sermon

The Secret of Joy and Hope in Christ – Philippians 1:19-26

The passage we will study is Philippians 1:19-26.

Last week Jinson helped us understand the circumstances under which Paul was writing this letter to the church in Philippi. We learnt that Paul was imprisoned for his faith in Christ and for sharing the Gospel, he was suffering and going through hardships for the sake of Christ as he is waiting for justice.

The man didn’t harm anyone but was still convicted and was going through extreme pain and anguish. And even in such harsh circumstances, at the end of verse 18 he says “Yes, I will rejoice”.

In Philippians 1:19 we see he is so full of hope, confident that he will never be ashamed, and that at the end, Christ will be honoured in his body, whether he is alive or dead, there is absolutely no fear or doubt in his mind, fully prepared even to die.

I’ve met a lot of people in my life who go through tough circumstances and some even going through hardships right now, some due to sickness in their body, some because of pressure at work, some because of unfavourable conditions where people have taken advantage of them, hard life, abuse, cheated close family etc. But it is scarce to hear people use such words of hope and confidence as Paul is expressing here.

Most people in such circumstances go into depression and sorrow and end up blaming God or blaming others for their circumstances.

And therefore, I find Paul’s confidence and hope so amazing. And I’m sure a lot of people would desire that they would also live a fearless life just like Paul with faith and hope, responding in the same manner when facing hardships.

As easy as it sounds, I realized that this kind of response is not something a person can manufacture it. We can say these words with our mouth, but our hearts can be all messed up.

Here are some of the advice people commonly give to us when we are facing hardships.

  • They ask us to do Positive thinking
  • Get drunk and forget your sorrows
  • Indulge in fleshly pleasures, and you forget all the worries in life
  • Some religious folks will ask you to repeat prayers and mantras to attain peace
  • Leave the world and go on a pilgrimage
  • Some will advise you to intake drugs

But as we all know these solutions only give us temporary relief and joy, once the effect is over, we all go back to the same feelings of sadness, loneliness, depression etc.

And as we continue to read Paul’s letter, who is a follower of Christ we realize that there is something deeper that’s going on in his heart because of which he can respond the way he is responding. He is not drunk, or even hallucinating but is speaking from a clear conscience and a steady mind.

What we learn in these passages is Paul’s outlook towards life itself that is helping him rejoice and stay hopeful in all circumstances.

Every situation in our life is ultimately about survival and death. The best thing about life is staying alive, and the worst thing is to die and leave this earth.

Some enjoy their present life but dread the thought of death, and others hate their life so much that they want to kill themselves because they want to get rid of all their earthly sorrows and misery.

Paul seems to be fully prepared and satisfied in both these scenarios. He says “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”.

Paul, a Christian, looks at both life and death and finds both of them fascinating and joy-filled. In fact, he says it is difficult for me to choose which one is better. 

22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Today I want to focus on Paul’s statement ‘to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ and discover what did he mean when he said that.

Paul was not always a hopeful and fearless person as he is at this moment in life. He worked for the Roman empire and was recruited to find and kill all followers of Jesus. But his life changed when he was travelling on the road Damascus as he was looking for Christians in the other town, Jesus appeared to him and opened his heart and mind to see and understand the truth about life and death.

Friends, there is a reason why we live in brokenness and despair. The world we live in was not meant to be corrupt, sinful, dark, selfish and full of hatred. It was supposed to be a beautiful place. The Bible says, when God made the world, animals & birds, mountains and trees, lakes and rivers, and human beings, it was pleasing in his eyes. Man lived in perfect harmony with God and with nature. And everything God made was meant to exalt him and glorify him.

And when God made man and woman, he gave us a unique gift, and the gift was the free-will to choose between good and evil. And He gave it to us so that willingly and out of own choice, we would worship Him and honour Him, the one who created us in His likeness and His image.

But, we misused our free-will and are still misusing it daily.

But instead of using our fill-will to choose Him and worship Him, we ended up choosing ourselves and pursuing our selfish desires by disobeying his holy laws and commandment. If the world is broken and dark, it is not because God made it that way; it is because we chose to make it that way. And when our fore-father and mother, Adam and Eve disobeyed God, it affected all of us.

