Monday, 5 March 2012

Pray, Eat, Love: CCF as a Gospel Centered Community - Chris 3


So today we’re actually taking a step back and looking at a passage we sort of skipped over from before reading week and that’s Matthew 4:18-25.  Now as you’ve probably already realized, there is no way we’re going to finish the Gospel of Matthew before the end of the year so I thought I’d rather go back and make sure we really do the best we can with the first couple of chapters which brings us to this passage today. So, three weeks ago we looked at the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and how he used scripture to resist Satan.  Then, two weeks ago, we looked at the start of Jesus’ ministry starting with the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes.  But we glossed over a very important transition that Jesus made and that’s what I want to look into today.  So if you’ll open your Bibles with me I’m starting from verse 18:
18  While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23  And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25  And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
So where we left off last time, Jesus just completed this epic battle against Satan and at the end it says that the angels came and were ministering to him.  A few weeks ago we talked about the hypostatic union and how Jesus is fully God and yet fully man and I think this last part is really evident here.  And shortly afterwards, it says that Jesus hears that his cousin, John the Baptist had been arrested and it says that Jesus withdrew into Galilee.  It is there that he calls his first disciples 2 sets of brothers: Simon Peter and Andrew, and the two sons of Zebedee John and James.  Now I’ll come back to the details of this process a bit later but notice how Jesus assembles his disciples first before he begins the bulk of his ministry.  I want to focus today primarily on the order that Jesus chooses to follow and suggest that this be the model for CCF becoming a more gospel centered community.  Notice Jesus first takes time in Galilee and we’re not too sure exactly what he did there but what he did preach was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (verse 17)”.  Then, after solidifying his relationship with God, he calls out his disciples, his little posse if you will: a group of followers and more importantly friends that Jesus will live intimately with.  It is only at that point, that Jesus goes out to start teaching on the big scale, and as Matthew describes: “healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”  And he gradually extends the area of his influence from Galilee and Jerusalem to Judea and beyond the Jordan. 
Now there are three distinct phases that Jesus goes through and that we are called to go through as well.  Now I’m sure many of you have heard the analogy about the three axes of Godly relationships: first there is the vertical axis between you and God, then the horizontal axis between you and other believers whether in a church or in a fellowship, then there is the axis in the third dimension which is between you and people outside of the Christ family.  And I’m not sure if any of you have noticed that this coincides very intentionally with the CCF vision statement which is to cherish and bring glory to King through our worship, fellowship and evangelism.  But the problem with all of these analogies is that we start to think that these are all independent of each other and this split has made it difficult to transition between the steps and in general has made it very unnatural.  So today, I want to propose a new triad with an added twist that I hope will help you guys refocus on why we exist as a fellowship.  And to make it as simple and as natural as possible, I have boiled it down to three words: eat, pray, love.  But before we go on, a couple of disclaimers: a) it was my sister that came up with the name, b) it has nothing to do with the book by Gilbert and c) I haven’t even read the book (but I did watch the movie, Julia Roberts…).  And to prove all of this, I’m going to change the order because I think they have it mixed up and I’ll call it pray, eat, love.  And the emphasis I’m going to put here is on how do we do these things as a Gospel-centered community.  I mean, have you ever wondered why CCF places such a strong emphasis on prayer meetings where we get together and pray as a group?  Or how about frosh dinners and times where we just chill together?  I guess the question I want to answer is why as a Christ-centered community are we called to pray together, eat together and love together?
The first reason as we see in our passage is that Jesus did it.  But as I was preparing for this sermon, Jesus did some things a bit differently.  While there are many instances of Jesus praying with his disciples before breaking bread and whatever, but there are also instances where Jesus brings his disciples to a place, leaves them there and goes off to pray alone.  Now this does show us that prayer is ultimately a personal conversation with God and you should take time, every day, to go off, into the stillness, away from distractions and just pray to God and listen.  You know I’ve seen some people think this way and I’ve been guilty of it many times myself: I’ve just come back from 3rd year PM at like 11pm and I know I have to wake up again at 6am the next morning to pray again and so somehow, my sleep deprived mind thinks it’s ok to not pray before going to sleep.  But prayer is so, so important and the reason why Jesus often prays alone but why we need to pray as a group is because Jesus is the Son of God.  