Tag: Life

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Matthew Sermon

Gospel Stewardship – Matthew 25:14-30

Our passage for today is Matthew 25:14-30 and the topic we will be looking at is Gospel Stewardship.

Everything we have and everything we see around belongs to God – Our time, treasures, talents, things & places. In 1 Cor 4:7, Paul writes “Whatever we have, we have received from God” – Beginning with our lives and everything in it.

We are merely Stewards of what actually belongs to God.

Biblical stewardship isn’t just about being good managers of our schedules, our skills, and our stuff, but it calls us to use all these things in the way the Lord wants, for His glory.

Here in this chapter, Jesus is telling a series of parables to his followers explaining about the kingdom the God. In the parable right before our passage, he tells the story of the five foolish virgins who were unprepared in receive the bridegroom and missed the chance to go with him.

In verse 13, Jesus says, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Jesus is not merely saying stories to entertain the disciples. He is sharing some life-impacting truths through these parables. He is talking about the Kingdom of God, he is revealing the heart of the Father and his expectation from his children.

In the parable, Jesus is telling us that God is like this man who called his servants and entrusted them with his property. He then gave talents to each one of them according to their abilities, watch them steward those talents and rewarded them accordingly.

Here are a couple of things we learn from this parable.

God has gracefully given to us.

To Jesus’s original hearers, a talent meant a very large unit of monetary value. People whose net worth equalled a talent were very well off. Scholars say that one talent in today’s world would be worth crores of rupees.

In reality, no servant’s stewardship was insignificant. Each received something of great value.

But this parable is not really about stewarding money. It is about stewarding our time, talents, treasures, abilities – everything we have and possess, God entrusts to us.

No one in this room can say God did not give them anything.

If you say so then, consider these words of Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:7

“What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

The master wasn’t obligated to give the servants anything. Each servant received his talents by the grace of the master.

Remember, God had graciously given to each one of us sitting here according to our capabilities. To some, artistic abilities, writing abilities, cooking skills, serving skills, talking skills, musical abilities, counselling abilities, dancing abilities, parenting abilities, etc.

And as we faithfully steward whatever is given to us, more will be provided, as it was given to the servants who brought back double portion.

He expects us to put in hard work.

When the third servant brought back the one talent as it was and gave it back to the Master, the Master answered and said ‘You wicked & slothful servant’.

God hates a lazy person, it makes him angry to see a man lazy. There is no reward for the one who is lazy. Proverbs 12:24 – The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labour.

The other two servants took the talents, worked hard and brought back double the portion, and the master applauded them and gave them more.

God expects us to put in hard work to grow our artistic abilities, counselling abilities, cooking abilities, talking skills etc.

He expects us to seek and apply wisdom.

When the lazy servant came with nothing, the master says “couldn’t you at least be wise to invest the money with the bankers, and at least brought back the interest”

Proverbs 9:6 says “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

The two faithful servants applied wisdom to double their money and brought back returns to their master, and he was pleased.

God expects us to seek and apply wisdom as we steward the talents he’s given to us.

Proverbs 4:5-6
“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.”

The wisdom that comes from heaven – a pure; peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. – James 3:17

He will hold us accountable.

Finally, God has not given us the talents for our own self-gratification. But someday he will hold us accountable for how we’ve stewarded the time, talents & treasures he has given us.

“everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48). जिसे बहुत दिया गया है, उस से बहुत मांगा जाएगा, और जिसे बहुत सौंपा गया है, उस से बहुत मांगेंगें॥

This parable is meant to strike the appropriate fear of God in us and force us to ask what we are doing with the gracious gifts that has been given to us.

We cannot run away from God.

Brothers & sisters, in reality, we are the lazy and foolish servant in the parable. Even though we know that God is just and holy, who can reap without sowing and gather without scattering the seed. We, in our flesh, chose to rebel against him, we chose to remain slothful, and we chose to remain foolish. We are the sinful ones.

If anyone here says, no I’m not like that foolish servant, I work hard, I apply wisdom to everything I do. I would ask you, as you do these things, are you always doing it for the right reasons – seeking God’s glory above everything.

1 John 1:8 says “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

Brothers & sister, we cannot be a biblical steward if we haven’t really understood the Gospel — the story of what God has accomplished through the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Yes, we are supposed to work hard
Yes, we are supposed to apply wisdom in everything we do
Yes, we are supposed to be accountable to God

But not without the inspiration of the Gospel, of what Christ has accomplished for us.

When we received the saving grace of Jesus, the Gospel changes not only a person’s destination in eternity but also his heart and mind here and now. The Gospel transforms more than a person’s relationship with God; it also transforms a person’s relationship to everything else.

That’s why, when someone says he’s become a believer, the most reliable evidence that a person has been converted is that he begins looking for ways to use his time, talent, and treasure in service to the Gospel.

Only Gospel-inspired stewardship is the true stewardship.

By the Gospel & for the Gospel

When a person eagerly begins to use his resources to serve and spread the Gospel, it testifies to the value he places upon the Gospel and to the fact that he treasures the God of the Gospel above all.

Let me give you a couple of examples, and then I’ll finish.

For example, the way I treasure and steward my marriage will tell you how much my life is impacted by the Gospel, how much I’ve understood the Love and affection of Christ for His bride.

If I’m stewarding my marriage in an unhealthy manner, where I’m failing to exercise love and forgiveness towards my wife than it is evident that I’ve really not understood the Gospel, especially the love and forgiveness of Christ.

Similarly, Art & Music are good endeavours, but unless it is inspired by the Gospel, with a deeper understanding of God love and his power displayed through his son Jesus, and with the motive to glorify the giver of gifts, it can turn into a breeding ground for pride, depression & brokenness.

This morning as you leave this room, I don’t want us to go thinking, I’m now going to work hard, apply wisdom and do something for Jesus. No, I want you to leave the room saying I’m going to fall deeper in love with Jesus, draw inspiration from Jesus, from his expressions of love, forgiveness and grace.

May it be that our hard work and application of wisdom be the outcome of the impact of the Gospel, only then we will be able to fully and faithfully steward our time, talents and treasures given to us in a manner that it glorifies God, just like the two faithful servants in the parable.

Lets Pray!

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Matthew Sermon

Finding True Satisfaction – Matthew 13:44-46

Today’s sermon is part of a series called ‘Gospel Renewal’. Through these sermon series, we are discovering how to consistently live all of life under the influence of the gospel.

So far, we’ve covered topics on Prayer, Humility, Repentance & Dependence. Today we will look into the topic of ‘Gospel Satisfaction’ – In this broken world, how can we live a truly satisfied Life. And our passage for today is Matt 13:44-46.

To begin with, let’s ask ourselves “How many of us don’t want to live a satisfied life?” – None, right. Which means every one of us wants to live a satisfied life.

Last week as I was thinking about our topic today on ‘Satisfaction’, I asked a couple of people at my home and office from different age groups “What is it that you expect to happen in your life that you think will give you ultimate satisfaction?”