It’s like a baby in a mother’s womb. If the mother, while carrying a child in her womb, chose to intake drugs or any poison, it automatically affects the baby who is in her. Babies who are born to drug addict mother are called broken babies because they end up having some deformity in the body when they are born.

When Adam and Eve sinned, we were in them, as the baby in a mothers womb, and therefore we too committed the hideous crime against our creator God, which is why our relationship with God is broken. And according to God Holy law, the punishment for sin and rebelliousness against him is only death.

We lost our peace and joy. The peace and joy people in this world are seeking by doing good works, going on a pilgrimage, beating themselves up, chasing the world and its pleasure like a crazy man will never pay for the penalty of our sin we have committed against God.

But the good news is, about which Paul who encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus writes in Romans 5:6-11

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

On the road to Damascus, when Paul met with Jesus, he realized the one whom he hated was Christ, the Son of God, who paid the penalty of his sins by dying on the cross, who rose again on the third day and is now sitting at the right hand of God and is interceding for us,  who is the only one through whom he can achieve salvation, through whom he can be restored into a relationship with God the creator and not end up in hell but enter heaven.

And to attain this salvation, all he had to do was repent of his sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, with all his heart, mind and soul.

And therefore, for Paul to say ‘to live is Christ is to live a completely restored and free life, one without condemnation, without fear of death, with full of hope and joy. And for him to say ‘death is gain’ is because he knew his end would be glorious, in heaven, he will ultimately meet Christ and spend his eternity in heaven. And he is not able to decide which is better.

The extent of his joy and gratefulness was so large that he saw everything else in the world rubbish in comparison to Christ. In Philippians 3:7-8

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, 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

Friends, it is one thing to say we know about Christ and it’s a totally another thing to say we’ve experienced Christ and His saving power in our lives.

A person who has genuinely experienced Christ and His love, who has understood this glorious Gospel, he is a changed man. The Bible says when we sincerely repent of our sins and believe in Jesus, our old self dies with him and we are born again.

And the person who is genuinely born again treasures Christ more than all the things and the pleasure of this world because he is convinced that in Christ he has found everything his soul needs.

A person who is truly a believer in Christ lives in freedom, has hope in heart that no matter what happens in life, whether hardships or calamities or sickness or pain, he believes everything will ultimately work out for his good, and that Christ will be glorified in his body, whether in life or in death.

If we say we are Christians and even after years, we are still not experiencing freedom and joy in life. If we are not fully treasuring Christ more than the worldly things and its pleasure. If we are living hopeless lives falling back into depression and feelings of loneliness. If we are still living as our old self, we have to question our faith.

It’s time that we turn to Christ, not just in our mind, in our knowledge but our heart and our whole being. All you have to do is repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus.

To be a Christian doesn’t mean that you are born in a Christian family. To be a Christian doesn’t mean that we are coming to church every Sunday. To be a Christian doesn’t mean we know all the Christian songs. To be a Christian doesn’t mean we know the Bible.

To be a Christian means to experience Christ and his life-transforming power in our daily life. Please do not be fooled. Don’t just be satisfied that you know about Jesus but seek to experience him and his saving grace in your life on a daily basis.

If you think you are that person that claims to know Jesus but haven’t experienced his life-transforming power in your life, you may want to consider committing or maybe re-commit your Life to Christ today.

Feel free to reach out to us if you wish to speak to one of us. We would love to hear from you and pray with you.

Categories
Sermon

Give Thanks

Ending 2018 with Thanksgiving to God

We usually preach through the book of the Bible, and we are currently preaching through the Gospel of Mark. But because of Christmas and the beginning of the new year, we decided to take a break from Mark and speak on some relevant topics that will prepare our hearts and minds for the coming year.

Last Sunday, since it was a Christmas week, Jinson preached a message of the good news of Jesus. This Sunday I want to encourage all of us to end this year with a token of thanksgiving for all that God has done in our lives, especially in the year 2018.

But let me first begin by sharing why is it important to give thanks to the Lord.

1. We thank God primarily because it is a command – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Our general human tendency is to feel happy and thankful when everything around us is going on well. But if we are indeed a child of God then what sets us apart for others is when we show thankfulness even when we go through hard times. And the reason is that we know that God is working for our good even when he allows bad circumstances to come in our lives.

And that is why Paul is saying ‘give thanks in all circumstances.’ – not just for the good times but even for the bad times.