John 10:15 records Jesus saying “even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father”.  Jesus and God were perfectly in tune.  We struggle with that sometimes and that’s why we need each other: to encourage one another, to pray for one another when we lack faith.  Jesus’ prayers were so intense that he sweat blood at Gethsemane and until we can pray at that level, we need to pray in groups to better encourage one another.  In the same way, Jesus also knew his disciples intimately well and essentially lived life with them.  Again, going back to John 10 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”  And talking about ministry, Jesus performed some amazing miracles and people flocked to him. Realistically, we need to go out into our communities and love other people in that way.  Now I’m not saying that I don’t believe the Holy Spirit can’t work these things out even within CCF.  But what many leaders within CCF have realized is that Jesus did all these things because he was Jesus.  We are not Jesus, our job is to point people to Jesus.   And the only way we can do that is if the Gospel message is rooted so deeply within the fellowship that it resonates in everything we do.  More than that, what I’m proposing tonight is that if people are truly convicted by the Gospel message, the only natural response is to come together and live life together.
I think the main reason why we are called to pray together, eat together and love together is that this was and should still be today, a natural reaction to who Jesus is and what he has done for us.  Look at the brothers in this passage, you know going about their own business and suddenly they see Jesus.  Luke records the story of Jesus commanding Simon Peter and Andrew to cast their nets even though they had been fishing all day long.  But knowing who Jesus was they cast their nets and reeled in a huge catch, so big that their nets were breaking at the seams.  And then Jesus commands them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  And I love the fishermen’s reaction because you look at verse 20: “Immediately they left their nets and followed him”.  Now, I don’t know about you guys but if I were in that boat I’d be like what? Fishers of men, what does that even mean?  But more importantly, I would definitely have some hesitations just getting up and going because of my identity.  Look back at the end of verse 18 and it says for they were fishermen.  That is who they were.  That was all they knew how to do, that was what they did to make a living, that was their identity.  Now I ask all of you, what is your identity right now?  If Jesus told you to leave everything right now, all your books, all your studies (some of you are going yes, yes get me out of here).  But think about it, would you really do it?  More than that, Jesus calls us to sacrifice even more than that, John and James had to leave their father.  Again, I ask you, are you prepared to do that?  Now here’s the real kicker… As a fellowship, what is it really that we’re trying to do?  We’re trying to follow Jesus!  We should be doing exactly what these fishermen did!  Looking at the amazing examples of faith that we see here, we can’t help but ask ourselves how convicted are we really about the Gospel when we skip PM to study some more, or when we can’t even take 1 hour out of our weeks to meet up with someone and check up on them as an accountability partner.  And I’m not pointing fingers or as my pastor back at home would say every time I point a finger there are three pointing back at me.  But, as with all convictions, there’s hope, and instead of focusing on where we’ve failed, we need to continue preaching the Gospel to ourselves and be encouraged in faith and in hope.
I remember sharing with the fellowship last year at the committee Q&A session about the Acts 2 church and how it was my prayer that we’d someday become like them.  Every time I look to this passage I always wonder how it is possible for a group of people to even be that close.  Flipping there right now, Acts 2:42 “42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[e] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.” Boom, right there, praying together, eating together and loving together. Anyway, moving on 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved”.  You know, an excuse that I have always been giving myself is that as CCF gets bigger, it will be harder and harder to do these things.  But the Acts 2 church was not a small one.  Verse 41 says that there were at least 3000.  And you read this and you ask yourself, how is it possible that they had all things in common, and whatever other possessions they had they sold it and distributed the proceeds to all?  Why? Because of the Gospel!  These guys just witnessed Christ’s death and resurrection and were given the command to go and make disciples of all nations.  They didn’t care about their stuff, or their possessions they left it all.  And the next very natural response is to find someone else who is doing the same thing so they can help each other.  But go back and look at this passage and what I love about this is that all these things are within reach and certainly doable for CCF.  And in fact, we do a lot of these things already: devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching = DG, prayer meetings etc.  But let’s not forget why we do these things.  It’s not out of obligation, or out of being able to boast about it afterwards, but it should all be out of love. 