Here are some of the answers I received:

I will be fully satisfied in life…

• When all my debt is clear
• When I get my dream job
• When the conflicts in my home will be fully resolved
• When I get a dog (answer by a 10-year-old)
• When I am healed of my sickness
• When I have a good enough bank balance

Here are a couple of things I learnt when I heard these answers

  • We all tend to look for satisfaction in the fleeting pleasures and things of this world.
  • At different junctures in life, these desires keep changing. It never ends.
  • If we genuinely evaluate, there is nothing of this world that can give permanent satisfaction in life, even on our death bed, we will be discontent with something we never got to enjoy.
  • The sad reality – Unknowingly, we are spending all our lives wasting our energy chasing after things that were never meant to give us true satisfaction.

If these things are not meant to give us true satisfaction, what is it that gives us true satisfaction? To discover that, let’s look at our passage today and find the answer – Matt 13:44-46

“The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

First of all, we have to note that the passage is a parable and not a direct command. And therefore, we have to understand the principle behind the parable and not to take it literally.

Jesus is telling us the parable about a man who finds such satisfaction in what he found, that he went and sold everything he had to own it.

True satisfaction in life comes when we find and chase after the one thing that’s of great value.

What is that one thing that the man in this parable finds of great value? – The Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”

Jesus is saying, instead of running after all these things in life that you think will give you real satisfaction. I’m saying first seek the Kingdom, and all other things shall be added unto you.

To chase after the Kingdom of God should be of primary importance, then chasing after the things of the world. 1 John 2:17 says “the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” Isn’t it true?

The picture painted in the parable is of a man who is running after the right thing and is fully satisfied.

Now, what is the Kingdom of God?

The Kingdom of God is God’s redemptive work through his son Jesus Christ in the world, resulting in people being in right relationship with himself. The Kingdom of God is the big picture of what God is doing in this world.

Which means to seek and chase after the Kingdom of God, is to walk in right relationship with God and to participate in God’s glorious work in this world.

If you are someone who’s hearing such a message for the first time, having a troubled life, without peace, without joy… You need to know that unless we walk into a right relationship with our creator God, we will never find true satisfaction. What you need right now is not a temporary solution to your temporary problem but a permanent solution that will set you free forever.

The answer to all our temporary problems is one permanent solution – Restored relationship with our creator God.

Bible says, Our sins have separated us from God, the reason the world is dark, broken, lost is because we are separated from God who created us for this glory. Instead of worshipping and adoring him, we end up worshipping the created things of this world. Idols, money, fame, pleasures.

And none of them is capable of giving us the true satisfaction our soul is seeking.

Money is not the solution to our problem. If it was money, then all the rich people in this world should have been the happiest people in the world, and that is absolutely not true.

Yes, money can give temporary relief, but it will never satisfy our souls, that craves for love and acceptance.

No matter how hard we try to mend the broken relationship with our creator God on our own, we will never be able to accomplish it on our own. Unless we are purified of our sins, we will never be able to relate with God, unless we’ve paid the penalty of our sins that satisfies God’s Holy wrath and anger on us we will never be able to mend the broken relationship.

And our human efforts can never satisfy God’s Holy anger.

The beautiful thing is, more than our cravings for a relationship with God, God craves, even more, to be with us.

The Bible says that God himself sent His son Jesus for us, to live the perfect life we were supposed to live, offered himself as a perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sins, pay for our mistakes, die on the cross and satisfy God’s wrath on our behalf, to kill the power of sin in our lives. And rose again from the dead, seated in heaven, praying for us.

And so as we repent of our sins and receive Jesus as our Lord, believe in his name, he gives the right to become children of God.

True satisfaction comes when we realize how precious is this gift from God, and therefore, willing to give away anything that holds us back from receiving this gift.

“the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Brother & sisters, it is not easy to go against the world when they say money is the answer to all problems, it not easy to go against the world when they say following family traditions and values is important, and that we have to follow them without questioning blindly.

It is not easy to drop all our idols, let go of all our dreams, count the things of the world rubbish and follow the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” – In other words, we cannot fully receive the Kingdom of God unless we are willing to pay the price.

The man in the parable, when he finds the Kingdom, he hides it back realizing how precious it is, goes back and sells everything he has, pays the price, and buys the land – and is fully satisfied in doing so.

To those who’ve received the Kingdom of God in their hearts. Here are two things I want to say, to help us treasure what we’ve received and to continue finding your satisfaction in it.

1. We have to order our lives around the Kingdom of God

Even after receiving the Kingdom of God in our hearts, as we continue to live in this world, among all the dark forces, the result-oriented bosses at work, the nagging family members at home, still seeking specific answers to our prayer. It is so easy for us to slip away and go back to find our satisfaction in the world.

To order our lives around the Kingdom of God is to make ‘Intimacy with Jesus’ the ultimate goal of our lives. Which means we should always be willing to let go of anyone or anything so that you grow in intimacy with Jesus.

  • Whether its an ungodly relationship that takes all our energy away and weakens us from enjoying intimacy with Jesus.
  • Whether it’s our job that doesn’t allow us time to enjoy intimacy with Jesus.
  • Whether a business that takes most of our focus away from enjoying intimacy with Jesus.
  • Whether the wealth that is stopping us from enjoying intimacy with Jesus.

Like the rich young ruler who wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. When Jesus knowing his heart idols, asked him to go and sell all that he has, give to the poor and follow him. Was unwilling to do so and went back sorrowful.

Jesus said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

The key to continuing living a satisfied life for all those who believe, is to order our life around the Kingdom of God, to find our satisfaction in our relationship with Christ.

2. Dedicate all of life for the expansion of the Kingdom of God

As we enjoy our relationship with Christ, fully satisfied in Him. He then calls us to participate with Him in his Kingdom work.

It’s a privilege for us to be called to participate in His work. By serving God and his people, we’re not doing a favour on God. But, in fact, God is doing a favour on us.

By allowing us to participate in his Kingdom work, he is giving us more opportunities to be satisfied in life.

Personally, as a family, to be serving God and to serve you with our time, energy and efforts, even thought it gets tiring, and exhaustive. By the end of the day when we sit down and reflect on all that God is doing in and through our lives, there is such joy and satisfaction in our hearts. I sometimes cry.

Yes, we have to look after our families, work hard to survive, but unless our primary pursuit in life is to participate in the expansion of the Kingdom of God, we are still lacking sometimes precious in life.

As I conclude, let us all first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness that comes through repentance and belief in Jesus, and He will surely satisfy our soul with all good things in life, that is meant to bring true joy and happiness.

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Philippians Sermon

Gospel Humility – Philippians 2:3-11

Good morning church! We started a new series last weekend titled “Gospel Renewal” and we’ll be covering different topics over the next 2 months like prayer, humility, repentance but explaining how all of these fruits can only come about through the gospel.

What we mean by that is – in every other religion and moral science class – people unanimously agree that prayer, humility, repentance are good things to cultivate through self-effort.

However, the Bible stands in stark contrast to all of these – through Scripture we understand that all these things can only be truly produced by trusting on the grace of God through Jesus Christ. That’s why we call it Gospel Renewal. And after last week’s theme on Gospel centred prayer, today we will look at Gospel Humility from Philippians 2.

As we are turning to today’s passage, let me just highlight a few reasons why “Humility” is an absolute need for all of us. For that we need to consider the opposite of humility which is “Pride”.

