Tag: Love

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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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Galatians Sermon

Sonship – Galatians 4:4-7

Apart from being friends with God, one very important aspect of our relationship with God is to know that we are now His sons and daughters, adopted into his family.

Therefore, of all the changes we experience in our hearts when we are rescued from sin and death, knowing that our Heavenly Father loves us eternally and unconditionally should resonate with us the most.
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1 John Sermon

God’s love letter for you: 1 John 2:12-14

Good morning church. We have been going through an exciting series titled “Faith filled Friendships” from the letters 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. Right now we find ourselves in 1 John 2:12-14 where we see the apostle John encouraging & reassuring the church because they were in a season where they were deeply unsettled in their faith. Some of the church members whom they had closely fellowshipped with, prayed with, laughed with and cried with had abandoned the faith.

They were being influenced by heretical teachings which denied that Jesus came in the flesh. More than that, despite their denial of Jesus, their immoral lifestyle and their lack of practical love, they were making big claims saying that they know God and belong to Him. You can imagine how that would’ve left the community of believers shaken, uncertain about everything that they were taught. As I relate to this, I think about the recent stories of popular Christian pastors & leaders who have “fallen from grace” & shockingly caught in a lifestyle of sexual immorality.

And all of this happened simultaneously while they were claiming to know God and engage people with conversations about God. And I can imagine how something like this can disturb and unsettle believers who have been impacted by their ministries. People may end up thinking – “If I followed these people and their teachings, then what can I say about my own faith?”

Maybe some of us are currently in a season where we are deeply disturbed by the brokenness and the sin of someone we looked up to in the faith. Or maybe we are disturbed by our own spiritual state seeing our selfishness and thinking this is not the way it was meant to be. 

And I want to tell you that there is hope. It’s in the midst of this spiritual confusion, where John passes on this love letter from God. More than the flowery words and the flattering words, God communicates his love to His people is by telling them their identity: who they are in Christ. Not only is knowing our identity an assurance for us as believers but our identity – knowing who we are in Christ gives us the motivation to live radically obedient lives. From this passage I believe there are at least 3 identity statements that God wants to remind us this morning:

1. We are forgiven in Christ (v12)

I am writing to you, little children,
    because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

If you’ve been in a church or been among church people for a while you would’ve certainly heard the word “forgiveness” because it is one of the central themes of our Christian faith. But at the same time, as a result of overusing the word “forgiveness” in our vocabulary, we sometimes lose the essence of what it exactly means.

The definition of forgiveness is “to let go; cancel a debt; refrain from imposing a debt of punishment”. In other words, it’s basically saying “You deserve this punishment for what you’ve done, but I’m going to cancel the punishment. I’m going to let go”.

Okay, so the obvious question here is what was the size of our debt?

Angie and I were watching this documentary on Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi & we were startled at the debt that these men needed to pay back to the Banks. We’re talking about thousands of crores! Since they can’t pay back the amount, they are going to be tried and sent to jail. What if I told us this morning that our moral debts and are offences against God surpass Vijay Mallya’s & Nirav Modi’s financial debt?

Isa 59:1 but your iniquities have made a separation

    between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you

    so that he does not hear.

Our offences against God are so many that God’s face is hidden from us. And we don’t have the means or the ability to pay off our debt.

On top of that there’s another problem – God is Just and he can’t simply overlook & pardon our sins. Someone may say…what’s the big deal? Why can’t God just forgive sins like that? Imagine if someone burnt down your house out of anger or envy. You land up in court to get the matter settled. If the judge simply pardons the person who wronged you, how would that make you feel? You’ll feel that injustice is done. No matter how good the intentions of the judge is, justice must be served. If that’s the expectation from an earthly judge, can God who is Holy and Just simply forgive sins? Forgiveness is never cheap. Somebody needs to pay. There is always a cost to forgiveness.

That’s why at the end of v12 – it says “because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake”. On account of Jesus’ pure life and finished work on the cross is the only way you and I can receive full forgiveness. That’s the only way in which God can tell us “Though you deserve punishment & separation from me forever, I’m going to cancel the punishment. I’m going to let go”.

Col 2:13-14: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Amen! Why is it important for us to know that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ name’s sake today?

Because it fills our hearts with love and appreciation for Jesus. If we’re seeing our hearts lack in love and appreciation for Jesus, it’s because we’ve forgotten how much we have been forgiven. The song “His mercy is more” captures this beautifully.

What riches of kindness He lavished on us

His blood was the payment, His life was the cost

We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford

Our sins, they are many, His mercy is more

We need songs like this, we need daily reminders from Scripture, we need daily reminders from each other to remember how much we have been forgiven.

But not only are we forgiven in Christ,

2. We are friends in Christ (v13a)


13 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning

Who is this person whom John refers to as “who is from the beginning?” It’s Jesus Christ. In 1 John 1:1 – the very first verse in this letter, John introduces Jesus by saying that He existed from the beginning. Meaning He existed before anything else ever existed. Before time and space existed, Jesus was there. Before the universe was created, Jesus was there.

Everything else in creation has a start date & an end date but not Jesus – He has always existed. Not only did Jesus exist, but everything in creation was made through Him and nothing was made without Him. (John 1:3) Not only did he always exist and everything was created through Him, In Jesus all things hold together (Col 1:17). But not just that but In Jesus all things in heaven and earth is going to be reconciled through His blood (Col 1:20).

And the apostle John is saying that this Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer – He saw with His eyes, he heard him with his ears and he touched Jesus with his hands. Oh..wow! What an amazing thing to witness and know Jesus up and close like that.

But wait a second, in this v13 John is saying something else…he is saying that as believers we also can experience the same level of intimacy. Although Jesus is not physically present with us now, He is spiritually present with us always through His Holy Spirit. Many of us would consider ourselves fortunate if we had the opportunity to meet the President of a nation; let alone be his close friend.

Now think about it brothers and sisters – it’s unbelievable to wrap our mind around this – the God who always existed, Created every single thing in creation, sustains creation with His Word and Redeems us by His blood…we get to know Him personally and intimately. That’s mind blowing because who are we after all? We are like a flower that fades tomorrow. We are like mist that disappears overnight and yet God choses to be our friend.

Why is it important for us to know this truth?

Because it fills our heart with humble worship for our Creator God.  One of the downsides of lockdown has been the inability to be able to go outside the city and see the hills and the valleys. Trust me there are worship lessons that the hills & valleys teach us.

When we look at the hills and valleys, if we are absolutely honest we would say “Wow what a wonderful Creator my God is” but also humbles us telling us “I’m not as big as I think I am. I’m quite tiny in comparison to this” & yet God is my close friend.

But not only are we forgiven & God’s friends in Christ but

3. We are no longer sin slaves in Christ (v14b)

I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God abides in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

For some of us v14 seems like a strange, unreal promise. More often that not we hear these words spoken to us – “You defeated Christian; you’ll be a slave to sin for the rest of your life, how many times have you tried and failed, God’s had enough of you”. When in fact God in his love letter is telling us something very different. He says “you are strong, the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one”.

I know for some of us it’s really hard for us to believe, but here’s the point I don’t want to miss…this strength & power to overcome isn’t our own. The strength comes by relying on Christ. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Eph 6:10)

I’m not trying to give a romantic picture of the Christian life where believers live such a victorious life that there is no struggle. No, the reality is that there will be struggles with sin till Christ comes again but what I’m trying to say is that in Christ now we can fight!

When we were unbelievers, there was no question about fighting sin. Why? Because we went with the flow, we went with the desires of our heart, but now in Jesus we are recreated to fight sin and we’ve been given the weapons to fight sin too.

I’m a fan of the Bourne action movies. It was every guy’s dream to wake up one day and fight like Jason Bourne. He could tear you down using a ball point pen & single handedly beat up an army of bad guys. But there was one problem, he didn’t know who he was and that to a great extent prevented him from doing what he was trained to do.

It’s only when began to understand his identity – know who he was, was he able to use the skills available for him to fight and survive.

And as believers we often forget who we are & so we automatically assume that we can’t fight sin. But what happens when we fall in sin? We repent and turn back. We repent and turn back. 1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Do I really have weapons available at my disposal? Yes, I’ll tell you a couple of them. God’s Spirit & God’s promises. God knows that we are weak and can’t fight on our own so He gave us His Spirit. “He who is in you is greater than He who is in this world” (1 John 4:4). We have a co-fighter; co-soldier – the Holy Spirit. And He’s given us His Word to assure us of God’s promises.