The last passage I want to bring up tonight is Hebrews 10:19-25 and for those of you in my DG, I’m sorry that from here it’s going to be repeat  because I tested this section out on you guys last night but I did make some changes so don’t phase out just yet.  Anyway, Hebrews 10:19-25 reads: 19  Therefore, brothers,[a] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”  Again, we have the idea that a Gospel-centered community is a direct response to Christ’s death and resurrection.  Reading from verses 19-21, we read that Jesus’ death on the cross allowed for two things to happen.  First, we have been granted direct access allowing for a direct relationship with God.  There is a reference to the curtain in the temple that was torn from top to bottom when Jesus uttered his last words “It is finished”.  The blood of Christ has not only given us the ability but as it says in 19 the “confidence” to enter the holy places because he absorbed all of God’s wrath.  He was the propitiation for our sins so that we can be called children of God.  The second thing that the Cross has done for us is in 21: we have a great priest over the house of God.  This cross-references to Hebrews 4:15-16 which says “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Jesus was tempted as we just studied a couple of weeks ago and it turns out that this is crucial.  He was tempted and is therefore able to sympathize with us and he is now seated at the right hand of God and is pleading for us every day.  We now have the confidence to approach the throne of grace because when God looks down at us, He doesn’t see the sinner, the broken people that we are, He sees the perfection of His Son and he is pleased in that.  How beautiful is that!  But as we read on in Hebrews 10, we also see that this message demands a response.
Verse 22 calls us to draw near to God in full assurance of faith because our hearts are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  And James 4:8 says “draw near to God and He will draw near to you”.  So how do we do this?  I think the most powerful tool and the most beautiful gift we have is prayer.  We need to pray with assurance and with confidence, not because we think that we deserve anything from God, but because we have faith that He will answer according to His sovereign plan.  Later on in James we are reminded that the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.  This is why we pray in groups, it is so that we can help each other increase in faith, faith that our prayers are heard and that they will be answered
Verse 23 commands us to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.  The way I see it, faith is a very “now” thing, you know.  We pray in faith, we are saved by faith.  But hope looks to the future.  Our walks with God and with each other don’t end upon conversion.  Instead, we need to remember that Christ will return a second time, and as Hebrews 9:28 puts it “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” This hope ought to affect the way we live.  We need to constantly remind each other of this hope and live life together in order to prepare ourselves for Christ’s return.  And it doesn’t have to be anything big because we are not the source of hope; we are just reminders of it.  It’s often the little things that serve as the best reminders of what is to come: a random text during the day, catching up over a cup of coffee every once in a while.  This is what the fellowship of believers is for.
And finally, verses 24-25 commands us to consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.  I don’t know if you were able to pick up on it but there is the ever present triad of faith, hope and love in these past 4 verses.  And for those of you who went to retreat, or even if you didn’t go to retreat, you’ll know that the greatest of these is love.  All we have to do is to get this last one right (learning to love one another the way Christ loves us), then the other two, praying and eating, will fall into place.  But this love needs to extend beyond the family of believers.  This passage also talks about stirring up one another to good works.  And this is where I would really like to see CCF grow in.  Friends, we’d be selfish to keep this love to ourselves, we need to share it with others and this takes the form of outreach and other good works.  Again, I hope you see by now that we do these things not because we have to like oh it says here to do good works.  But instead, if we are truly convicted by the Gospel message and we understand what true love is, all these things we do are just natural reactions.  If it’s not natural, it won’t happen.  So I’m not asking you to leave these doors, go sell all your stuff and live in each other’s homes.  No, start with learning to love a small group of people.  I started this sermon by saying how a lot of what Jesus did within his community is only possible because He is the Son of God.  But there is one thing that I think is transferrable to us right now.  I think that while there is a need for each one of us to become more pro-active in serving for one another and learning to live life with one another, there is a limit to how many people we can do this with: 12.  And again, that’s quite a large number and Jesus did it but start with 6, maybe 3 or maybe even just 1.  Pick out those people, and make a conscientious effort to pray for them every day, to meet up to eat with them every once in a while and to stir them up to love and good works.  Now this is not to say that you can just forget about the 50 other people in the fellowship.  No don’t forget about them.  But if you take the time and effort to invest in a couple of people and slowly become more proactive about how to serve others in the fellowship, I know we’ll start to see some changes in the way we interact with each other and at least it’s a step in the right direction. 