Now usually when we think about pride – we usually imagine someone who says “I’m awesome, I’m great and I do all things well”. Although this is one-way pride expresses itself, however I just want to mention a few more subtle ways in which pride manifests itself in our hearts.

  1. Being over-critical about others: We’ve taken it upon ourselves to points out the theological errors or sin struggles in other people. As believers do we need to correct people? Yes, but if we see a pattern where we are always the ones correcting others or if we are more concerned about the sin and issues in other people rather than our own, it’s pride.
  2. Prayerlessness: Prayerlessness ultimately arises out of pride which makes us feel like we don’t need God as much. We can figure things out and fix ourselves using self-effort.
  3. Not confessing sins: Our pride often prevents us from admitting that we have messed up and sinned against God. We usually end up minimizing the sin or getting defensive or innovating new ways to fix our sin problems apart from God.
  4. Not asking others for help: Even though we might be struggling in our faith, we’ll never ask our brothers and sisters to help us. We’ll never reach out to them or even if someone offers to help us, we’ll not take it seriously because in our pride we wouldn’t want to be perceived as helpless and weak.

And I want to be the first to admit that I’m prideful and God has been working on my heart over the last so many years humbling. I hope we realize that in many ways like this we all struggle with pride and we need the gospel to help us and change us to produce true humility.

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (v3-11)

We see in verses 3-4 how Paul instructs the Philippian church in humility to count others more significant than themselves and look to the interests of others and not just our own.

But he knows that all of these instructions will be empty and futile apart from the gospel…apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. In a sense he was saying – unless you immerse yourself in the gospel, you will not be able to produce humility. And he mention 3 ways does that:

1.Looking up to Christ (v5-7)

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men.

I remember while I was growing up – I somehow got very simplistic answers like “The best way to live your life is to be like Jesus”. Pretty quickly I realized how impossible it was to live like Jesus.

In fact I found following the model of Jesus to be very intimidating because with every passing year I realized how further away I went from becoming like Jesus. But all of that changed when I became a believer.

Reading the Bible, I realized that the secret of the Christian life is that Jesus is now united with us in a relationship so deep and intimate that now He lives His life in and through us!

Jesus isn’t just a model but the motivation for our lives! Jesus isn’t just the inspiration but the enabler for our lives!

And so when we read the word “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” – realize that it’s not as though we are forced to follow someone else’s philosophy but rather as believer we earnestly desire to have the mind of Christ.

To look at the world in the way He does. To imitate Him. Because He is a part of us and we are a part of Him! What is the mindset of Christ? Let’s read v6-7. Its astonishing if we have to read it carefully.

Jesus Has the same nature and image of God –

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  (Heb 1:3)

And yet He did not consider equality with God as something to be seized or something to be held to for advantage. In a world where people fight for position and status – unwilling to give up their position of power…this seems to be unbelievable!!!

Paul takes it one step further when he says 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men.

The idea of emptied himself means “willing to come down to no reputation”. Jesus didn’t lose His divinity (He didn’t stop being God). Jesus didn’t lose His purity.

But He did empty Himself of aspects of the richness of His glory and majesty to become like us. He took the form of weakness by putting on our flesh. Jesus is the Creator God becoming like a creature.

The word “servant” is Greek is the word “doulos” which means bondservant or slave. Here the Master of the entire universe took on the form of a slave – one of subservience.

The Son of Man came not be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Matt 20:28)

In another place in Galatians it says that Jesus was born under the law. Think about it – Jesus gave the command of circumcision to Abraham in Genesis and centuries later Jesus Himself got circumcised on the eighth day.

Jesus Himself gave the law and commands to Moses and centuries later He lived in obedience to that same law. It’s humiliating when you think about it.

He was willing to lay down and give away His reputation to be with us. He’s not disconnected from us and our issues. Here is our God who identifies with us by emptying Himself and taking our form and living in the very same broken world that we live in.

You feel pain and hurt? Jesus fully understands. Do you experience temptation? Jesus knows exactly what that feels like. If this doesn’t humble us, nothing else will. The God of the universe becoming like us! Amazing! 

2. Looking at the Cross

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

When we think about the cross nowadays – it’s placed above church buildings signifying that it’s a church building. In the early 2000s wearing a cross used to be also a style statement.

And I was a new believer in those days and I also starting wearing a cross. One uncle from church who used to take bible studies for us once asked me a question: he asked me if the cross is a faith statement or a style statement?

For the first time, I began to question why I wore the cross because deep down I knew it was a fashion statement. So even though nowadays the meaning of the cross is quite different from what it was in NT times.

When Paul wrote this letter to Philippians, they knew what the cross meant. It was capital punishment in the Roman empire.

Only the guiltiest criminals, the worst of the lot, people who would cause violent uprisings against the Roman government – only they would receive this punishment. Not only was it the cruellest way of killing criminals and but it was extremely humiliating because it was done publicly.

And we see our Saviour Jesus Christ – even though he was innocent and sinless – willingly giving up Himself on a cross. Why? Let’s remember that we deserved to be on that cross – not Jesus because of our sins.

The horror of the cross is a reminder of how serious the charge and penalty that was levelled against us. But at the same time, the cross is a declaration of God’s love and mercy toward us.

Jesus Christ was willing to be humiliated by even dying on the cross – if that is what it meant to save us from the wrath and punishment for our sins! Here is our God who protects us by laying down His life! He loves us so much that He takes our punishment upon Himself so that we can eternally live in a relationship with Him! It’s mind-blowing!

Did we earn this favour? No! Did we deserve this? Absolutely not! And that’s what humbles our hearts. When we realize that we were once condemned prisoners who have been set free by the sacrifice of our Saviour!

3. Kneeling before Christ

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (v9-11)

Imagine you were invited to meet the President of a country. In that place where you are going to meet him, there’s a gathering of the entire army of the country, the officials and governors.

And when you attend the meeting, you won’t go and announce “I’m so and so and I’ve done all these things in my life”. Instead, you’ll be humbled at the sight of the President and everyone else gathered there.

John Piper says something like when you go to the Grand Canyon…you don’t go there and think of how great you are or how good you look…why? You’ll be blown away by the breath-taking beauty of your view! You’ll be humbled at the creation of an amazing God!

Similarly, these verses tell us that the name that has been given to Jesus is so honourable and so great – that at that name every knee will bow down in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! Wow!

I think what it means is that when Jesus Christ returns and King and Judge in His glory – every person on the earth – believers and even unbelievers will kneel and acknowledge Jesus Christ when they see Him!

What does that mean for us as believers now – is that We’ll never know what humility is unless we’ve learnt to humble ourselves before Christ!

Humility comes from an awareness of who Jesus Christ is and who we are in relation to Him. Humility involves surrendering to the will of Jesus Christ! 

In my experience, I’ve seen how God had used the gospel to humble my heart while listening to the Gospel being preached or when a brother has applied the Gospel to my life situation or when my heart melts with the Gospel during my Bible readings.

It doesn’t happen through self-effort or self-improvement. It happens when we look up to Christ, look at the cross and kneel before Christ!

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1 John Sermon

Gospel-centred Prayer – 1 John 5:14-15

After doing a year of expository preaching on the Gospel of Mark, we will now be focusing on a series of topical preaching called ‘Gospel Renewal’. What I mean by the word Gospel is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the redemption of mankind.