The reason I want to highlight this point is that you may not be pleased how the last year went by in your life. Maybe you didn’t get what you expected from God, but instead, the previous year was the worst year ever.

No matter how good or bad the year has been in your life, as a believer, we are commanded to give thanks at all times, and I want to encourage you to offer the sacrifice of thanks to our God all times.

2. We thank God because we cannot adequately praise and worship God without also being thankful.

In Psalm 100:1-3 the psalmist is exalting us and saying.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness!  Come into his presence with singing!  Know that the LORD, he is God!   It is he who made us, and we are his;   we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,   and his courts with praise!   Give thanks to him; bless his name!  For the LORD is good;   his steadfast love endures forever,   and his faithfulness to all generations.

Worship is the will of God for the whole earth and Thanksgiving is the essential ingredient to True Worship.

We worship him because we are thankful for all that he has done and will do in our lives.

3. We thank God because by doing so we acknowledge that everything comes from God and that we are entirely depended on him for everything.

4. We think God because it keeps our hearts in right relationship with the giver of all good gifts.

What does it mean when we don’t thank God?

Without gratefulness, we become arrogant and self-centred. We begin to believe that we have achieved everything on our own.

Out of the many things we ought to thank God for, I want to highlight and speak about two things that’s most important of all.

1.    The first one is the Gospel.

Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Once upon a time, we were in darkness and the Gospel set us free.

We were created by God, to love Him, to worship Him, to adore Him, to glorify Him.

God wanted us to live under his authority and his dominion because he made us he had all the right to demand that from us. But instead of living in a loving relationship with God, the first man and women, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God’s Holy laws and failed to live under His authority. They Sinned, and their relationship with God was broken.

Since then everyone born on this earth is born sinful, no one teaches us to cheat, bite, lie and rebel, we are born with those qualities. Why? Because we are born sinful.

The reason our world is corrupt is because we are corrupt. We live in brokenness because our relationship with our creator God is broken and no matter how hard man tries to please God, he never succeeds.

But the Bible tells us that God so loved us that he sent his Son Jesus to live an obedient life and SINLESS life on our behalf, take all the penalty of our Sin on himself and die a terrible death on our behalf so that we can be forgiven, and our relationship with God can be restored back by doing two things – Repenting and Believing in his son Jesus.

Jesus died and was buried for three days, after which he rose again from the dead, defeated sin and death and giving us an abundant life. A life full of joy, peace and satisfaction.

For those who believed – Since then the Gospel is at work in our lives – Daily setting us free from bondage and sin patterns that capture our minds.

The Gospel is at the centre of our church ministry, and that is why we make sure to preach the gospel through every sermon we preach.

As we end this year, let us be thankful for the Gospel in our lives. The constant reminders of God love and grace.

2. Church

When I say church, I’m not talking about a building or a place but the people. The Church is the people of God.

Here are a couple of reasons why we have to be thankful for the church and especially one another.

1. God uses the Church to bring the Hope of Christ in our lives – Through the preaching of God word, through the counsel of Godly leaders.
2. God uses the church to break every wall of separation that mankind has created, and unites our hearts as one people.
3. God uses the church to sanctify us – As we rub against each other, through sufferings, through conflicts, through the pain.
4. God uses the church to uplift our spirits in hard and difficult times.

Let us be thankful and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving that will glorify the name of our Lord.

Let us enter the year 2019 with thanksgiving in our hearts. With hope in our hearts, expecting God to do great and mighty things in our lives.

Categories
Sermon

Futility & Hope – Romans 8

Good morning! It’s so good to see each of you and it’s such a privilege to celebrate the gospel this morning with the family of The Gathering. If you have a Bible with you this morning, I’d invite you to turn to Romans chapter 8 (Read).

You are probably thinking, “Romans is not The Gospel of Mark.” And that’s true, Romans is not The Gospel of Mark. We are actually taking a one week break from our study of Mark so that we can stay on pace with our churches in St. Louis (Red Tree & Mid-cities).

They are breaking this weekend to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Red Tree. Which is great because it gives us the opportunity to talk about something that I believe sets us up well as we move into a season of re-launching the church.

We will end that discussion in Romans chapter 8, but we’ll get started in Zechariah chapter 9. So, go ahead and mark your place in Romans 8, and turn to Zechariah 9.