Monday, 24 October 2011

Kingdom of God as eternal investment and call to repentance and faith - Ricky

Intro
We are going to start a series on the Gospel of Matthew. A while back Kingsley threw out this idea, and I started skimming through the book. Unfortunately this passage in the middle of the book really convicted me regarding how to live in a manner that is glorifying to God in every aspect of life. So I apologize that we are starting off in the middle of nowhere. But here’s the context of what’s happening so far: Jesus have started his ministry of healing and preaching God’s word, and after causing much controversy regarding healing on the Sabbath in a synagog, Jesus retreated with a great multitude(a HUGE mob of people) following him. He starts teaching them the things of the Kingdom of God(heaven in the book of matthew) using parables. Here he explains the parable of the wheat and tare and uses several other parables to describe the Kingdom of God. Here’s what the scripture says:

36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

Points
Here are the main points I would like us to look at from this passage.
· What is the gospel about? How does the Kingdom of God fit in with the cross?
· Who shall inherit the Kingdom?
· Kingdom of God as an eternal investment
· Coming of the Kingdom of God as a wake up call to repentance and faith unto Christ
· Applications

The Gospel
First off, it is of the utmost importance for Christians to understand and know what the gospel is. Paul writes it is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe. We do not just come to God through the Gospel, but we live life and are transformed by the Gospel.
There are currently many different teachings regarding what the gospel actually is. Some say it is something that brings you prosperity and makes you rich, some say it is something that will heal your illness, some say it is Christ crucified. But what does the Bible as the ultimate authority of Gods word say?
According to scripture, there are 2 main components to the gospel. One is explicitly stated in Matthew 4:23 saying Jesus preached the Gospel of the kingdom. The other is stated by Paul in 1 corinthians 15:1-5 as being of first importance, which is the message of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. These are not two different messages, but comes together to show the world the beautiful picture of God’s salvation and the hope that is to come. Indeed even Paul himself taught both as seen in acts 28:30-31. Now let’s take a look at what is the gospel of the kingdom.

Who shall inherit the Kingdom?
In verses 36 to 43 Jesus explains the parable he used to describe how God brings about his kingdom on earth. There are three main points in the parable.
· There are people in this lifetime who receive the gospel
· There are people who receive instead the teachings of the devil
· There will be final judgement separating these two types of people. One into damnation, the other into everlasting glory to inherit God’s kingdom.

Jesus makes a contrast in verse 42 and 43 between the two types of people. Those who are like the tares to be burned are practicing lawlessness in this lifetime, those who will inherit the kingdom are righteous in this lifetime.

Now this is huge for us. I don’t want Christians to think that this life doesn’t matter. Don’t fall into the trap of using God’s grace as a means to do whatever you want! If you continue to live in sin and disobedience in this life you will not make it in the end!

As Paul puts it in Romans 3 this righteousness is one that is apart from the law given to us through faith in Christ! Now how does this faith make us righteous? Faith is our substance of things hoped for and the evidence for things unseen. Before when we doubted Christ’s death and resurrection and God’s word, always demanding evidence for everything, even using God’s word as a means to satisfy our ego and craving for knowledge. In this manner we regarded Christ according to the flesh. But now no more! Now we should read the bible, even the law and the prophets as the word of God which guides us to a life of holiness and righteousness pleasing to God! As a preacher once said, the word of God is the chariot on which the Holy Spirit rides into our heart. We must love and read God’s word to allow God to change our minds and hearts, so we don’t go into the world being tossed about by all kinds of different opinions and teachings.

Kingdom of God as eternal investment
Jesus continues in verses 44 and 45, comparing the kingdom to treasures that people are willing to sell everything for. Notice how the man and the merchant did not give up all they had for nothing? But they gain treasures that are worth more than everything they had. Their motivation for giving up something was so they can gain something more precious. The same thing applies to us. The gospel demands that we give up everything to follow Christ, this is not just our money we tithe on Sundays, or the time we spend serving on a worship team, but every aspect of our lives from having fun with friends to doing homework. Nothing is done for the sake of doing it, but everything becomes spiritual, and our mentality should be changed from hording and getting more and more stuff for our selves from thinking of giving away, being a blessing to the people and community around us. Not that we are such good people that we can give away everything, but because of the belief in a perfect world that is to come, and eternal treasures that will be given to us which do not fade away.

Repent and believe
Jesus ends things off with a fishing parable and a commandment. Verses 47-50 really packs a punch. The Kingdom is compared to a fishing net. All kinds of fish are caught up in the net. Just like all kinds of people are part of a church community. But in the end when the judgment comes, the wicked will be separated from the righteous. This is a very sobering fact! And is an implicit call to self examination, repentance and believe towards Christ. Those of us who call ourselves Christians, do we have the desire to live more and more righteously before God? Or do we not care? Don’t be deceived. As st Augustine puts it: the righteous uses the world that they may enjoy God, the wicked uses God so they may enjoy the world. Brothers and sisters, examine yourselves, where is your heart? Can you truly say that God would be pleased with the way you are living? If not, please don’t harden your hearts! Repent and believe so that you can be with God in eternal bliss.