What does God’s promise say “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philp 1:6)”. Even though we may experience momentary falls and stumbling, God has promised to not leave us incomplete. He has promised to finish His work of perfecting and restoring us. We know how the story will end and so today we can fight sin valiantly & persistently. Christian, if you’re down and defeated today, you need to know that you need to stand and fight.

Has it been the effects of something that has happened in the last one year spiritually disturbed you? Maybe it’s someone you looked up to spiritually whose fall from grace has disturbed you? Maybe it’s your own spiritual state which is unsettling you? You won’t find assurance in looking at the faith of other people. You won’t find assurance by looking at your own performance.

You will find your assurance by knowing who you are in Christ. “You are mine, You are forgiven, you’re His friend & you’re no longer a sin slave”. Take a few minutes to talk to God and get right with Him. If God’s forgiveness, friendship and freedom from slavery isn’t a reality for you, I want you to know that you can receive that by handing over your life to Him today. Repent from your sins and receive Jesus.

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Sermon

The rescuing purpose of trials- James 1:12-15

Good morning church.

It’s a pleasure to be sharing from God’s Word with you this morning. As a church we have been going through a series titled “Faith in Action from the book of James”.

God’s intention in saving us is not for us to have a passive or a lazy faith but a vibrant and an active one.  Genuine faith will demonstrate itself in action even in the midst of very difficult and unconducive circumstances!

Continuing our theme on trials and difficulties, we arrive at our text for today from James 1:12-15. Would you join me in prayer before we jump into the text?

“She is fearless!” That’s how Ashlyn’s parents and teachers describe her. In the school cafeteria, the teachers intentionally put ice on the 5-year old’s chilli because if it’s hot she ends up gulping it down anyway. On the playground, a teacher watches her from a close distance every day because if she takes a hard fall, she won’t cry.

The reason she doesn’t cry is not so much because she’s super strong but because she suffers from a condition called “congenital insensitivity” which is a disorder which makes it unable for her to feel pain.  

When Ashlyn’s mom was interviewed, this is what her mom said “Some people would say that’s a good thing. But no, it’s not. Pain’s there for a reason. It lets your body know something’s wrong and it needs to be fixed. I’d give anything for her to feel pain.”

The feeling of pain and sensitivity is important for our survival. Similarly what if the pain that we experience in our lives were not ultimately meant for our suffering & destruction but rather to reveal the symptom of what’s wrong and needs to be fixed in our hearts? What if there was a rescuing purpose to the pain & trials in our lives? I believe our passage today’s gives us 2 rescuing purposes:

1. Trials expose the sin in our hearts

V12 continues on the theme of being steadfast in trials and the glorious reward we receive for holding on to the faith. I’ll come to this verse in just a few minutes, but I find it interesting that right after this verse on the blessedness and the glorious reward for holding on in the midst of trials, he gets into a conversation about sin.

I don’t think it’s a random placement but speaking to people that were going through immensely difficult circumstances, they needed to know that these trials were going to reveal and expose what’s in their hearts – which could make them either run away from God or run towards God when they are confronted with their sin.

It was important for them to know but it’s also important for us to know – as we all are in the midst of a pandemic and our experiencing the emotional, mental, physical, financial, social impact of these trials. What James does in v13-15, he actually providing us with a diagnostic tool to search our hearts during trials:

  • We are quick to forget God’s character

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (v13)

When we look at the heart of v13, we realize that it’s a misplaced understanding of God’s character and His response towards us during times of trials. The misplaced understanding is that “God is not inherently good and He doesn’t want what is best for me”. 

I think the reason James mentions this is because when we go through trials and painful experiences of various kinds, the first thing that we do in sin is we forget who God is. It doesn’t matter how much of Bible we may have studied in the past, or the number of bible studies we’ve led, when we are hit with sudden, prolonged and painful experiences – we forget God’s goodness, we forget that He is a father who loves us eternally & we forget that He is always with us.

Brother Jeff would always tells us “we are professional forgettors” – “we forget God daily and we are quite good at doing that”…which is why we need the precious reminders in the Bible like v13 which tells us that our God is Holy God who is untemptable.

And also He is Holy God who will never and can never tempt us. Doing this would go against His character & it is impossible for God to change His character. He is always Holy, Good and unchanging every time and in everything He does.

  • We are quick to defend ourselves

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (v13)

When we see v13, sometimes we think who is this foolish person to think or say that God is tempting us. The answer is we are those foolish people. We all know that when we sin, the hardest thing to do is confess our sin. The easiest and most natural thing to do is defend ourselves and blame others. We’ll blame others for making us respond in sin.

We’ll blame our circumstances for creating avenues for us to sin. We’ll also blame God for not removing the sin from our hearts quickly enough.  In all these ways what we try to do is say “I’m not as bad as you’re making me out to be. I’m better than that”. Defending ourselves and blaming others is how we try to prove this.  

This week was a reminder of my own defensive and critical heart as I had a difficult conversation with a colleague. The whole thing disturbed me for a while, but as I reflected on this I realized that the main reason why I was disturbed is that I wanted to defend the sin in my heart rather than confess it to God.

And I think all of us can relate to this nature, that especially when we are dealing with troubles in our relationships or painful circumstances in life, the easiest thing for us to do to is get defensive and start blaming others.

  • We fail to acknowledge the real problem

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (v14)

The real problem is not other the people, is not even the circumstance but the real problem is in your heart and mine – it is a SIN issue. The picture that is painted is almost like a fisherman who has laid a bait on the fish hook and thrown it into the water.

The bait has something in it to draw the fish and before they realize it, they are caught and pulled out. It’s the same analogy that is being used for our hearts.

The reason we fall into temptation is not because of what the other person told to provoke us, it’s not because we were under immense pressure we are facing in life, it’s not because of what appeared on our screens, it’s not because of the spur of the moment – we fall into temptation because we desire SIN our hearts.

Our hearts are more depraved than we would like to believe. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jer 17:9)God is in the process of renewing our heart through Jesus but we have to reckon with the reality of the sin nature that we have.

  • We are apathetic toward the consequences of sin

15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (v15)

One of the main things that happens to our heart because of sin is that it numbs us and makes us insensitive to the consequences of our sin. The world gives this really glamorous picture of sin but in reality it is a miserable dungeon trap. It’s so enslaving which is why we keep going back again and again to the things and people who we know aren’t really helping us but harming us.

Not just is SIN enslaving but its end is in DEATH – spiritual and physical separation from God forever! In Luke 16:24 we see a description of separation from God eternally where the rich man in hell calls out to Abraham and say ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.

There is unbearable anguish in unquenchable fire – and this carries on for all of eternity. I say all this to not frighten anybody but to also lay a reminder from the Bible on how terrible is the anguish and yet we become apathetic toward the consequences of sin. Trials are a tool that God uses highlight what’s broken inside of us.

As a result of this global pandemic, many of the developed countries that used to boast of a robust healthcare system have been shown to be weak and helpless. A lot of the real issues in their healthcare systems have been exposed.

It’s not that the chinks in the armor were not there prior to the virus but rather the pandemic has revealed the healthcare systems for what they were. Similarly trials are not creating brand new sins each time we go through it but rather trials expose these sins that always were with us (Our inclination to forget God, Defending ourselves, not acknowledging the real problem of sin, being apathetic to the consequences of sin).  

But if all that trials did is just make us more aware of our sin, then that leaves us without any hope. There’s something more to God’s purpose in trials. God’s rescuing purpose in trials is not just in exposing our sin but also using

2. Trials to point us to our need for a Savior

Even as trials are exposing our sins, it’s also creating this longing in our heart to look to a Savior for help. We can either chose to be a false, useless savior for ourselves (self-medicate ourselves) or we could go to Jesus who is the true, rescuing Savior (real healer).

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (v12)

In the background of the verses of our sinful condition, as I was reading this verse, a few questions popped into my head. Can I remain steadfast by my own strength? How can I stand the test? How can I receive the crown of life?