We’re using the word Renewal because even though we hear and use the word Gospel often times in our verbiage we still fail to understand the depth of it and for the most part we don’t know how to apply the Gospel in our daily life and live for the Gospel.

Therefore, the aim of this series is to learn how the Gospel changes and impacts everything we do, that anything and everything we do is only a response to God’s love and grace that He has shown us in Christ. The ultimate goal is to glorify God.

Today’s topic is going to be on the subject of GOSPEL PRAYER. The passage I chose to study and preach is 1 John 5:14-15.

To give you a bit of a context, John is writing this letter to the believers in the Church of Ephesus.

After giving a long list of instruction to the church on the doctrine of Christ, Obedient living & Devotion, John is almost concluding his talk, and in chapter 5:14-15 he says

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Last Sunday Jeff reminded us that our primary call is to be with Jesus. That, before we are called to do anything for Jesus, we are called to be with Him and abide in Him.

And it is through prayer and devotion that we get  to be with Christ and to enjoy Intimacy with Him.

Brothers & sisters, Prayer is the most important spiritual discipline for every Christian.

But, have you wondered why our Prayer life becomes the most neglected spiritual discipline of all? That’s because, our prayer life is the prime target of the enemy and he will do anything to distract us from approaching God in prayer.

Last week while Jeff and I were in Taiwan going through the City to city Church planter intensive training, one of the topic that really blessed me was the topic on prayer by a pastor called Jon Hori.

One of his statement that stood out for me was when he said “I’m not worried when I hear that the church isn’t growing even though the people are genuinely praying, I’m worried when I hear that the church is rapidly growing but people aren’t praying”

This is what it implies – Any growth in our lives, whether in church, at work, in college, in finances that isn’t grounded in prayer is a dangerous endeavour.

It’s a dangerous endeavour because it will damage our faith and (leads us into misery / leave us feeling hopeless and miserable). Without prayer, we will drift away from God’s plan and purpose and end up in a place where we were never intended to be.

It will damage our faith because when we apply worldly wisdom to achieve things on our own strength, we will end up disregarding God and take pride in our own achievements and abilities instead of giving glory to God. We will stop believing in the Gospel and lose faith in Christ.

If you are convinced that prayer is most important to us, let us now look at how we need to prayer. As we look into today’s passage, I want to talk about the essentials (Saar) of prayer and the methods of praying.

In the passage as John is encouraging the people to pray he is saying two things that I believe is most essential when we think about prayer.

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

1. Our prayer needs to be rooted in Christ, with confidence in Him and His finished work on the cross.

What I mean by that is when we go to God in prayer we don’t go with a self-righteous and prideful heart like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who goes to the temple and prays ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Have you noticed, often times we fail to go to God in prayer because we think we’ve failed to live a perfect and obedient life, one that is pleasing to God, and that God is not interested in me or in my prayer unless I do it right.

Brothers & sisters, God knows our heart, he knows our struggles, he knows our failures, he knows our short comings, he knows the repetitive sinful tendencies we struggle with. And yet he does not expect us to fix all that and then approach Him in prayer.

Rather, he desires that we go to Him as we are, sinful & broken like the Tax collector who stood at a distance, with His eyes on the ground, beating his breast and praying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

What Jesus accomplished for us on the cross is far greater than what we can ever imagine.

In 1 John chapter 1, John writes

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we go to God in prayer with the attitude of ‘I am right & have no sin, therefore God hears me’ then we deceive ourselves. No matter how hard we try, we can never match up to the standard of God’s holiness.

Rather when we go to God in prayer and confess our sins, then he is faithful to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Let’s not forget brothers and sisters that once we were alienated from God, we were his enemies because of our evil behaviour. But Christ came to this world, lived among us, lived the righteous life we were supposed to live, and through his death on the cross he absorbed the wrath of God that was upon us and presented us holy in God’s sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

This is our identity in Christ, and this is the confidence in which we approach God in prayer.

2. The second thing we learn about prayer from this passage is that we ask according to his will and not ours.

Often times, this aspect of prayer messes up with our pride, our self-gratifying nature & our dreams & desires, Isn’t it?

The reason it messes up is because often times we think we know what is better for us. But in doing so we fail to realise the ultimate goal of God in this universe He created us for himself and for His pleasure. We forget that ultimately He is in control  of everything and calls the shots on us.

No matter how many dreams and desires you have for yourself. If they are not as per God’s will for your life and it they don’t serve his ultimate goal, then what you are chasing after will never satisfy you.

And therefore, to be in the perfect will of God should be the ultimate goal of our life. Nothing else in life can satisfy our inmost cravings and longings – not wealth, pleasure, comfort or people.

Even Jesus, while teaching about prayer in Matthew 6 teaches us to primarily pray for God’s kingdom and Gods will to be done in our lives.

What John is saying is that whatever you ask, if it is the will of God for your life, He will provide.

So, how do we pray in a way that we seek His will.

James 4:13-15:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

Seeking for God’s will as we pray is the right thing to do.

I hope I’ve initiated a spark in to your heart to revive your prayer life. Please don’t let it go off, rather flame it to fire and live for God.

The other thing I wanted to share is our prayer postures. Often times we think of only one or two ways in which to approach God in prayer. But let me conclude by suggesting a couple of more prayer postures or methods that has personally benefited me.

Prayer Postures:

  • Quite time behind the doors
  • Prayer Journalizing Eg. King David
  • Prayer Cards
  • Walk & Talk
  • Family devotions
  • Community prayer

“Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.” – Max Lucado

Categories
Mark Sermon

Staying Loyal to Christ & His Mission – Mark 14:26-52

Our passage for this morning is Mark 14:26-52 (Read)

This week as I was reading this passage & preparing the sermon, I had to dig deep into my own heart and ask some tough questions about my loyalty to Christ.

And as I meditated on them, I believe the Holy Spirit convicted me of my Sins. But what’s amazing is that it opened my eyes to see my folly, and at the same time helped me understand God’s providence for me to help me remain loyal to Him.

As I preach from the same passage this morning, I’m hoping & praying that God would do the same work in your hearts.

In this passage, Mark is telling us the story of how Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of his twelve disciples. And he also exposes the heart of other disciples who claimed to be loyal to Christ, but when the time came, they all ran away for their lives.

In verse 27 when Jesus tells them that “You will all fall away” as written in the scripture, we see Peter very boldly claims that even if others fall away, I will never fall away. To which Jesus says to him “This very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times”. And again to which Peter makes an, even more, bolder declaration saying “If I must die with you, I will not deny you”, and all the others joined with him and made the same claims.

But as the story progresses, we see that on the very same night when a crowd of people with swords and clubs come to arrest Jesus, the same disciples who made big claims ran for their lives.

And among them was also a young boy who ran naked leaving his cloth behind when he was caught.

As I pondered upon what the disciples did, I realised in no way we are different from them. We too make big claims of being a follower of Jesus and show a willingness to do anything from him. Don’t we?

Like, right now if I have to ask you the following questions, think about your answers.

Q. Do we love Jesus?

Q. Do we love Jesus more than ourself?

Q. Do we think under whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in, we will hold fast to Jesus and never leave him?

Q. Are we willing to lay our lives for the sake of Jesus?

I’m sure most of us would easily answer YES to those questions.

