We need to care, to even grieve, about our world.

You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. (Amos 6:6 NIV)

Israel enjoyed to worship. They were thrilled by artistic excellence. But what they did, did not please God, because they loved to be pleased and to enjoy themselves, and was not making their beautiful music to please and glorify God.  

God charged them with these words: “You do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph." They are charged with apathy. They were indifferent, insensitive, apathetic. They enjoyed great worship, but it was selfish and not God honouring, because it was all about their own gratification.

They were complacent.  Israel was not concerned about the destiny of those who did not share in their prosperity. God was concerned, but their hearts was unmoved.

If we would apply this to ourselves, we must ask a critical question.  Do we feel what God feels about the state of the world? Do we care about the things God cares about? Do we care about the ruin of Joseph?

God cares about people. His passion is people.  If our beautiful worship and praise do not come from compassionate and obedient hearts, God will not notice what we do.  He will only notice our complacency and our indifference.

True fulfilment comes when we serve like Jesus did. Jesus lived for others. Jesus gave his life for people. People were his focus and they should be ours as well.

It is so easy to take things for granted. We need a wake-up call like the one Amos gave to Israel. We seek things that will not satisfy or even thrill us. We will be satisfied when we spend our lives caring about the welfare of others.  Then our worship will also reach the heart of God, because God first of all made us to glorify him by doing his work. And his work is to touch the lives of those who are in ruin.

Mother Teresa was one day followed around Calcutta by a man inspired by her work. At one point he cried out, "Mother Teresa, I wouldn’t do this work for a million dollars!" She replied, "Neither would I!" This is the heart of someone who cares.  Of someone who did "grieve over the ruin of Joseph."

We have to get up from our complacent and indifferent lazy-boy chairs and become people who care enough to do something to touch the lives of those who need to know the Lord.

We need to care about those who need our help.

Preparing for the Lord's Supper: The power of the acknowledgment of guilt

The power of the acknowledgment of guilt

Daniel  9:7-8:  "Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame....  because of our unfaithfulness to you. O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.”

Daniel does the unexpected by praying this. Israel is in exile and has lost many precious possessions – home, country, freedom, businesses and vineyards.  We would expect him to pray: "O Lord, give us back our temple and city, our dignity and freedom". But Daniel begins his prayer speaking about a much greater despair than the loss of assets and wealth.  Instead, he prays, "Have mercy on us who are in the misery of shame because of our unfaithfulness to you, o Lord”   To be covered with shame because of your sin is greater misery to Daniel than the hardships of exile, war and poverty.

Daniel does not try to blame others for Israel's misery. Listen to what he says:

(Dan 9:5) “We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.” And (Dan 9:7) “We are covered with shame. “

Shoulder to shoulder with the godless unbelievers and idol worshipers, Daniel admits, often stand the equally unfaithful, disobedient and ungodly people of the Lord.

We must realize that the people of God, even the members of the Church of Jesus Christ, are numbered among the guilty ones! If we refuse to do so, if our pride makes it impossible for us to be covered in shame for our sins, we will not be able to reconcile with God and in returning to him find the true purpose of our lives, namely to serve God and glorify him forever. 

As we prepare for the Lord's Supper, we must always begin by confessing our own sin.   As we prepare for the Lord's Supper we cannot try to minimize guilt and wrong. We must be willing to own up to them.

What really distinguishes the Christian from the world is that Christians since the time of the apostles are willing to say: We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What distinguishes us from unbelievers is that we confess our sins and shortcomings. What distinguishes us is that we run from sin, while the world runs after sin.

As we prepare for the Lord's Supper we need a shame that makes us sorry enough for our sins that we are willing to quit.  In expectation of true joy that we are welcome at the Table prepared at the cross and through resurrection, we need forgiveness that comes from our shame for our unfaithfulness.

We want to come to the Table to feast with our Lord and celebrate our forgiveness and enjoy our restored relationship with our God through the work of Jesus Christ, his Son and our Lord. Being covered with shame for our unfaithfulness and impurity has the power to lead us back to the Lord’s Table, where we are received by a forgiving Jesus and have fellowship with our loving Father, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives.   

God is merciful and quick to forgive.

Good News Bible: Isaiah 55: 6 and 7

⁶Turn to the Lord and pray to him, now that he is near.  ⁷Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the Lord, our God; he is merciful and quick to forgive.

The most dangerous lie that we can believe is that God cannot (or will not) forgive us. Those that say, "I am too far gone" and "I cannot change” have fallen into this trap. It is true that our sinfulness before God is great. Scripture tells us (Rom 3: 23) that “everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence”.  Some recognize this truth, yet draw the wrong conclusion from it saying:  “I am beyond redemption”. 