How is it that I who deserve to be spiritually and physically separated from God eternally are now being offered the “crown of life”? How is this even possible? Because of our predicament, God will have to do something for us because we can’t do anything to help ourselves.

  • It points us to God’s promise

It’s interesting that James uses the phrase “which God has promised” at the end of the versewhich means that we can’t work for the crown of life or we can’t earn it like a salary. It’s a true fact for us as believers today as well.  The only qualification which allows us to receive the crown of life is God’s promise that he makes toward us.

He promises us the crown of life instead of the death we deserve. He promises to eternally love those who once hated Him. He promises to keep those that once had forsaken Him. 

But this great and precious promise came at an extremely high cost because someone has to pay for the multitude of sins you and I had committed. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

And that’s where the promise gets serious because to be able to give all of these wonderful gifts to us, it would mean that Jesus Christ – God’s Son would need to take on the punishment meant for us. It’s almost like a death row where we are on our way to get executed for the very sins that we had committed, and then as we are walking toward the gallows someone exchanges his place for us and chooses to get executed instead of us so that we can be set free.

21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21)

Jesus Christ not only died on the cross but rose again on the Third Day and this what makes His promise a reality for us. Just like in a marriage, once the couple is married it’s no longer the husband’s bank balance or the wife’s individual bank balance.

Everything that used to belong to them individually now belongs to each other. The riches of Christ’s account has been credited to us – that’s why we have the reward of the crown of life.

  • It points us to God’s compelling love

which God has promised to those who love him. (v12)

Can we actually manufacture love for God? From God’s Word & also our experience, we can all admit how easy it is for us to turn to sin & be unloving toward God especially when circumstances go against what we expect and desire.

Because our hearts still desire sin. And therefore, the only way that our hearts can be redeemed is when it is overwhelmed by a greater love.

14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Cor 5:14-15)

Jesus Christ’s love is a compelling love. When our hearts are compelled and changed by the love of Jesus Christ, that’s what makes us love God. In my marriage,

I would say that more than the wonderful moments of companionship and joy, it’s been the moments of grace and forgiveness that my wife has shown towards me that has deepened my love for her.

For some us right now, you may be in a season of pain and difficulty. It could be through a troubled relationship with your family member or a friend. It could be a financial difficulty that you’re going through. It could be a loss of job. It could be struggles with a habitual pattern of sin. It could be deep loneliness that you are experiencing as a result of the lockdown. Or it could be a season of dryness in your relationship with God.

As these trials are revealing the sin inside of you more and more clearly, don’t run away from God by turning to sin or remaining in sin. God can use this trial to actually deepen your relationship with God.

God can repair your heart.  But the only way that’s going to happen is by remembering the compelling, persuasive, pursuing love of God. He has not stopped loving you and He will not stop changing you with His love until you and I receive the crown of life. Why would you want to still be in sin? Turn back to your Savior. 0

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Articles

How do I Battle Depression?

To give you a background about me, I come from a broken family and my parents were separated when I was young.

I have always longed for love and that led me to some poor choices in relationships while I was growing up. So I have gone through rejection, abandonment, betrayal which led to despair, depression and a whole lot of negative emotions.

And I can honestly say that I fight these emotions every day as I have a tendency to look back at the past or get anxious about the future.

The hope in my story is Christ. I am glad that these broken paths have led me to Him. All that my heart longed for is met in Him.

My soul rejoices to know that God so loved us that He sent His only son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross and rise again on the third day so that through Him we can have eternal life.

And because He came in flesh, He alone understands the depth of my pain and suffering giving me a sure hope that I too will rise again from these momentary afflictions. (For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16)

I have found my best friend in Christ, so I can be honest in expressing my emotions and I know He is with me in my trials and sufferings. His Grace gives me the strength to face the darkness of depression and overcome it.

When I feel lonely God reminds me He will never leave me nor forsake me- Hebrews 13:5.

And when I feel burdened by my past I hold on to this –

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.- Philippians 3:13-14 God helps me with this verse to not dwell on the past and to move forward.

And when I get anxious thinking about the future Holy spirit reminds me -Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Moreover, when I feel rejected by people I am reminded I am fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:14 this helps me understand my identity in Christ and not in rejection or approval from man.

The scriptures are life-giving and true, meditating on it helps me anchor my hope not in the fleeting things of this world but in an eternal and an unchanging God who loves and cares deeply and One who is alive and present.

Christ gives me the strength and courage to rise up each day and face the giants within and in this world.

Along with the scriptures, I am also thankful to be a part of a Church community. They encourage me in my walk to learn to grow in love with Christ and His body.

Each time I feel overwhelmed, I am reminded of Peter who walked on water while looking at Jesus but the moment He shifted His gaze He started drowning.

I can identify with him when I focus on my emotions and circumstances I feel like I am drowning. But when I surrender my pain and situation to Christ I feel steady and calm.

Finally, I hope and pray that as you meditate on the Scriptures may your eyes be fixed on Him, so that you may overcome every darkness and rejoice in the life-giving love of Christ each day.

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Breaking the barriers to Prayer & Thanksgiving- 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

The subject we are looking at is Prayer & Thanksgiving; the passage we’re referring to is 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18.

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

Brothers & sisters, If we are honest, we will all admit that prayer & thanksgiving are the most challenges Christian discipline. It is often not what and how I need to pray and thank God for, the most challenging part I believe, is to make up our mind to pray.

Public prayer isn’t that hard, but it’s our private prayer life that looks dry and lifeless at times.

In this sermon, I don’t want to teach you how to pray and thank God for, but I want to address the issue of what stops us from making up our mind to go before God and pray unceasingly every day. Therefore, I’ve name sermon title as “Breaking the barriers to Prayer & Thanksgiving”

I want to bring to your attention two reasons why we fail to practice a regular prayer life and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

1. A wrong perspective of God.

As humans, we often learn and make assumptions about our surroundings, about the people in our lives and even God based on our human instincts and experiences. Sadly, we also form opinions about God based on our human understanding. 

When we think of going to Him in prayer, we think ….

  • He is angry at me because of my repeated sin patterns and habits
  • He gets irritated when I bothered Him by approaching him with my life.

All the above responses and thoughts flow out of a guilty heart.

As long as we have such perceptions about God, we will never be able to see a breakthrough in our prayer life, and we never be able to offer thanksgiving in all circumstances.

Why are the observations we make about God wrong? Well, it because God’s nature is not the nature of human beings; neither does his emotions fluctuate as the emotions of human beings. His yes is yes and no is no. What comes out of His mouth is sealed forever, and He never goes back on it.

To encourage your hearts to often go to God in prayer, here’s two perceptions we need to cultivate about God.

a. As a child of God, there is an open invitation for us to enter into his presence with our prayer & supplications anytime and anywhere.

And here’s what God says in Isaiah 55:1-3

“Come, everyone who thirsts,

    come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

    come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

    without money and without price.

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

    and delight yourselves in rich food.

3 Incline your ear, and come to me;

    hear, that your soul may live;

and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

    my steadfast, sure love for David.

This invitation is for all us who’ve repented of our sins and have trust in son Jesus.

Yes, it is true that once upon a time, God was angry with us. He was out to destroy us by throwing us into the fire of hell because of our sinful rebellion against Him. We lived lives as though God did not exist, we disobey Him, disrespected Him, hated Him. But the Bible says God in return chose to love us, that while we were sinners, He sent His only son Jesus to die for us and redeem us back to himself.

Epesians 1:7 says 7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace”

God offers a free invitation into his presence for anything in life is because Jesus made way for us.

Hebrews 10:19, 22 says 19 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”

Because of Jesus, God has already declared us righteous; his heart towards us is of a loving and pampering Father.

And therefore, whenever we want to approach Him in prayer and thanksgiving, we should never hesitate to do so with full confidence in His steadfast Love expressed through his son Jesus. 

The second perception we need to form about God in our heart which will encourage us to approach him in prayer is …

b. He is a God who pays attention to our every request, prayer and always accepts our sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Pslams 69:33
“For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.”

Proverbs 15:29 
“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”

God also appreciates when we go to him again and again in prayer, even when we go with the same prayer requests multiple times.

Luke 18:1-8 Jesus tells us a story

“2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Brother & sisters, our God hears our prayer, the only condition he has is that when we pray, we pray with faith and without doubt in our hearts. If our prayer is a prayer of faith, then he will hear us and answer us according to His sovereign will. 