If we’re honest, you will all agree with me that there could be moments in our lives where we can end up acting exactly the opposite to what we claim, just like the disciples.

As I was evaluating the reasons why the disciples may have behaved in that way, I thought of three of them.

Fear of Man

The first reason I see is the Fear of Man.

I’m sure they were terrified when they saw crowds of men standing with swords and clubs. If we try and put ourselves in their shoe, I am sure we would be terrified too.

Think about his, what if right now a 100 people turn up in this room with swords. What do you think will be our response? Obviously Fear.

Forget people with swords, we get terrified when people ask questions about our faith and ask why we’re sharing the Gospel. Often times our natural response is to get away from those places.

I remember an occasion when we hosted a business seminar in Mumbai along with a team who came from the US. The goal was to make friends and connect with people. But when one of the speakers, out of the blue decided to speak about his faith, a group of attendees stood up and interrupted the seminar and went and complained to the owner of the facility that we are trying to convert them to Christianity. I remember how terrified I was and all I wanted to do was hide my face somewhere.

Imagine a situation where your unbelieving family members threaten you because of your faith in Jesus, your community people threaten to kill you or your family members because you are a follower of Jesus. When they threaten to throw you out of the community.

I bet it’s not going to be hard. And there is a possibility a lot of us who claim to love Jesus and follow him wholeheartedly will fumble and react just like the disciples.

Love for their present life

The second reason they ran away could be because they loved their present lives so much that they were unwilling to let it go. We all love the life we have, and I’m sure none of us imagines ending it right now or even in the next couple of years.

A situation like that where you are encountered with people who can kill you means losing the precious life we’ve been treasuring all the while. It could mean the end of all our dreams and desires. Dreams of getting married, having children, living in a big life, travelling to places. Why would someone want to lose them?

Think about people who are trapped in the world of fame and fortune that if they claim to be a follower of Jesus, they can lose everything in a moment.

Yes, there is a possibility that our love for our sweet little life would make us react just like the disciples.

Unexpected encounter

The third reason they ran could be because they never expected such a situation to arise. It was an unexpected encounter. The disciples were hoping that Jesus would raise an army and defeat the Roman empire and become their King.

But that is not what they encountered. Instead, the disciples saw Jesus helpless, weak and defeated. Maybe they ran away because they expected something else from Jesus.

We too can encounter unexpected events to happen in our lives. Loss of a family member, loss in business, losing jobs, financial crises, unexpected health issues either with one of our family members or us.

There is a possibility that we can also turn away from Jesus just like the disciples because of the unexpected and sudden events that shake our life of its foundations.

The more I thought about the disciples response against my response in similar situations I was sure that it is possible for me also to turn away from Jesus. Either because of the Fear of Man, love for my own life or because of an unexpected encounter.

And as I was groaning in my heart thinking about my natural responses to such circumstances. I asked God, Lord “How can I love you deeply enough and stay loyal to you until death?”

And, Thankfully I found the answer right there in verse 38 where Jesus finds Peter, James & John sleeping and he says “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I realized immediately that the greatest providence of God for us in difficult times is God himself.

Jesus takes his disciples to Gethsamane and Mark writes Jesus was greatly distressed and troubled, his soul was sorrowful, even to death because of what was going to happen.

But instead of sitting and worrying about it, Jesus fell to the ground and cried out to the Father, and he even tells the disciples to do the same.

Jesus cries out in prayer saying “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

His natural response in pain was to ask the Father to remove the cup of suffering from him, but immediately after that, he submits himself to God’s sovereignty, knowing that God knows what is best for Him.

He knew that God the Father was seeking to glorify himself. He knew that through his death on the cross God was redeeming back his called ones to himself. He knew that only through his death mankind can find hope of a restored relationship with their creator God.

But three times when Jesus comes to check on the disciples he finds them sleeping and not alert.

I realized as I was reading this passage that our greatest folly which makes us give in to the schemes of the enemy is our failure to stay alert & our inability to pray at all times.

I’m sure that if the disciples had stayed awake and alert and had fervently prayed to God the Father for courage and strength in difficult times, they would have reacted differently.

What is Prayer?

I like to read a quote by John Piper which I believe beautifully summarizes the meaning of prayer.

“Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy”

Yes, there will be situations in our lives that will look dangerous, we will be hated by men because of your faith in Christ. There will be times when our love for ourselves will be so strong that our bodies will refuse to let go of the things of the world. And yes, there come uncertain and unexpected events that will take us by surprise.

The only way we can stay loyal to Christ and continue in our faith is when our dependence is on God. When we pray and ask God for courage when you are fearful, ask God for strength when you are weak, ask God for patience when you are restless, ask God for joy when you feel sorrowful & ask for wisdom when you are confused.

Jesus said “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith”

Brother & sisters let us not make the mistake of relying on our strength and abilities but let us turn to God in all circumstances and rely on His providence, which is God himself.

Let us get rid of all the distractions that keep us from prayer and watching over our lives. Lately, I had to get rid of all my social media accounts. I had to put off all my in-app notifications that bothered me and diverted my attention to things that were less important in life.

I’m trying to be more alert and to be in the moment when I’m at home, in the office and while travelling. Always praying to God in my moments of weakness and struggle.

Ask yourself, what is it that you need to switch off in your life that hinders your prayer life and your inability to depend on God at all times.

Let me list down a couple of things that you may want to think about

–    Is it Money, wealth & possession that’s distracting you from praying
–    It is Entertainment? On your Phone, On your TV, On your Computer
–    Is it unhealthy & ungodly relationships
–    Unhealthy/ unplanned s time schedule
–    Work responsibilities
–    Hobbies
–    Lustful thoughts and pursuits

If you know what it is, I urge you to repent before God and run towards Him, desiring for Him.

I believe if you do so, everything will go well with you and He will be give you the strength, courage & wisdom to stay loyal to Him till the end of our lives.

Categories
Mark Sermon

What Stops us from Offering our Best to God ? – Mark – 14:1-11

Our passage for today is from Mark 14:1-11 [READ]

If we stay alert and pay close attention to our passage today, I believe it reveals some of the heart idols that prevent us from experiencing the joy of living out a fulfilling Christian life.

Context:
This event takes place two days before the Passover & the feast of unleavened bread. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Jesus and kill him.

While Jesus was in a place called Bethany in the house of Simon, the leper, reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and broke the container and poured it over Jesus’s head.

Pure nard is also known as ‘Jatamansi oil’, only found in the Himalaya mountain in India, extracted from the root of a tree, is one of the most effective essential oils for supporting a calm mind and balanced body. Jatamansi oil is one of the most important herbal medicines for dealing with grief after losing a loved one. It can also be used to anoint those who are transitioning from life to death.

The ointment the woman poured on Jesus’s head was one of the rarest and best in those days. The woman spent around 2 months of wages to purchase it, probably for a special occasion in her life, or as an investment for the future.

The same ointment is also mentioned in the Songs of Solomon 1:12 where the bride says “While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.”

The perfume mentioned in this verse is the same ointment the woman poured on Jesus. Probably she brought and saved it to please and attract her future husband.

In today’s context, it’s almost like our saving accounts, a fixed deposit, or a gold deposit that we set apart either for a special occasion, like marriage, children’s education, children’s wedding etc.  or as security for future.