As you’re turning there, let me tell you what I’d like to do this morning. I want to highlight two words that I think will help us understand the story of God’s redemption, not just in an overall sense, but how it plays out in our individual lives. Those two words are: FUTILITY & HOPE.

I’m going to suggest that every one of our stories has those two themes in them. That God has used both of those things in our lives to awaken us to the truth of Who He Is & to show us how desperately we need Him.

That, no matter your story, there has been futility, and tension, and frustration caused by the problem of sin. That every one of us, no matter where we are spiritually right now, knows what it feels like to long for something greater. We all know what it feels like to be in bondage, to be prisoners, and to long for freedom.

And when we come to know Christ — where He’s revealed Himself to us, and He’s breathed life back into our souls, and He’s captured our worship & affections — that’s where we find freedom because it only comes from Him!

We see this dynamic play out in our individual lives, but there’s also a global outworking of this in the world, isn’t there? Yeah, because all of creation has been subjected to this curse, this death, this prison. The whole of creation (as we’ll see in just a moment) is longing to be set free.

I think it’s really easy to just look at our story (of how God is working in our lives to redeem and restore) and, as beautiful as our stories are, it’s easy to forget that we’re part of the larger story that God is playing out on a global stage. The same narrative (creation, fall, redemption and new creation) is being played out, not just in our lives, but in the entire world.

When we remember that, it causes us to come alive (even more) to the the mission of God. It helps us lay down our lives and live fully surrendered to Him because we realize that we’re a part of something infinitely greater than ourselves. We realize that futility and pain isn’t unique to us. We realize that everyone, throughout the world & throughout history, has experienced those same feelings.

We realize that God is working all these things together, for His glory and for the good of those who love Him. Those reminders do something to the soul. And, my hope this morning is that we would see that, that we would be stirred up by that, and that it would propel us into our relaunch as a church body.

So, let’s look at this short passage in Zechariah chapter 9. These verses are meant to point us to the salvation that would be ushered into the world with the coming of the Messiah — Jesus Christ. As we read these verses, I want you to keep in mind the FUTILITY that the people of God have experienced over the course of centuries. Keep in mind the longing, the frustration, the constant rebellion, the hope for something greater as we read this text.

[9] “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. [10] I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. [11] As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. [12] Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.” – Zechariah 9:9-12

Did you catch that phrase in in verse 12? I was overwhelmed by how beautiful a phrase it is when I read it — “Return to your stronghold… … O prisoners of hope.” When I read that phrase, “prisoners of hope”, it did something to my soul. It stirred, in a fresh way, the conversation about what Jesus’ coming into the world has done for us. I want us to think about this, first, on the global level and then how this plays out in our individual lives. Because the implications of this speak to both.

When you read the Old Testament, and you start with the account of the fall in the garden (sin entering the picture and separating us from God). And you move through God forming a people through Abraham; through their 400 year captivity in Egypt; through the freedom that God secured for them; through the forty years of wandering in the desert; up until they take possession of the Promised Land.

When you read about the cycle that kept repeating through all of the judges (the pattern of rebellion & return to the Lord); through the kings and all of the prophets; woven throughout the giving of the law and the sacrificial system that God established for His people.

When you look at all of it, t was all intended by God to build anticipation of the coming Christ. It was designed to build anticipation and hope that God would do something that permanently dealt with the problem of sin and separation from Him. It was all intended to create the hope of redemption, to set the stage for permanence through Christ.

Everything that God gave His people in the Old Testament was meant to be temporary: From the judges, to the sacrificial system, to the temple, to kings, to the promised land, it was all just pointing to and preparing God’s people for what He would do, permanently, in Jesus Christ.

We don’t need the type of judges we see in the Old Testament because Christ will judge the living & the dead. There’s no longer a need to offer sacrifices for sin because Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for all sin. We don’t worship in Temples because we are temples of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is our prophet, priest & king. And, we certainly aren’t tied to any piece of land because our promised land is in Heaven with Him (that’s where our citizenship lies).

Everything was meant to point to our great need for Jesus. That’s true on the global stage, but it’s also true of our individual lives. Just think about your life. From birth, you are subjected to futility, you are held captive by the corruption of sin. And, as you grow, you feel that tension increase. There’s something in your soul that knows that this isn’t how it’s supposed to be. It’s like Ecclesiastes 3:11 — “God put eternity in the heart of man, but an inability to grasp it.” There’s this tension, this futility, that has been ordained by God to create a longing for something more.