2. A false dependence on our Self

Another big obstacle in our way to go to God in prayer and offer thanksgiving is “A false dependence on our Self”.

Listen to one of the parable of Jesus in Luke 12:16-21

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Friends, knowingly or unknowingly, often we think to ourselves that life is in our control, why because we look at our education and think to ourselves that I am well qualified to get any job whenever and wherever I want. We can look at the money and possession we own and think to ourselves, I am well supplied and therefore I can take care our myself and my family. We can look at our youthfulness and think to ourselves, I am strong enough to take challenges and achieve whatever I want in life.

But brothers & sisters, we often forget that life is more than these things we possess, what we think is in our control is just a fraction of things that help us survive in this world. There are spiritual realities in life that we are totally blinded to.

Our life ultimately is in God’s hand, and it is his mercy and grace that sustains us every single day of our lives. Therefore, let us throw away the confidence we have on ourselves and lean on God who is in control of all things.

Prayer is the means through which we express our dependence on him and his saving grace, giving thanks to God in all circumstances shows that our delight is in his son Jesus and on nothing else in this world.

And that is why Paul is writing to the church “.. pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Therefore, brothers & sisters, let us develop a lifestyle of prayer and thanksgiving to God, knowing he is a loving, gracious & pampering Father who loves me and accepts me the way I am, even though he knows my past, present and future sins, he loving embraces us in his arms. Not only that but just like a sweet and loving Father, he even gives us a listening ear.

Let us also throw away our attitude of self-dependence, and approach God with even the silliest requests in our heart just how a child would do. It is not what we ask that matter to God, but how we pray that matters. God may not give you everything you ask for, but he will grant the desires of your heart that will help us nearer to him.

Let us pray.

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Striving Toward Higher and greater Responsibility: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

Good morning beautiful people, I am super delighted to see all of you again.

I hope you guys are safe and taking good care of yourself.

I hope you all are spiritually and physically healthy and fit.

Take good care of your physical health by doing exercise regularly and spiritually keep growing in the Lord.

You know, Its tragedy to see many beloved brothers and sisters died in many part of the world, and many are dying because of corona pandemic.

Church let us keep praying for all brothers and sisters who are going through hard time.

Let us pray that many people will come back to our living God at this chaotic situation.

Ezekiel 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

1 Timothy 2:4 4who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Beloved wherever we are, let us make use of every opportunity and every means and point the perishing soul to Christ.

Shall we look to God in Pray: Dear Lord we thank you for this time as we gonna spent some time together meditating your words, may you come and teach us and bless us in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Paul says, 1 Cor. 13:11. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

          When we were baby we consume only liquid food right, but when we grow up we change our diet, we start eating hard food, we eat by our self, in the same way we can’t act and behave like a child all the time, it’s time for all of us to take higher and greater responsibilities as a follower of Christ.

Paul urge Thessalonians that you guys need to take higher and greater responsibility, you can’t be in the same position always you need to grow in the Lord, you need to work more.

Believers taking up higher and greater responsibility is the overall focus we gonna meditate now.

Would you please open your bible with me to 1 Thess. 4:9-12? Read it.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

9Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

10And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, (go higher and higher, more and more)

11and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,

12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

I would like to entitle my sermon as “Striving toward higher and greater Responsibility”

  1. 1.    Striving toward loving one another more and more. (9-10).

9Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

10And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more.

There are 4 kinds of love in the bible. In Greek language they are called:

(1) Agape Love- Unconditional love. (Love of God)

(2) Storgi love– Affection (love between Family)

(3) Eros Love– Eroticism (Love between couple)

(4) Philia- love – Friendship (love between friends) or Brotherly

Here in verse 9 and 10, Apostle Paul is using Philia love, friendship love or brotherly love

Thessalonians scoring mark in loving one another is A+, Paul was so proud of their testimony, they were leading church in spreading gospel in all over the places,

they were living exemplary life, but Paul urge them again, you can still do better than A+,

love one another more and more, it means you don’t need to be just good, but you need to be excellent, excel in your conduct toward loving one another.

The Thessalonians did not just feel love for one another—they did love for one another – “And indeed you DO it toward all the brethren…” (4:10) They did not merely profess brotherly love—they expressed brotherly love with their action. This is exactly the teaching of the Scriptures: 1 John 3:18 – Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

John 13:34-35, Jesus said,

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”

Scripture remind us that if we love one another that will prove that we are Christ disciples.

On the other hand, Scripture says the absence of brotherly love is a prove that someone is not truly born again –

1 John 4: 20,21.

20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

If we are not loving one another you are not born again????, a genuine and true born-again believer will obey Christ command and life according to His will and purpose.

Illustration: Philippians Church collect money for Apostle Paul while he was having hard time in Rome Jail. (This is Philia love brotherly love).

I saw many of our church believers donating gift to the people who going through hard time at this moment. That is brotherly love.

Many people around the world are help each other and encouraging each other, sharing each other burden, praying for another, Caring for one another.

This act of loving one another will prove that we are Christ disciples.

The scripture is urging to do this good works more and more

Application: Friends,

Are we loving one another?

Do you think you can love people around you more and more?

There is great power and happiness and blessings in loving one another.

Loving one another can change the world.

What if 7.8 billion people in this planet love one another? Stop hating each other?

And start caring for one another

The world will be a better place, you and I can bring the change.

You know folks, Apostle Paul knows the power of loving one another, and He is reminding us that we should love one another more and more as Christ has love us.

The world has experienced enough blood shed in history, in 1 world war 19 million people died, and in second world war 56 million people died,

We see humanitarian crisis in middle East, Europe and in many parts of the world, we see unending fight going on in middle east and in various part of the world

Why all these hates, killing and fight, it is because there is no love.

In 2003 an American band called Black Eyed Pies” released a hit song call

“where is the love” the song has 529 million view in YouTube.

 The song starts with the sentence “what’s wrong with the world,”

This song is all about Condemn war, terrorism, killing, using chemical gas, gangster, selfishness, Madness of all evils that is happening around the world,

the chorus goes like this.

People killin’, people dyin’
Children hurt and you hear them cryin’
Can you practice what you preach?
And would you turn the other cheek?

Father, father, father help us
Send us some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love? (Love)

Where is the love? (The love)
Where is the love? (The love)

Beloved, the world is hungry for Christ love, they are searching for an answer, we know  Jesus is the answer for this dying world, we have Christ love in us, let us Spread the Love of Christ and Let us conquer our family, our friends, our society, our nation and the world with Christ love.

  1. Strive toward leading a peaceful life. (11a)

“And to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life”

We are to aim or strive for wuiet and peaceful life.

The word “quiet” here is a Greek verb that means to rest. hold peace, be quiet.

Paul reflects this thinking by saying that the goal of every Christian should be to lead a quiet, peaceful and tranquil life. we should seek a peaceful life without conflict with our community.

This quiet and peaceful life is not from the world this is from God,

John 14:27 Jesus said, peace I leave with you, my peace I gave to you.

Isaiah 9:6. Jesus is the price of peace.

So remember this quiet and peaceful life is fromGod.

I have beautiful hymn here written by Anne S Murphy. (1890).

There is a peace in my heart that the world never gave,
A peace it cannot take away;
Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,
I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!

All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,
When peace sweetly came to my heart;
Troubles all fled away and my night turned today,
Blessed Jesus, how glorious Thou art!


Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;
Constantly abiding, rapture divine;
He never leaves me lonely, whispers, O so kind:
“I will never leave thee,” Jesus is mine.

Why we should strive to live quiet and peaceful life?

Because peaceful living

  1. Peaceful living builds up good relationship with the people around us.

(Year ago we were living in Santacruz, we have very good Hindu neighbor, we share so many things together, but when we were about to leave the neighborhood, I remember the granny came over hug me and Phila and she was literally crying).

Because they don’t want us to leave.

And the other catholic neighbor they are sad too, they call me Father in their own catholic context, they told me to come back again, we had an emotional goodbye).

I learn a lesson that living peaceful life with people around is vital for every believer.

  • Living peaceful life Set a Christlike example for them.
  • Living peaceful life Show the world that we are peace loving and peaceful people.
  • To live peacefully with all people is a command from God. (Romans 12:18)
  • Most importantly, we can share good news to them.