Seeing what the woman did with that expensive ointment, some of the people gathered there scolded the woman and did not appreciate it.

According to them, it was a stupid thing to do; instead, they said the ointment should have been sold and the money given to the poor.

Jesus, instead, turns to those guys and tells them to leave her alone and says something remarkable about the woman. He says “She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

I want us to pause here for a moment and understand why it was such a significant act for Jesus.

1.    The woman knew something that others didn’t

The woman’s act showed that she learned something about Jesus that others didn’t. She recognised who Jesus really is. Just like Simeon, the man who saw baby Jesus in the temple brought for dedication and instantly recognised him as Lord, like the Shepherds who saw Jesus in the manger and was filled with Awe.

She knew she was in the presence of her true Lord and King. The one who has come to give abundant life, a peace that passes all understanding, joy unending, life eternal. One who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Just like when we first heard the Gospel and heard the story of Jesus, the veils from our eyes fell and hearts responded in faith.

2.    The woman responded in Worship.

When she recognised who Jesus was her natural response was adoration & worship.

3.    The woman offered the best Sacrifice

Like Abel who brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions to offer at the altar of God, she brought the best she had.

I could imagine this woman when she heard Jesus was in the town. She must have run into her home, looking around and thinking what the best gift she has in her house that she can offer to her Lord and Savior. And her eye fell on the Alabaster flask of pure nard that she had saved for her future. And immediately without a second thought, grabs the flask and runs towards Jesus.

The price didn’t matter to her, the people didn’t matter to her, the occasion didn’t matter to her, the place didn’t matter, her dignity didn’t matter.

All that mattered was the Jesus.

4.    The woman expressed Passionate Love.

She didn’t do it just to merely impress Jesus or show off to the people how wealthy she is. She didn’t do it because she wanted her name printed on the wall saying “Donated by Miss”.

She did it purely out of passionate love for Christ.

It was clearly seen through her act of worship.

5.    The woman Empathized with Jesus.

Imagine, Jesus as he was reclining on the table, he is dealing with the pain and agony his body is going to suffer. He could feel the weight of the sins of the whole World upon him. He is dealing with the pain of separation from this Father.

We could see a glimpse of his pain in the garden of Gethsamani when he is crying out to his Father saying “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

And there as he is dealing with all this in his mind, this woman breaks the alabaster flask with pure nard. The ointment that is meant to ease the grief of a suffering man who is transitioning from life to death.

They say the texture & aroma of the ointment is so strong that it sticks to the hair and keeps throwing out the fragrance for almost a week. Probably, when Jesus was taking all the painful lashes, beatings and piercing, he might have smelled the aroma of the ointment that woman poured on his head.

All these reasons make the moment very significant, and only Jesus could understand it.

Immediately after this event, we read about a person who is exactly opposite to the woman. He goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus for the sake of money, for his own selfish gain.

He failed to recognise Jesus as his true saviour and master. Instead, he was so corrupt in his mind that he sold himself to the high priests.

Now, as a Christian, we are called to be like the woman in faith, in action, in thought.

James 4:8 says “Draw near to God as He will draw near to you, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Romans 12:1 Paul writes “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship.”

2 Timothy 2:8 says “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to the gospel”

And, even though we ought to live in this manner, we still fail to give our best to Jesus in our practical lives. I believe one of the reasons why we fail to experience the joy of living out a fulfilling Christian life is because we fail to offer our best to God like the woman with alabaster oil.

– It doesn’t mean that if we don’t offer our best God will not love us.
– We don’t do it to win his favour and approval.
– God has already approved us in his son Jesus, the day we repented of our sins and put our faith in Him.

But consider the words of James 2:14-17

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Matthew 25:35-36 & 40
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Hebrews 13:15-16
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Sadly, we all fail to do this in some measure or the other.

As an application point, I want to share from our passage what are the reasons some of us fail to offer our best to God.

I believe the three characters represented in this passage reveal three reasons why some of us fail to offer our best to God.

Woman

The first reason we fail to offer our best to Jesus is when we fail to see our sinful state, especially our ungodly attachments with the world and the things of this world.

When we look at the woman, the first thing that stands out is that she didn’t care about the value of the ointment, she apparently comes out as a person who has no attachments to the things of the world and second, she was desperate to be with Jesus.

Let me highlight some ways in which we attach ourselves to the things of this world that stops us from offering our best to God?

–    Our attachment with money & possessions – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
–    Our attachment with ungodly people – “Are we unequally yoked with unbelivers & ungodly people”
–    Our attachment with habitual / unrepented sins.
–    Our attachment with fame and prosperous lifestyle.
–    Our attachment to self.

Romans 12:2 – We ought not to be confirmed to the patterns of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. – Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The People

The second reason some of us fail to offer our best to Jesus is like the people who scolded the woman and was unable to see and understand what was going to happen to Jesus in a couple of days, we also fail to see what Christ has accomplished for us by His death on the cross.

The people failed to understand Jesus even though he told time and again that he will be handed over to the chief priests and will be killed. They expected that Jesus will defeat the Romans, establish his Kingdom & become their King. But what Jesus was about to accomplish through his death on the cross was far greater that what they imagined

The second reason we fail to offer our best to Jesus is because we fail to value and understand what it means to be forgiven of our sins and what it means to be adopted in the family of God for eternity.

And that is why we keep reminding ourselves daily the Gospel.

Judas Iscariot

The third reason some of you fail to offer your best to Jesus is because, like Judas you have stooped so low that for your selfish gains you have sold yourselves to the devil.

The reason you come to church and fellowship with people is to betray Christ and betray his people. You have become wolves in sheep’s clothing in the hands of the devil, to turn away the minds and hearts of the people, from God.

The purpose of your lives has become to cheat and destroys one another for your own selfish purpose of gaining wealth & possession.

We have become deceivers and lairs.

To those who are in this position, I want to warn and encourage you that it is still not late for you to turn back, repent of your wrongdoings to God and his people.

Don’t end up like Judas who couldn’t gather the courage to come back to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. I’m 100% sure that Jesus would have invited him with open arms.

Finally, as I end, I hope this passage has convicted your hearts just as it has convicted mine.

Our response shouldn’t be to hide our faces and run away from God and his people, rather it should be to go to God in repentance and faith, and confess our sins to one another so that we are restored back to God.

Let’s pray.

Categories
1 Peter Sermon

Why Church?

Last Sunday Jinson preached from 1 Peter 2:9-10 and shared with us the vision and goals for the Church in the year 2019.

As mentioned, the three goals we want to focus in 2019 are

  • Neighbourhood Ministries – Reaching out to our neighbours with the gospel and planting new Gospel Communities.
  • One-on-one Discipleship – Where everyone is sharing life with at least one person.
  • Establish Covenant membership – Committing to church life and fulfilling the vision as a family.

Jinson also highlighted that the responsibility of fulfilling this vision of the Kingdom of God is not just upon the elders of the church, but it is the calling laid out for every follower of Jesus.

Some of you may be finding all this overwhelming?

And the questions you are asking are ….

Q: Why should I get involved in church so deeply when I have other things to focus in life?

Q: Am I not supposed to focus on my career and my Job the most?