Great commission
Jesus ends things off with in a weird way. It seemed out of place to me at first. So I read some commentaries and the explanation of the parable is that we are to use our knowledge of the kingdom of God, which is compared to the treasure, for the sake of telling others about this good news, so they may also be invited into this kingdom. Now next week we will be doing some evangelism. It is not a time to feed one’s ego and for arguments, but let’s spread the truth of a king who came save us and told the world about His kingdom, was rejected and hated, betrayed by those who he came to save, and died for our sake, so we can become righteous heirs of his kingdom.

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Faith - Ricky

1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in [a]Hebrew [b]Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [[c]waiting for the moving of the waters;|
4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]|
5 A man was there who had been [d]ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He *said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” |
7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. |
10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”|
11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. |
14 Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
From July 1976 to August 1977, for almost a year, David Berkowitz terrorized New York City. Claiming to be commanded to kill by a demon demanding the blood of girls, he would approach women sitting in parked cars and shoot them dead. During this time, he killed at least 3 people and injured at least 2 others. In a letter he left for the police, he wrote ”I am a monster…I am the Son of Sam.”
Almost 2000 years earlier, by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, there lay a man sick and immobilized for 38 years. Will there be hope for him? Will there be hope for a monster like David Berkowitz?
Today we will be reflecting on john 5:1-14, and taking a look at the following:
· What is faith? How are we saved by it?
· After being saved, now what?
What is faith and how are we saved by faith?
This whole story paints a picture of our salvation by faith. In verses 1-4, John paints a picture of the natural human condition. The sick man represents us. We might not be physically sick, but deeply rooted inside of us are brokenness, selfishness, and an inability to be good all the time . People might not think they are bad, but when we do bad things, when we hurt others, we feel bad and our hearts tells us that something is wrong,. We try to fix this brokenness, trying to be a good person, but we don’t have enough strength to go deep enough, to fix our broken nature at it’s root, so poverty, war, racism, and human trafficking still remains despite the tremendous effort and money we spend to solve these issues.
Just like the sick man trying to obey the rules of the pool, we can’t quit meet the standards set by God’s law, which is represented here by the rules regarding healing by the pool. Nobody wanted to help the sick man. Until he met God.
When Jesus met him, he knew exactly his need. And Jesus did not see him as disgusting, but stooped down to meet his need and deepest desire to be made well. Jesus asked him :”Do you wish to get well?” Notice the sick man’s attitude, he did not try to put up a front pretending everything’s ok.
Like Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the father whose son was healed in previous chapters of john, by God’s grace the sick man had a very meek and honest attitude towards Jesus. He did not try to play the tough guy and say “I can get into the pool if I tried hard enough” but recognized his brokenness and need for help, and God does give grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. He longed to be made well, and Jesus met this need. Deep inside of us, there is also the same longing. When we look at the world with all of it’s poverty, war, crime, pollution, and corruption, we know that something is wrong, and we want to be made well, and only Christ can do that for us, as he did for the sick man.
But at this point the man was still placing his hope in the pool. As seen from his response in verse 7. “I want to be healed, but nobody’s there to put me in the pool!”. Jesus does something very profound next, and it gave the sick man faith in the right place, so he can be healed. People would have expected Jesus to put the man in the pool, or touched him or did something to him. But he did not do anything physically spectacular, he didn’t even touch him. Jesus just spoke to the man. Commanded him to get up and walk! This is amazing! God’s wisdom is so different from men! People want to seek huge marvelous signs and miracles, and wonder why God does not just make every problem in the world go away? But God chose to do it differently, in a way unnoticeable to the eyes of flesh! He saves us by faith, our assurance in things hoped for, our conviction of things unseen. No flashing lights or fireworks, no sudden doing away with all the chaos, but with just spoken words. When His words hits the deepest parts of our being where all the brokenness and evil of this world stems out of, just like how he spoke the universe into creation, something new is created inside of us. A child of God is born! “My sheep hears my voice and follows me!” For those who are Christians, God told us:”Wake up!”, just like how the man believed Jesus’ command, we woke up!