In this hectic world, everyone is searching for quit and peaceful life,

Many people think if they have enough money, achieve their wildest dream,

their life will be peaceful, and

If they become famous and successful, they think they will have peaceful life.

But that’s not true materialistic things and fame and success that we see around is temporary and can’t give us the inner peace.

Perfect peace is found in Christ Jesus alone. 

Matthew 11: 28. Jesus said,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Application:

Remember church, we are here to show the world that we have perfect peace given by our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us show the world our peaceful life in Christ, so that they will return to our Living God.

With that lets come to the 3rd points.

  1. Striving toward doing our own business and being productive (11b)

“You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you”, (b)

This verse is telling us to do our own work by Using God-given talents and gifts.

This is a practical advice, considering the church was under persecution from the civil authorities as well as the Jews.  By “laying low” and minding their business, they avoided an increase of persecution.

Illustration: Apostle PAUL.

Paul wrote, “Mind your own business and work with your hands.” Paul was an apostle, but he also had a real job. He was a tentmaker. He worked with his hands to make tents and sell them so he could have money to live on. He didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.

1 Thess.2:9. Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day, we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.

Beloved Don’t let your life be a burden to someone else, may be your family, wife, husband, church, may be society, may be even nation.

Let us be like Paul and his team working day and night for living,

so that we won’t be burden to anyone but be a blessing to all people around us.

Paul says “Work with your hands” it means Living a productive life.

How can we live a productive life?

Illustration: I have short story of an Ant. (Proverb.6;6-11) Solomon the wise man said,

6.Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,  a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

I do not mean you guys are lazy and squanderer but what I mean to say is we can learn a great life Lesson from this little ant and be productive.

(1) Work smart (the Ant know when to work and how to work and they know where the food is) that’s smart right.

 (2) work hard (they work day and night and never get tired)

(3) Never give up. (they work until they achieve their dream)

(4) Be persistence. (they keep working and working).

Wise man Solomon remind us to learn these important lessons from an Ant.

I Have a quotation here:

“Wise people plan for 3 generation, fool plan for Saturday night”.

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”

Remember whatever we do, we are doing for God, for His glory and not for ourselves.

Application:

Are we striving toward minding our own business? or living a messy and lazy life?

And, are we living a productive life?

Ephesian 5: 15-17

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,

16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Our life on earth is short, we don’t have time to squander around and waste our life,

Let’s work hard and take good care of the task God has assign us and let us live a productive life.

Finally, we come to our last point:

  1. Striving toward gaining respect and self-support. (12)

“So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (12)

This last point striving toward gaining respect and self-support is the result of obeying point 1, 2, and 3.

If we strive toward loving one another more and more,

If we strive toward leading quiet and peaceful life,

If we strive toward working our own affairs and living productive life.

We will win the respect of outsiders; these outsiders are people outside the church (unbelievers) and

We will not live depending on others but living a sufficient satisfied life.

Remember Believers must always bear in mind the impact of their conduct on those who are without faith. we must give the impression that we are our Lord’s ambassadors,

and our conduct must show the beauty of Christ.

Illustration: Last month we were in Dubai, I heard a beautiful story, of the works done by Christian missionary Doctors, In a year 1964 missionaries open a hospital, This hospital has help the people UAE in an extraordinary way, some of their great leaders Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Sheikh Saif bin Zayed were born there in the hospital.

During their Country hard time Christian missionaries have done an amazing work, As a result, the Christian missionaries won a huge respect from Muslim friends. They have a high respect for each other.

The UAE government even donate a land to build churches. There is religion tolerance and freedom of religion in UAE.

It is Because of few faithful Christian missionaries; the younger generation are greatly blessed.

As a church we should win the respect of unbelievers around us so that we can build up good relationship with them and introduce them to Christ.

We should also take good care of our life, our life should not depend on others for daily needs, but like Paul and his team we should work hard and live a sufficient and satisfied life, our life should be an example to all people around us.

Conclusion:

We have meditated together 4 points under the

topic: “Striving Toward Higher Greater Responsibility”

I want to remind you that you are not a child anymore, you are responsible men and women, you are an ambassador of Christ, we can’t be like baby anymore.

We must “Strive toward Higher and greater Responsibility”.

Remember we are on a mission from the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

Let us fight the good fight, let us be strong and be courageous.

We are generation builders; and we are the world changer.

Let us strive toward loving one another more and more,

Let us strive toward leading quiet and peaceful life,

Let us strive toward working our own affairs and live productive life.

Let us Strive toward gaining respect and self-support.

Remember, the world is desperately in need of Christ love,

Let us love them more and more and more.

We must be a channel of peace for this broken world by introducing our Lord Jesus,

the prince of Peace.

Let us work hard like an ant and live a productive life for Gods glory.

Finally, we must win the respect of people around us by showing the beauty of Christ in our life.

May God bless you and keep you and make His face shine on you.

Let’s Look to God in prayer.

Amen.

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Mark of a Healthy Church – 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

We are currently doing a sermon series called ‘Abiding Faith’ as we are going through Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. The passage we will be looking at today is 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16, and if you have your bible or an app you can open and read with me.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved-so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

Being part of a Sunday worship is not enough
Being part of a community group is not enough
Having being born in a Christian family is not enough
Having being called Christian, a follower of Jesus by others is not enough

It takes a lot more than these to be called a true & faithful follower of Jesus. 

The mark of a strong and healthy church is not in the strength of its numbers, not in its well-organised services and bible studies and community groups, it is not in its electrifying singing time, and it is not even in its online presence.

The mark of a strong and healthy church is in the quality of its people.

In our passage today Paul is calling out and thanking God for the church, the people of God. He is highlighting some of the great qualities these men possessed that made them different. So, let’s listen carefully to what he has to say about the Church in Thessalonica.

And as we hear and learn from these verses let us come with an open heart, examine ourselves before God and allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and lead us into repentance and faith making us a strong and healthy Christian and a healthy church.

There are three qualities of the church that Paul is thanking God for, the first one is that …

•  They received the word not as the word of man but as word from God

In verse 13 he writes “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

When Paul and his associates went preaching the gospel in Thessalonica and teaching from the scriptures, the people didn’t just hear the word as its coming from the mouth of Paul or other men, they heard and accepted it as if it were the words of God himself. And Paul says that which you believed to be the words from God is at work in you. What an encouraging thing to say.

Their attentive ears and their attitude towards the word of God brought the Gospel alive in their hearts and is now at work in them.

In hard times like these, when we are going through a threat like Coronavirus – where people, news channels, neighbours, office colleagues are constantly talking to us – where everyone’s giving their views and opinions about the current situation and how to react to it, what is our source of truth? Where do we draw our strength from? What is at work in our heart?

Brothers & sisters, it is only the word of God that can be our source of truth, the only hope for our heart in such difficult times.

The scriptures, preaching of the word and others devotionals are how God communicates to us, giving words of instruction, rebuking us of our sin patterns, encouraging our hearts in difficult times, provoking us to live a Holy life, worthy of His calling. As Pastors and leaders when we prepare our sermons we pay very careful attention not to speak or present to you anything that is not in the purview of the scripture and we even hold each other accountable to it.

The transforming word of God was at work in the life of the believers in Thessalonians, but for the word to produce transformational results in their hearts, they needed to trust God’s word with the right attitude and a desire to walk in unconditional obedience.

Imagine you’ve been given a new responsibility at work, a new project to handle. And while your manager was training you for the job, explaining the process and instructions as per the guidelines given by the company CEO – instead of paying attention you were distracted on your phone or some other things, you said: “chod na, yeh manager bak bak karat rehta hai”. What do you think the result will be? We will make a wreck of the job and even ruin the company and the CEO’s reputation. 

Now, when we ignore reading the Bible, not giving heed to the preaching of God’s word. If that’s the attitude we carry, then aren’t we risking our lives? God who made the world, God who knows the end from the beginning expects us to give Him a listening year and trust His word and not what the world has to say.

When we read or hear Gods word, do we see them as man-made fables written to entertain our itching ears or do we see them as from God, the Holy one. If we believe these words are from God we will pay full attention, protect it, guard it, set reminders for our heart.