Q: Am I not supposed to find a spouse, get married, have children & settle down in life?

Can’t I just be a regular person who comes to Church on Sunday whenever I’m free and relaxed?

Hidden behind all these smaller questions about Church is a larger question most people are asking today is “Why Church?”, Why is Church important?

In today’s sermon, I will be answering this question.

But before I begin, I want to let you know that we as leaders totally understand these struggles. We too work in corporate companies as full-time employees just as you guys and voluntarily serve in the church.

I’m not saying this to boost, but I’m saying this to let you know that we are not asking you to do anything that we are not doing.

What I’m going to share about the church today are the very reasons that motivate us to sacrifice our time and energy because of the joy and fulfilment we experience in serving God and his people.

This calling is not just for church leaders but is for each one who’ve put their faith in Christ and is his followers.

The Right picture of the Church

But, let me first start by presenting the right picture of the church.

The word ‘church’ in Greek (Yunani) is the called ‘ekklesia’ and ekklesia means ‘an assembly’ or ‘called out ones’. It is not a building or a place, but it is people.

This is important for our conversation because most people when they hear the word church the visual is of a building with a cross on it, which is a totally distorted view.

Church, is an assembly of people gathered together for a common purpose of glorifying God. And this assembly is led by a leader.

Ephesians 1:22-23 tells us that Jesus is the head of this church, this assembly.

“And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

And for the assembly of Jesus followers to function well, it has to be organised well. And that’s how we get the understanding of Universal church and the Local Church. The universal church is the whole assembly of Jesus followers spread around the world, and the Local church is a unit of the universal church that operates locally.

The idea is similar to a political leader (for example Mahatma Gandhi) who gathered a group of people across the nation for a common purpose and then established offices in different regions and assigned local leaders to lead them.

Similarly, when we talk about the church – the head of the assembly is Jesus, the common purpose is bringing Glory to God’s name, the different establishments are the local churches and the elders are the leaders appointed by the head shepherd, who is Jesus, to lead God’s people towards the common goal.

Now, coming back to our question

Why Church? or

What is the purpose of the Church? or

What role does the church play in our individual lives?

To answer this question, we will look at two scripture verses out of which I will share 4 functions of the church and talk about how each of them functions contribute to our individual lives.

The first verse is Acts 2:42 where we get to see the activities that happen within the church and Matthew 28:19-20 where we look at how that transcends into the world.

Acts 2:42 – “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

Matthew 28:19-20 – “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

1. Why Church? Because the Church helps us gather a RIGHT PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE.

Acts 2:42 gives us a description of what church life looked like for those new believers who heard Peter share the Gospel and were cut through their heart, repented of their sins and were baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit.

The first thing they did was they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.

Brothers & sister, the world around us offers various different perspective on life, there are thousands of books available in the market that give different outlook on life.

Some will say money is the answer to all life’s problems, others will say knowledge is what liberates men, and others who say freestyle living is the answer to all emotional setbacks.

Remember that all these observations are human perspectives based on individual experiences and it is only the Bible that opens our eyes to the truth and sets us free.

2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”

We get the right perspective on life only in the church because it is only in the church where we are introduced and taught from the manual provided by our manufacturer God.

Moreover, the church not only addresses specific issues periodically but also increases our appetite to go back home and read and meditate on scriptures even more.

And therefore, the church is important because when we come here with an open mind to receive what’s been taught from the manual of God, the Bible, we gain enlightenment and a right perspective on life.

And therefore it is important that we pay attention to the preaching of God’s word, even if we’re not able to make to church on Sunday make sure you go back read the notes without fail.

We meditate on what’s been preached, when the scriptures convict us of sin, confess and repent to God and to a fellow brethren.

Finally, walk in obedience and change your belief’s, your lifestyle as the Spirit of God leads you. 

2. Why Church? Because Church encourages us to have and maintain a RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS PEOPLE.

The second thing we see the people do in Acts 2:42 is they regularly fellowshipped with each other.

If you look at history, humanity has always thrived when they’ve come together in unity. Great exploits have been recorded that proves the effects of the union of human spirits. Every being on this planet, be it social or wild, flourish when they live, share, and grow as a community.

A human being is a social being, and we like to share our feelings, happiness and sorrows with other humans. And in doing so especially within the church context helps us develop right relationships with people, not just with church folks but also with the world outside.

Through his church, Jesus joins us together in a community where we learn to love, forgive, bear with one another, encourage, help, exalt, correct, uplift, etc.

God has joined us together as a family for a purpose, and we need to see it that way. Not running away from each other but running towards each other for support and encouragement.

That is why we encourage participation in Gospel Communities and One-on-one discipleship.

When we do so, we develop a right attitude towards other people which also reflects in the way we deal with the world outside.

3. Why Church? Because Church helps build RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

The thirdd activity we see in Acts 2:42 is participating in the Lord’s supper and praying together as a family helping build a healthy and right relationship with God.

We are professional forgetters, even though we’ve heard the Gospel and its implications on our personal lives a thousand times, the devil is continuously behind our back distracting us to follow a false path leading us to death.

But when we come to church and participate in the holy communion, when we gather in communities, and a have a meal, when we join hands and prayer for each other – we remember our Lord and his sacrifice on the cross for the redemption of our sins. We express our dependence on him in prayer.

All of this leads to building a right connection with God. As a result, we carry the light of Christ to every place we go.

4. Why Church? Because the Church reveals to us the RIGHT PURPOSE TO PURSUE.

We have to remind ourselves that the end goal which God is accomplishing for himself is to gather his called ones from all around the world. And it is our great privilege to be a participant in this great work.

In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus said – “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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Beyond our career, our jobs, our dreams, making money & travelling the world, the truest purpose in life, for which we are all created is to serve God and to participate in his Kingdom work. Everything else is secondary.

Every one of us will find true fulfilment only when we pursue the purpose for which we are created, every other pursuit will just give us a temporary sense of satisfaction and happiness.

It is only in the church where we are made aware of our purpose and given the opportunity and direction to serve God and purse the right purpose for life.

And that is why we encourage each one of you to serve in some way or the other.

Conclusion

As I conclude, I hope I’ve given you enough reasons to get up from your bed every Sunday morning to come to church with joy and excitement in your heart to gain a RIGHT PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE, to develop a RIGHT A RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARDS PEOPLE, to build a RIGHT CONNECTION WITH GOD & to PURSE THE RIGHT PURPOSE IN LIFE.

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Mark Sermon

What does it mean to walk alongside Jesus – Mark 10:32-52

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]What does it mean to walk alongside Jesus? – Mark 10:32-52

Our passage for today is from Mark 10:32-45. [READ]

As we read this passage, the first thing we notice is James and John approaching Jesus and trying to reserve a prominent place next to Him, one on his right and one on his left, in his glory.

If we are honest, the request that James & John makes shouldn’t be a surprising one for us. Because, if given a chance we all like and desire to have a special place next to the person we love and admire. Won’t you agree?

We like to be the special child to our parents and have a special place in their heart, we like to be the special employee at work – have a close rapport with our managers and bosses, we like to have a special place at church – a close rapport with the leaders, we also love the idea of been associated with famous people, etc

I see my sons Jairus & Amaze often battle with each other to sit or sleep right next to mom & dad.