If you’re in Christ, you understand exactly how this works because, at some point, the futility and the pain pushed you to an end of yourself. It pushed you to the point where you were awakened to the truth of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done to rescue us. If you are in Christ that understanding is real to you because you lived in that futility and because God used it to produce something beautiful in you. That’s what God does! He’s in the business of bringing beauty from the ashes.

Church, that’s why it’s so important that we remember the story of how God rescued us. We must remember what life was like when we were separated from Him, because it fuels gratitude and an increasing desire to be used by God in His mission.

That’s all about having the right perspective. Can I just say, as an aside, how amazing it is for us to have the perspective that we do? We are living in the end times (between Christ’s ascension & His 2nd coming), and we get to see a much fuller picture of what God has done in the world than anyone else before.

This is what Peter talks about in chapter 1 of his 1st letter. He writes, [10] “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, [11] inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. [12] It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” – 1 Peter 1:10-12

That’s incredible when you think about it. It means that we have some pretty significant advantages over the prophets (if you can imagine that). We have all the writings of the prophets so we can actually compare those things. We also have the New Testament use of those prophecies. And, we have 2,700 years of perspective to see what God has done and what has transpired in His church.

We live in amazing times! And, it’s such a beautiful privilege that God has given us to have the perspective on His redemptive work that we have. But, if we’re going to be honest, I think we take that for granted some of the time. We get so caught up in our own comfort, or entertainment, or our own agenda, or any number of other things, that we forget about the fact that we get to be a part of God’s Redemptive Work in history. We get to be a part of that work as recipients of His Grace.

We tend to forget about the fact that the thing into which angels long to look has been bestowed upon us. If you really want to really consider how beautiful the gospel is, consider how the angels react to all of this. Because their knowledge of the gospel isn’t practical, it’s based on observation. They see it happening to us and Peter says that they long to look at it. I believe that’s true because they are astounded by it.

You see — the angels have an accurate picture of the holiness, and the glory, and the majesty, and the goodness, and the wrath, and the justice, and everything else of God. They see it right now. And I think it astounds them that our response to God’s love is to rebel against Him.

Which is exactly what sin is. It says to God, “I don’t trust you, I don’t need you. I don’t love you.” It says, “I don’t want anything to do with you!” I think the angels probably look at God like, You’re going to instantly destroy them, right? Not only does He not instantly destroy us for our rebellion, He has given us His Son to pay the price for that rebellion. And, not only that, but He credited us His righteousness in return. He bought us back from death! That’s the magnitude of the gospel. And, I think that angels just stare at that like, “WOW!!!!!” And yet, as recipients, we tend to be dismissive of the gospel.

We have the gift of perspective living in these times. We don’t sit here and wonder what these things mean, as Zechariah’s audience did. We see the work of Christ and the glory of the gospel!

Now, let’s look at this dynamic from the perspective of the New Testament. Go ahead and jump over to where I had you mark your place in Romans chapter 8.

What I’d like to do is simply read this text and point out a couple of things that we’ve already talked about. But, this will allow us to see it from the perspective of Christ’s finished work. This is what Paul writes in Romans chapter 8:

[18] “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [19] For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. [20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. [23] And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [24] For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? [25] But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

[28] “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:18-25; 28

Here’s what I want to do. Keeping this phrase from Zechariah, “Prisoners of Hope”, on the forefront of our hearts & minds, I want to point to 3 truths that Paul points to in this text. These are 3 things that we’ve already touched on and explained, but I want to repeat them in light of the fuller perspective of this text.

  1. Creation has been subjected to futility in hope
  2. The pain that futility brings is like the pains of childbirth
  3. God is in absolute & total Sovereign control over the entire thing.

If you are here and you are not a Christian, here’s my encouragement to you: Understand that the futility, the emptiness, the frustration that you feel in your life is not mean to drive you to try harder to find fulfillment and satisfaction in the things of the world. The futility and pain is meant to bring you to an end of yourself so that you realize that life is only found in Jesus Christ.

If you are here and you are a Christian, here’s my encouragement for you: Live with the story of God’s redemption on the forefront of your heart and realize that God’s desire is to use you to accomplish His mission of restoration in the world.