While we are in Sunday gatherings, in bible study groups, in GC’s we will make every effort to align our heart and mind to make sure we get it right, that we are not missing the point. And even if for any reason we sometimes fail to make it for these gatherings, we will still make an effort to get hold of God’s word by other means.

Brother & sisters, if you are in a place where you feel fearful with the spread of this deadly disease, you don’t have hope in your heart, or you feel depressed and lonely while you are isolated in your home…. my encouragement to you is pick up your bible and hear God, I promise you will see your faith increasing, your hope growing and sense the arm of protection of our loving Father.

The second quality Paul mentions in that …

• They became imitators of the Churches of God in Christ

In verse 14 Paul writes “For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea”

They didn’t just heed to Gods word but to grow healthy they started imitating other churches and other believers. It doesn’t mean that they started imitating each other’s dressing style, worship style, talking style etc. But I believe they imitated each other’s Faith, [Pause] imitated each other’s responses to the call of God over their lives, [Pause] their response to sufferings and most importantly imitate them in preaching and spreading the good news of Jesus wherever they went.

Imitating each other is a good thing, that’s the primary way in which we learn and grow. Children imitate their parents and family members, younger ones imitate their older ones. Jairus sometimes finds it annoying when Amaze imitates whatever he does, but isn’t that how are programmed to grow. Paul writes to the Corinthian church saying “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ”

As Christians it is healthy to imitate each other, apart from all how we imitate each other as mentioned earlier, we can imitate healthy marriages, imitate servanthood, imitate prayer life, we also imitate faith-filled responses of other strong believers when we go through troubled times.

But beware, the greatest hindrance that keeps us from imitating each other’s Godly life is Pride, don’t let your pride tell you that you know it better and that you don’t need to learn from others.

As a church and as your leaders, we actively fellowship with other churches in our network to learn from them, to find encouragement from them and to imitate their godly pursuits. I can’t express the number of ways in which I have benefited from such Godly imitations, helping me grow stronger in the Lord.

Beloved, don’t sulk in your pain, sorrow and fear, but identify the areas in which you are struggling and find a godly role-model whom you can imitate so you can grow as a follower of Christ.

If you are not able to meet a brother and sister physically, pick up your phone and call them. As your pastors and leaders, we and our wives are always available to speak to you. Pls, do not hesitate to do so especially in times like this.

Don’t let these circumstances to draw us apart from each other, rather let it bring us, even more, closer to each other.

And the final quality Paul mentions is that …

• They suffered for the sake of the Gospel

For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose al mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved-so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last!

Their faith in Jesus was not just a decorative badge they carried around but it invited trouble and persecution from their fellow men. Jesus said in John 16:33 “In this world, you will have tribulation”, and especially when you are a follower of Jesus.

Often we desire that our suffering would end, but please believe me when I say to you that suffering is good and you ought to be rejoicing when you suffer for the sake of Christ. You know why? Because in our sufferings on earth for Christ we get to share in the sufferings of Christ. Isn’t that a wonderful experience.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:13 “to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

Paul writes in Corinthians 1: 5 “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.”

I don’t know what kind of sufferings you are experiencing at this moment, maybe suffering because of your faith in Jesus, or maybe suffering because of the responses of this broken world in your office, in your society. When we go through such sufferings its a reminder that Christ endured the same suffering and much more for our sake, dying for sinners like us and mending our broken relationship with our Heavenly Father. Let our sufferings draw us closer to Jesus in repentance and faith in Him and his saving grace

The believers in the early church when faced with trials and testings, instead of breaking down and giving up, endured it with joy knowing that the experiences were drawing them closer to Christ. Let us also, therefore, embrace such sufferings with joy.

Brothers and sisters, my hope and prayer for us all this morning is that our hearts would be inclined to grow as quality Christians, not cold or lukewarm but hot, super hot for Christ. And that will happen as we take God’s word seriously, use our free time to dive deep into scriptures and engage with it in a meaningful way. Remember Psalm 1:2-3 “those who delight in the word of the Lord, who meditates on his law day and night, are like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

We will also grow super strong when we are together, connected in love, encouraging each other, imitating each other in the Lord and when we endure suffering with joy.

Let’s pray!

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Love in Action: 1 Thessalonians 2:5-12

Good morning, Church.

How are you all doing today?

At a time when the world is crippled with fear and every conversation when people meet is about the corona-virus, isn’t it wonderful to see God’s people gather together in love – to worship God and to fellowship with one another.

It’s good to re-iterate what Saju has been reminding us on the group that we have a Sovereign God and nothing surprises Him. Rather, God has allowed the situations that we are in – to show forth His glory and His mercy.

Church, I wish to remind you of an incident in the Bible in which Jesus and His disciples get on a boat to cross over from one place to another. Jesus makes Himself comfortable by taking a pillow and going for a good sleep.

Co-incidently, there is a great storm and the boat is about to give in. The disciples were fretting for their lives. In their desperation, they cried out to the Lord (who was apparently sleeping through all this). He got up and silenced the storm and looked at the disciples and said in Mark 4:40, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Beloved, in times like these, fear is common to find all around us – including our own hearts.

But fear does show a lack of faith – lack of faith in an-all sovereign God – right in the midst of our situations. When the world goes through fear and despair – let us the people of God – stand boldly without fear – showing forth the love of Christ through our responses – even with one another, in the family of God.

To be honest, I went through the motions of fear in the last week but a reminder of the hope that a Christian has lifted my spirit. Let us encourage one another and build each other up – in love. Because “Perfect love casts out fear.” “I am no longer a slave to fear – I am a child of God.” But love is also careful and responsible.

 Our elders and few brothers were travelling last week and they decided to skip today’s service – in love – so that none of us would panic. Let us keep them and their families in prayer. Let us turn to our passage for today –

1 Thessalonians 2:5-12

5 For we never came with words of flattery,[b] as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 

6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 

7 But we were gentle[c] among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 

8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 

10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 

11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 

12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

Pray.

We had talked about “Passion for the Gospel” last Sunday and as I meditated on the text for today – I realized – Paul was talking about the major reason behind his passion. His passion and craziness was fueled by something so great that He could boldly stand for the Gospel in the midst of conflict. And what was that? “Love”!


So, I would like to title my sermon today as “Love in action” and it is my prayer this morning that we may be stirred up by the Love of God and love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In these last days, the Bible says that the love of many will grow cold. In an age of social media and television and lust – the word ‘love’ has lost its purity and depth.

Covenant relationship in marriage has been substituted for just an agreement paper. Family love has been substituted for whatsapp groups.

Brotherly love in churches have been substituted for a ‘hi and bye’ relationship. Inspite of all that – isn’t it wonderful that God has a remnant which still builds their relationships on “Die together and live together”.

Isn’t it a wonder that the Gospel still binds broken hearts and wounded relationships? Don’t we keep seeing the love of God displayed in the lives of His children in difficult times as this?

Beloved, I wish to bring your attention this morning to this agape love which is pure, willful and sacrificial – given to us freely through the Gospel. What is this love that goes the second mile?

This passage gives a small glimpse of the love displayed in the lives of Paul and his friends. As we begin, let us first understand what agape love is not.. and then we go on to understand what it really is..

What agape love is not?

  • Agape love is not in speaking words of flattery (vs 5)

Paul and his fellow workers showed not their love to the Thessalonians by speaking flattering words as he mentions in verse 5 – “For we never came with words of flattery”.

‘Love’ in today’s age means to flatter someone and gain something in return.

Doesn’t that happen when we flatter our bosses to gain a good bonus or a promotion in return? Doesn’t that happen when we try to flatter our friends for some favour in return? Don’t we flatter people sometimes to get them to church? Don’t we flatter our pastors and brothers and sisters sometimes to gain a good standing before them? Don’t we flatter our brethren sometimes when we know that what they do is a sin?

The human nature loves to be flattered but that is not love. Imagine a doctor examining you and flattering you that you have a normal flu when you could be having corona virus. That’s making your case even worser for you and others around you.

Paul and the apostles did not use flattering speech while planting the church nor while discipling them. They did not flatter them with a good opinion of themselves: they did not preach that they were good people who just needed Jesus to go to heaven. No! but they were blunt in saying that they were sinners in a desperate need of a Saviour.