Such a beautiful act of grace and mercy! I imagine the man skipping gleefully as he went his way. Then he met the Jews. In contrast to the sick man’s attitude of humility, the jews were blind to their need to be changed spiritually. They were still there, lying by the pool, trying stubbornly to get in. and Jesus here sets up a meeting with them, and we looked at part of that controversy last week. The Jews did not care about the miracle that happened to the man. They were more concerned about keeping the law. That was the way to salvation for them. They even condemned the man for carrying his bed! The world runs on the principle of morality, of what is right or wrong, but God saves by grace. He shows mercy to anyone who is willing to come to Him, even for a monster like David. After David was apprehended in 1977, he tried to apply for parole 5 times in the last 34 years, but was denied every single time. When the time for parole application came this year, he wrote in a letter to FoxNews :”I have no interest in parole and no interest to seek release. If you could not understand this, I am already a free man. I am not saying this jokingly, I really am. Jesus Christ has already forgiven and pardoned me, and I believe this. He has given me a whole new life, which I do not deserve. And while society will never forgive me, God has. I am forever grateful for such forgiveness, too.” Now David spends his time in prison leading bible studies and serving his fellow inmates. No one is good enough to be saved by their own efforts, nor should we push God away because we are bad, but salvation only comes when we embrace Him.
The dialogue between the man and the Jews continues in verses 11 to 13. The man ignores their previous attempt to condemn him. He knows Jesus has greater authority, I don’t care what you guys say about the law, I know he who healed me is greater. The Jews now seeks to persecute who was responsible for telling this man to break the law. But he still doesn’t know Jesus’ name! and Jesus slips out of the crowd, for the time was not right to confront the jews, he wanted to meet the sick man one last time.
Now verse 14 is the main application portion of this passage. Jesus found the man later in the temple. He was truly thankful for what God had done for him. Therefore he went to worship. Jesus gives him a stern warning, “Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” Which leads us to ask the question, what is really God’s purpose for saving sinners? And the overarching answer would be to make a group of people who are set apart so that we may bear witness for God.
What do we do after receiving this faith?
Jesus here gives the man a motivation not to sin. And that motivation is fear. It may seem weird, but God loves us enough to tell us the truth. He did not save us so we can do nothing, but in order that we can be set apart from the world to bear witness of Him. It is written in Proverbs “ the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.“ John himself writes in 1 John 3, whoever is born of God does not sin. This does not mean a state of perfection, but a desire to be far away from sin, to be righteous to obey God and not our own ways. And Paul also writes in Galatians, those who walks in the way of the flesh will reap corruption. This will probably make the Calvinists cringe, but we do have to make and decision to be holy! God is sovereign but not a puppeteer. Even Paul calls us again and again in his letters to beat our bodies, to work out our salvation for it is God who works in us. As Christians we ought to strive for holiness. Here are some points of application on striving for holiness:
· Learn to obey God by faith. Sometimes we have to take risks. Faith helps us to believe that God commanded us to do something for good, even though the circumstances don’t seem like it. The sick man could have easily refused to stand up, the man whose son was healed could easily have not believed and fell into despair, the Israelites could very easily have not stepped into the red sea a second time because Moses wasn’t there. But God’s blessing comes AFTER we act in faith. Then we truly learn and understand the wisdom of God in His word
· Motivate yourself with Scripture to cultivate holiness, and led them guide the way we think and act. Read God’s word, especially his warning against sin and unholy living, and ask God for change.
· Examine oneself. Are you becoming developing the fruit of the Spirit? Are you developing characters of love peace patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control? Or are you walking in the opposite direction?