Likewise, even John & James desired for a special place next to their Lord whom they loved dearly. In the last 3 years, they walked with him, talked with them, also fully convinced that He is the promised Messiah, the son of God.

When Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”. They were so compelled by His love they immediately answered with a ‘Yes’, saying ‘we can’, they loved him so much that they were willing to do anything to be close to Him, however, I don’t think they fully understood what that meant.

What we see here is that their desire to be and walk alongside Jesus was a good desire, but the motive and the approach wasn’t right.

Among all the people that were following Jesus, he had 12 who were close to him, but even among the 12, there were 3 that were closest to him.

Peter, James & John.

What we see James and John doing is that they were pushing themselves to get pre-eminence over others, even pushing Peter out of the circle. In Matthew 20:20 Matthew writes that they got their mother to come to Jesus

and request him to allow her boys to sit next to him.

Looking at what John and James did, in verse 41 Mark writes “When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.” In other words, they saw it as a cheap stunt to get ahead of others in the group.

If I have to put that in the church context, it’s like us wanting to follow Jesus, wanting to come to church, have fellowship with brothers and sisters, wanting to participate in worship, listen to the word – all because we genuinely love Jesus and his people.

But the approach in which we do it could be by performance before God and others & even trying to push ourselves ahead of others

We often do that without even really understanding the truth of what it really means to be called a believer and to walk alongside Jesus.

I believe what this passage teaches us today is ‘What does it really means to walk alongside Jesus’, what does it mean to know Jesus as our Lord and saviour and walk in his paths. Three important lessons to remind ourselves.

To walk alongside Christ, we need to have the mind of Christ.

The number one lesson this passage teaches us is that “To walk alongside Christ, we need to have the mind of Christ.”
Let’s read through (v32 to v37)

32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

37 They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, the place where he will be delivered over to the chief priest, condemned to death, handed over to the Gentiles, mocked, spat on, and hanged on the cross.

He is literally walking towards his painful death, and he is, in fact, leading the way. The verse says the disciples were afraid and at the same time astonished to see Jesus walking towards Jerusalem where the Pharisees and the teachers of the law hated him and was waiting to kill and torture him.

Can you imagine what’s going on in Jesus’s mind as he is taking that route?

I believe, all he was thinking was about was us – the disciples, you, me and the numerous lost souls for whom he left his heavenly glory, emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, humbled himself to become God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

His mind was set on the purpose for which he came down to earth, sent by his Father in heaven.  To set us free from Sin and death.

He seems so full of it that he ends up reminding them once again that the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

Now, What’s on the disciple’s mind?

Just as Jesus finished his statement, James & John immediately go to Him and says “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

Reminds me of a scenario in the office where the Manager just gave a presentation on the new marketing strategy and asks his team members to give feedback, and one guy raises his hand and says “Are we going to have Chinese for lunch today?”

It tells us two things about the guy, first, he wasn’t really paying attention to what his manager was talking, second, his agenda for the day was to have Chinese for lunch.

Is it possible for us to have a totally different agenda in our mind and be distracted when we come to church, when we approach Jesus in prayer, when we have fellowship with other believers? Yes, it is possible.

Is it right? NO
To walk alongside Christ, we need to have the mind of Christ.
Paul writes in his letter to Philippians 2:5-8

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Paul is urging the Philippian believers to set their mind on the eternal things, just as Jesus did.

If we truly desire to be with Jesus and walk with him daily, we have to change the way we think, we can’t fix our eyes on the earthly things. Money, possessions, positions, pride – we have to lose sight of all these distractions and fix our eyes on the eternal purpose of God in our lives.

We can’t desire to walk with Jesus and worry about tomorrow, what we will eat, drink, where we will live and what we will wear.

It’s easy to say I want to be with Jesus but let us also be willing to have the mind of Christ – our hearts, minds and soul fixed on the eternal purpose for which we were created. – TO BRING GLORY TO GOD.

To walk alongside Jesus, we have to embrace the Cross (v38 – v40)

38 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

39 “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

When Jesus said, “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” Jesus meant to ask them, whether they are willing to carry their cross and follow his footsteps.

Just like in Matthew 16:24 where Jesus asks – “Are you willing to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me?

“Take up your cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender.

Which means dying to our fleshly desires, letting go of our carnal dreams, letting loose the things of the world, the emotions attached with the world, the needs of this world. Where we are fully trusting in God’s provision and providence for us on this life on earth.

I remember when I was a young believer my Pastor, every time we went to a cemetery or a funeral, he would look at me and say “Saju, do you know that dead men don’t feel any pinprick”, He will point me to the graveyards and tell me no matter what you tell these dead men they will never react to you, because they are dead.

And then he would go on to explain what it means to die to ourselves in the Kingdom of God. He would tell me, nothing of this world should move you or distract you from trusting in God and fulfilling His purposes. Consider yourself dead to the world.

(Luke 9:24-25) – “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

On the other hand, we should be aware that Christian life is a radical life, we’re going the systems of this world, the human cultures and traditions and beliefs. You are going against the very foundations on which this sinful world is established.

In Matthew 5 Jesus said you will be insulted, persecuted, falsely accused, for my name’s sake. Our family will hate us, our close friends will reject us, our society will mock at us. But rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.

How can we endure these pain, persecution and hate? We can only do that when we are prepared to carry our cross and follow Jesus, dying to our self, denying the world & trust in God alone.

We can’t say that we enjoy the rains but don’t like the idea of getting wet.

In the say way, we can’t desire to walk alongside Jesus and don’t like the idea of embracing the cross & going through suffering for the sake of Christ. It is part and parcel of our Faith.

Sadly, every time Jesus would talk about carrying the cross his followers would keep reducing. Because even though they liked the idea of following Jesus they did not like the idea of letting go of the world.

Let’s check our hearts and see where do we stand?

To walk alongside Jesus, we have to be servants (v42- v45)

42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

When the other 10 disciples look down on James and John, Jesus turns to them and tells them about what it really means to become great in the kingdom of God, which is what probably everyone in the room desired for.

He says unlike the Gentiles “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all.45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

No believer is called to sit on the pedestal and watch. We don’t follow Jesus or come to church just to be an audience, we are called to be participants in the Kingdom of God.

Nobody who claims to be a follower of Jesus should say that they love Jesus and love coming to church but are unwilling to serve in any manner. If our Lord whom we love and admire did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. We also ought to have a heart of a servant.

We don’t wait from someone to come to us and assign us a role to serve. Instead, we ought to look for opportunities to serve in small and big measures as per our giftings.

We shouldn’t come to church with a consumerist mentality, where it’s all about us wanting what pleases us. Music of our taste, preacher of our style, church building of our status, a people group of our mindset etc.

We ought to be servants in the Kingdom of God if we desire to walk alongside Jesus.

Yes, it is great that you love Jesus but how are you serving one another with the love of Christ, when was the last time we sacrificed our time, money & pleasure to bring joy and encouragement to another brother or sister in the Lord.

Conclusion:

As I conclude, I want to encourage you to desire more to be and walk alongside Jesus but let’s do it with the motive and approach. Fully understanding that to walk alongside Jesus, we need to have the mind of Christ, we have to embrace the Cross & we have become servants.

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