Nor did they flatter them by talking about the power of their self-will but they declared just the reverse: they were weak, impotent and strengthless and couldn’t think even a single good thought if not for the Grace and power of God – who works in them both to will and to do.

They also did not flatter them when they were enjoying their sin and being friends of the World. When a man from the Corinthian church was caught in adultery, Paul wrote to them to count him as an unbeliever and deliver him into the hands of Satan – Why? Why didn’t he flatter them?

Because he loved them!

Love does not flatter but looks at their eternal welfare and speaks the truth in love. That does not mean we always find faults and sins in our brethren. Rather love covers a multitude of sins. It does not keep an account of evil but is lavish in forgiving others.

But when we do see someone going in a direction towards hell, let us take care not to flatter them but show them their sin through the Gospel and point them to a Saviour who loves them unconditionally and died for them.

Going on to my next point. –

– Agape love is not greedy (vs 5)

Paul and his friends did not preach the Gospel out of greed or covetousness as said in verse 5.. “nor with a pretext for greed – God is my witness.” He calls upon God as His witness when he says that yes – we loved you – but we had no desire for money or position.

They trusted in an all-providing God for their needs and went all out for the Thessalonians in love. A love which expects nothing in return? That’s agape love. When Paul was old, he advises an younger elder – Timothy that “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim 6:10). He also adds, “Godliness with contentment is great gain”. (1 Tim 6:6).

Beloved, I know God is calling many from amongst us – from the Gathering community – to show forth the love of Christ to our fellow brothers and sisters sitting next to us – to the community of broken people in our neighbourhood and colleges and offices.

But when you do that, remember that your God is an all-sufficient God and He takes care of all your needs and you need not look at any man for anything in return for the Gospel. Freely you have received, freely give! The love that the Gospel pours into our hearts does not look for monetary gain or riches or gifts from people.

Also, our expectations when we come to Jesus is not for riches or money or prosperity. God has promised to supply all our needs but not all our greeds. This attitude should not be just amongst our church members but also in our own respective families.

Many of us come from families who do not know Jesus and they by nature have money as their God. But what is our Christian response? I serve Jehovah Jireh – God is my provider. I need not act like the gentiles but show forth Agape love – which does not run after money.

Have God as your witness this morning – there may be failures – but let us draw near to God confessing our greed to Him and ask Him to fill us with a love which is selfless.

  • Agape love seeks not for glory from people (vs 6)

Paul goes on to say in verse 6 that he did not seek glory from people. That convicts me. I would be wrong to say that I do not seek glory from people. People must say nice things about me. “Isn’t he a great guy?”, “Doesn’t he have a great zeal for God?”,

Beloved, most of us want God to do His work indeed but we also wish that if He does work, It must be only through us. Like the mother of James and John, we wish that we get to sit at the right hand and the left hand of Jesus – when He is glorified. That is not agape love.

Agape love seeks the Glory of God even if I am abased and crushed in the process. Agape love seeks God’s Glory in the salvation of sinners and in the sanctification of the saints. I do not love you in order to gain your approval – I love you because I am already approved and beloved in His Son – Jesus Christ.

I am passionate to preach the Gospel and live the Gospel because I live in the presence of an all-knowing God who knows my sitting down and my rising up and my thoughts afar off. I must hurry on, brethren.

  • Agape love doesn’t make demands and burden others (vs 6 & 9)

I will not spend much time in this point but I must say that Paul and the apostles worked very hard for their bread and butter in-spite of their commitment to the Gospel. Living out the Gospel in our lives does not make us lazy men.

“God is our provider – so let us sleep?” “God cares for me – so, I need not look after my family?” That’s not agape love, brethren. In verse 6, Paul says, I could have made demands as an apostle but I did not.

In verse 9, He says – “you remember our toil – we worked night and day” – that we might not be a burden to any of you. Beloved, we as children of God – with agape love – need to bear one another’s burdens but we are not called to be a burden to one another.

Paul in another place writes – “If a man will not work, let him not eat.” Don’t we get sometimes very demanding with our brothers and sisters? Am I not his brother? Shouldn’t he take care of me? Rather, you are called to take care of him without expecting it in return. Agape love is not demanding but giving!

Ok, so we saw what Agape love is not. But what then is Agape love:

Agape love is –

  • Affectionate and gentle as a nursing mother

Let me read to you something written by Max Lucado:

“Moms, I have a question: Why do you love your newborn? I know, I know, it’s a silly question.. (but still) Why do you?


For months this baby has brought you pain. She (or he) made you break out in pimples and waddle like a duck. Because of her you craved sardines (wada pavs) and crackers (chocolates) and threw up in the morning. She punched you in the tummy.

She occupied space that wasn’t hers and ate food she didn’t fix.

You kept her warm. You kept her safe. You kept her fed. But did she say thank you?

Are you kidding?

She’s no more out of the womb than she starts to cry! The room is too cold, the blanket is too rough, the nurse (papa) is too mean. And who does she want? Mom.

She didn’t even tell you she was coming. She just came. And what a coming!

She rendered you a barbarian. You screamed. You swore. You bite bullets and tore the sheets. And now look at you. Your back aches. Your head pounds. Your body is drenched in sweat.

Every muscle strained and stretched. You should be angry, but are you?

Far from it. On your face is a for-longer-than-forever love. She has done nothing for you, yet all you can talk about are her good looks and bright future. She’s going to wake you up every night for the next six weeks, but that doesn’t matter. I can see it on your face. You’re crazy about her.

Why?”

I sometimes watch Abiah nursing our son, Nathan day and night – without much sleep – tired, exhausted, weary – but still so affectionate and so gentle with him – and I see a small glimpse of agape love there.

Look at how Paul describes his love for the Thessalonians – “You had become so dear to us. We were gentle among you like a nursing mother. We were so affectionately desirous of you. We were ready to share with you – not just the Gospel – but ourselves.” T

hat’s agape love. Loving God’s children as a nursing mother loves her own children. Oh that God would pour into our hearts such love for one another – for each other’s spiritual welfare. Oh that we would be gentle and patient with one another – forgive each other just as God in Christ forgave us.

Is there something that you have against your brother or sister this morning? Make sure you forgive him/her and show some love to that person before you leave. Oh God, pour out heavenly love into our hearts! Love that cares for others. Love that goes a second mile for others.

Love that covers a multitude of sins. Love that is ready to give ourselves for others. Is that possible? I leave that for you to ponder. Let me go on… a mother’s love is great but a father’s love is equally important too.

  • A strong pillar of encouragement and role-model as a loving Father


Fathers have a huge role in a child’s life which the world fails to adore and admire. With all his failures as a human being, a father is a child’s strength and role-model. A bad father leaves behind a broken home and a forever distorted child – unless the child experiences God’s love.

Paul says, “Like a father, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God.” He also adds, “How holy and righteous and blameless we were amongst you”.

Is there a role that God is calling you to play, dear brother, dear sister – similar to a loving Father – who exhorts others and encourages others and charges others to live in a manner worthy of God. When you lift up a fallen brother, when you correct a brother’s sin in love, when you go out during the week to your brother’s house and ask him how he is faring – you show forth Fatherly love.

When we live out the Gospel as a role-model to our brothers and sisters, we show forth love as a father to those around us. Beloved, God is calling us to live lives like an open book – not a compartmentalized life. A holy life in church and a sinner elsewhere – sets forth a standard of hypocrisy and double-standard to the world around us.

This is not a father that a child looks for – says something but practices something else. Let me be honest and vulnerable here – I have failed in many areas to have a heart like a loving father but I pray that God would instill in me and in all of us – such a heart of love – which stands up as pillars of encouragement and role-models in this generation – in this city – those who will point many to the Father – the Holy God – the loving Father but as we see agape love being displayed in the roles of a mother and a father, it would be incomplete for me to end this sermon without pointing you to the only perfect Agape love displayed till date until now.

  • A love which can be seen perfectly only in the Gospel

The man – Paul – with all his love and affections and holiness – still would go on to say that amongst all the apostles – he was the least of them and so, when we would look for a perfect example of Agape love – you wouldn’t find it anywhere else except on the cross – in the Gospel – where God so loved you and me that He would give His only Begotten Son for you and me – wretched sinners and imperfect lovers!