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Testimony of the scripture - Ricky


39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
40 "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. |
41 "I do not receive honor from men. | (see 43-45)
42 "But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.
43 "I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.
44 “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?
45 “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you-Moses, in whom you trust.
46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
47 “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Today’s passage is from John chapter 5, the context of this passage is that after Jesus heals a man who has been sick for 34 years on Sabbath, and afterwards being confronted by some Jews seeking to persecute and kill him because they think he broke the Sabbath, and that he blasphemed God after making himself to be equal with God. Much controversy arose after the incident, and Jesus tells them there are 4 witnesses to Jesus’ claim of being the equal with God:
· John the Baptist
· His work
· His Father
· The scriptures(equivalent to the first 5 books of the Old Testament)
We will be focusing on testimony of scripture, and taking a look at the following:
· Why are the jews are refusing to go to Christ?
· How does the Scriptures bear witness to Christ?
· Why does this matter?
Why the Jews refuse to come to Christ?
In verse 39 and 40, Jesus rebukes the jews, saying "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life." These Jews probably know their Scriptures(first 5 books of the OT) inside out. Trained in a young age to memorize the scriptures, in order to be taught by a rabbi(Teacher of the scriptures), and some were probably rabbis themselves. But Jesus tells them they got it all wrong. Like all human beings, deep inside of us, there is a natural, antagonizing attitude towards God. And we see it here, even though Christ is standing right in front of them, they fail to see and believe Him to be the life giving Messiah, instead wanting to persecute and kill Him earlier in the chapter. They view the scriptures as something that contains eternal life in and of it self, if they fully understand all the commandments, and followed them, they will gain eternal life. But that is exactly what leads to their antagonizing attitude towards Christ.
Then in verse 41 Jesus says something that seems to change the topic in another direction, but it will become clear why later.
Verse 42 is the key to understanding why the Jews behave in the way they do towards Jesus, and what this issue deeply entrenched in us really is. The reason they hate Christ is because God’s love is not in them! John himself writes in 1 john 4:19 “we love because he first loved us!” These people’s hearts are not renewed by God. They still have a blindness in them! So that even when the word of God is in their hands, they cannot be led to God! In their heart they refuse to believe the works Jesus did, but instead use their minds to seek in scripture reasons to kill him. And verses 44 and 45 shows more of the effects of this blindness.
Jesus points out another deeply entrenched problem in our nature. We by nature seek the temporary fleeting praises of men, it just feels so good to hear people suck up to us, it just feels natural to suck up to people so they think better of us. I am a big people pleaser, and I struggle with this a lot! It has led me to speak lies, not doing what I ought to do, not saying what I ought to say. Always trying to be a good person so that people will like you. Do not live this way! This mentality breeds corruption and you will become a slave to seeking the praises of men. The Jews are not willing, or do not care about receiving honor from God. God sent his son so that they might be saved, but they care more about how people see them, and feel good about themselves. Jesus says don’t think that way! Seek the praise of God! Live in a way that eagerly longs to hear the day God says to you :”Well done, my good and faithful servant!” That’s why he says what he says in verse 41, as an example for how Christians should be motivated to live.
How does the scripture bear witness to Christ?
But Jesus does not condemn them. He came to save, not to condemn, and the law already condemns them. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” James wrote. And Jesus shows in Matthew 5-7 the true standards of the law, and it is impossible to meet the bar by human effort. Instead of trying to live by the law, they should have revealed to the Jews their need for a savior. Someone who can fulfill the law, someone, like the lamb sacrificed during the Passover, covers their sin and inability to fulfill the law so they may live.
Jesus concludes in verses 46 and 47 by saying that Moses wrote about Him. Moses was the author of the 5 books of the OT, Genesis to Deuteronomy. If the Jews were to have read the scriptures correctly,
they would have seen many inferences to a coming savior. It was God who first preached the gospel to adam and eve in Genesis 3, it was God who promised Abraham an offspring who would bless all nations, it was God who showed the blood of the lamb to be spilt during the Passover, symbolizing Jesus shedding his blood for our sin. And it was God who uses evil for good. Like the story of Joseph, using humanity’s ultimate act of evil in crucifying His son to bring us our ultimate good, that we might know Him. But the Jews did not see these signs. And the law condemns them.
Now how does this relate to us? It is important in discerning how we view and read the bible. For people who like hiking, you might have noticed sometimes trails have signs pointing you to the right direction. Similarly with the Bible, it is God’s word, pointing us to Christ. We can go to 2 extremes, either enjoying it for knowledge, or having no interest at all in reading it. How can we be led to Christ by God’s word? We first have to know God, or else that antagonizing attitude is still there within our hearts, and our minds will twist scripture and even use that as an weapon against God. Then(after knowing God) whenever we read the Bible, learn a piece of theology, always ask, so what? Why does this matter in my life? Knowing God is sovereign, how does that affect the way I live? Empty knowledge will only make us puffed up with pride, it doesn’t do anybody any good. Only when we learn to obey Christ out of love for Him can we truly understand and posses the wisdom in His word.
"Hold fast to Christ. For you he became temporal, so that you might partake of eternity." - Augustine

Tuesday, 28 June 2011

Sermon outlines

This is where you can see outlines for the sermons and have a discussion.