If you admit that agape love is not what you display many a times – you have good company – you need the Gospel as much as any of us would do. God –

I have a question – Why do you love us so? Why do you tolerate us? Only heaven knows how much pain we’ve brought you. How we kicked against you and rejected you. How we disobeyed you. How we mistreated the bodies you gave us. We ignored the Word you sent us. And we killed the Son you sent us.

 Ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. You have every reason to abandon us. But here comes an answer from God – Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. I have a million reasons to abandon you. But I HAVE LOVED YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE! I am Agape Love! My love does not change based on your actions – My love is much much greater than a mother’s love – “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I WILL NOT FORGET YOU!”

Is there someone out here who hasn’t experienced that love until now – I plead with you right now by faith to look unto Him that was pierced on the cross for you – Jesus Christ – He loves you! He loves you! He loves you!

There is no greater love than this – that a man lay down His life for his friends! And HE did! As we close, I want you to meditate on this never-ending agape love which loved His elect from before the foundation of the World!

As we respond by taking the Lord Supper, if you haven’t experienced the love of God in your life, we ask you to let it pass by and you can reach out to us after this service and we will be willing to help you.

Categories
Philippians Sermon

Whatsoever brings True Joy – Philippians 4:8-9

Let’s turn to our passage Philippians 4:8-9.

Let’s read.

One of India’s well known author, noble price winning economist Mr. Amartya Sen has written a book called ‘The Argumentative Indian’. In his book he talks about our Indian culture and how its built on arguments, arguments made between kings, politicians, religious leaders & the common men in our society.

According to Mr Sen today’s culture is a product of those arguments, our country in run based on such arguments, our constitution is built on such arguments, our company policies are made on such arguments, our society is built on such arguments, our family values & traditions are decided on such arguments, we live and look at life through the lenses of such arguments and suggestions made by people all around us. 

We are often told that to live a prosperous, productive and fulfilling life we need to hold on to these values, traditions, policies, rules that has been passed on to us by our ancestors. And even though they aren’t all bad, it does bring some sort of order and discipline in our lives, we need to know that they only bring external changes in us, and it can never ever bring permanent, true & lasting joy, peace and hope in our life.

Therefore, to experience true love, joy, peace, hope what we really need to hold on to are the things that bring internal heart changes.

Paul is concluding his letter to the Philippians and in the passage we just read he is asking the church to think about and to hold on to the things that will truly bring heart transformation and will lead us into experiencing true and genuine love, lasting joy, unimaginable peace and ever growing hope.

Therefore this morning I want to urge you brothers and sisters to refocus our time, energy, efforts, our thoughts towards such godly virtues and not what the world around us is talking, arguing and pressing on us.

And unlike the people of the world (leaders, politicians, family members, managers, bosses) Paul isn’t a hypocrite who is telling us to behave in a certain manner without living it out himself, he spent and sacrificed his whole life for the things that were true.

In verse 9 he says “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” It is very rare in today world to hear someone say that way.

There are 6 things Paul is asking the church to think about and hold on to, because of time constraints I won’t expound on all six, rather I will spend more time on the first one (which I think is most important) and then I will just introduce you the rest 5 and share some thoughts for your to ponder on when you go back home.

Paul isn’t offering us counsel; he’s giving us a command.

Think about or hold on to whatever is …

TRUE

It is important to know the Truth.

Illustration of the room being a spaceship

Unless we know what is TRUE we can never be free.

Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free”

John 8:32

But what is the truth we need to hold on to?

Just like the example of this room being a space ship, we were all born in this tiny little world (tiny compared to the vast universe), and every day we are trying to discover more about this world through experiences and through arguments with each other. And what we call as traditions, rules, logic is the intellectual outcome of our thinking which may not be true. Because no matter how hard we try, we keep failing by destroying this good earth every single day.

And we when we realize the futility of our actions, the destruction we are causing to one another as we seek our own  pleasure, our dead religion, corrupt politics, sick traditions etc Its important to know the truth. 

The truth about who we are?

The truth about why we are?

The truth of what’s going to happen?

The truth about how we are getting out of this place?

And the only way we get know the truth about our story is when we understand the story of the one who created us, created the universe – God.

Let’s understand the story of God as revealed to us through his divine providence. BTW we only know the story as much as he has revealed to us in the bible. The bible, even though it is written by men it is inspired by God, and everyday this word of God confirms its power and authority over our lives by transforming the hearts of men all around the world.

And the story of God, according to this scripture tells us that when he created the world he also created us in his own image and likeness out of sheer delight, to share a loving relationship. He wanted us to multiply and have dominion over the earth, but he wanted us to do that under His authority and rule. But because we were made in the image of God we also inherited his qualities, one of them been the power to choose and make decisions for ourselves.

 Now God wanted us to use that power he gave us to willingly choose to honour him and worship him and enjoy this good earth he created for us.

But instead of choosing the right thing we chose the opposite. When the evil one told us that by disobeying God we will be like him, we liked the idea and ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. But we forgot that God is in control and has all authority in heaven and earth to do what he pleases.

Using his authority, God had to throw us out of the garden and separated us from his love. God wanted us to know that without Him we are a wreak, we will destroy ourselves if we pursue to become our own gods. And because we chose that in Roman 1:24-26, 28-31

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 28 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.


And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Now the question is how do we get out of it?

The answer is “Only God can get us out of this”

This is how God brought us back to him.

John 3:16 says “For God the Father so loved the world he gave his only begotten son to die for us so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

God the son, Jesus himself came down on this earth, lived the life we were supposed to live, made the choices we were supposed to make, lived a perfect live our behalf, and then exchanged that life with us. He took the penalty of our wrong choices upon himself and instead gave us his righteousness. He defeated Sin and death for us and is now seated on the right hand of the Father and guess what he is doing?

He is interceding for us to the Father. Even after becoming a child of God, because of our indwelling sin we do commit sin again in our flesh, but when we fall, realize our mistake, go back to God in repentance. Jesus looks at his Father as says I’ve already paid for that which he just committed, he is worthy of love and forgiveness.

And the only way we can be set free from this sick body and this sick world is when we humbly accept and repent of our sins and receive his grace by putting our faith in Jesus.

And unless we grab hold of this truth daily, remind ourselves, soak ourselves, we will never experience internal heart change, we will never live the life God wants us to live. And that is why Paul is insisting that we constantly think about what is truth.

HONORABLE

In the bible, honor means to respect, esteem or give “weight to”

Matthew 19:19 – Honor our parents

Matthew 18:2-6 – Honor children

1 Timothy 5:17 – Double honor to pastors and church leaders

Ephesians 5:33 – honor husbands

1 peter 3:7 – honor wives

2 tim 2:21 – honor God

Honor is about serving and respecting others. It requires humility, integrity (honesty) and a constant pursuit of righteousness.

Because Jesus exemplified in all the above, It is only by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus that we may keep our minds fixed on ‘whatever is honorable’. To walk in honorable ways with one another won’t be hard if we fix our eyes on Jesus.

Go back home and read and think about the ways in which Jesus exemplified in honoring God and honoring people.

JUST

God sets the standard for what is just and right.

How did Christ treat us justly? – followers of Christ are to follow his example.

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

PURE

How do I think pure thoughts?

We think pure thoughts when we are awestruck by God’s wisdom, his character, his power, his HOLINESS.

Go back home and read and think about these things, the true definition of PURE is only found in God, therefore as we think and meditate on his purity, we will see how wrethed we are and therefore the cross will look more beautiful each day.

LOVELY

To think about whatever is Lovely is to think about everything that’s we’ve drawn from God’s mercy and grace. Starting with salvation, for the joy and peace we get to experience each day, the family God has given us, the church, the city we live in.

John 1:16 says “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.”

This morning I was drawn to think about the lovely things God has done in each of your life. the way you have grown and matured in the last few years, what God is doing in your life.

COMMENDABLE

And finally he says, think about and hold on to whatever is commendable.

What should we think of whats commendable?

“For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods” (Psalm 96:4).”

“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom” (Psalm 145:3).

“You are worthy, our LORD and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).

His greatness

His wisdom

His creativity

His character

Brothers & sisters,  lets refocus our time, energy & efforts to think about these virtues that change us internally and produce long lasting fruits.

As we take communion here’s one more opportunity for us to think and meditate on his love.