No, our God is so great that there is nobody this side of the grave that is too far gone, or beyond hope.

The right conclusion is that we should throw us upon the LORD for his mercy and forgiveness, by turning to him and praying to him. Because as we turn to God, we turn away from wickedness and when we pray to him, we will see his mercy and experience that he is quick to forgive.  God is not waiting for us to sin that he can smite us, but he is waiting for us to turn to him that he can bless us with his mercy and pardon.

We need the Gospel of Jesus Christ .... final. Preaching the God of the Gospel.

Preaching the God of the Gospel.

As we have heard over the last couple of Wednesdays, Paul proclaimed and preached the unique Gospel, or Good News, of God that we now find in the Bible and that teaches that we come to saving grace through obedient faith!  Paul says all of this happens by “the command of the eternal God”.  Rom 16: 26.

To spread God’s Good News and to receive salvation through its revelation, is all God’s work.  He commands his servants and the message they share.  God therefore gives authority to the preached Word as it all happens under his dominion. It is accompanied by his power and blessed with his personal interventions in the lives of everyone that hears – and listens.

The God of the Gospel is the Father of the Saviour and the Sender of the Spirit. He who in his great power created us, and everything that exists, and who is the Judge that required punishment for our sins, is our God who also gave his beloved Son to carry the sentence in our place and who plants and germinates the Word he commands to grow in our lives to bring us into his community.

The preaching of the Gospel is therefore all about the God of the Gospel.

Listening to God’s Word, is about getting to know God better and better.  He who commands his Word, commands his servants who preach and commands the outcome of the Gospel proclamation in our lives: salvation and new life!

We should recognize that it all begins and ends with God. We should praise him and worship him always. At every opportunity he gives.  He should be the one to whom we ascribe glory forever.

In the end, and at the end, we will worship the God of our redemption with his Church and all who are in heaven, yes, we will forever praise his wisdom and goodness.

We need the Gospel.

But most of all, we need to get to know the God of the Gospel who now commands the bringing of the Good News to you and me, and as such commands our eternal future.

Praise the God of the Gospel! Praise him always!

Worship him at every opportunity he provides.

Water is for refreshment, but wine is for celebration and joy...

In Isaiah 55: 1 we are offered water, wine, and milk. "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."

These three drinks match our deepest needs. We all are needy and must be taken care of by a loving yet almighty God.

Water relates to our need for refreshment. When you are most thirsty and most desperate and totally dehydrated, water is what you want and nothing else.  God invites us to receive refreshment, restoration, reviving and a new beginning which he only can give.

Milk relates to our need for ongoing nourishment and growth.  When you want a little baby to grow day after day, you give it milk again and again. God is not just for thirsty emergencies, but even more for sustainable health.  He invites us not only to come alive with water, but also to be stable and strong with milk.

Wine relates to our need for excitement, joy and celebration. We want to be truly alive. Yes, we need to be strong and stable. But that is not all we need to be alive. No matter how unemotional,  laid-back and poker-faced we may look like to others, there is an excited child inside every one of us that God wants to bring to life for joy and delight:  for shouting and singing and dancing and playing and skipping and running and jumping and laughing.

When we come to God, we will find that in our relationship with him we receive more than resuscitation or even growth – we will find that a relationship with God, in Christ, brings excitement and joy!

We need the Gospel of Jesus Christ .... Part 3 The outcome of the Gospel for every believer.

The outcome of the Gospel for every believer.

Paul describes it in these words:

I proclaim the Gospel about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, ²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.  Rom 16: 25 – 26.

This Gospel of Jesus Christ brings about powerful transformation in the life of every believer. 

It makes us aware that, as the Gospel has now been “revealed and made known to us” through the writings by the Bible writers, as inspired by the Lord, we will have an urge, no a passion, that all people and all nations may believe and get to know Jesus Christ in order to receive the gracious personal relationship with God through Christ that the Gospel is all about.

The outcome of the Gospel is that we begin to understand that to only hear the Gospel is not the end result God has in mind, but that we “will come to obedience that comes from faith”. We need to obey the Gospel, which means to commit ourselves to him and to the spreading of the Good News meant for everyone.

What glorious Good News we did not receive to share with the world!  That the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ is sufficient to satisfy the justice of a holy and righteous God.  Nothing stands between us and living in his presence anymore. We can live and serve as he expected us to do from the beginning.  Obedience that comes from faith leads us to serve his Kingdom and sets us free to become the men and women God has created us to be.

Where you find the Gospel being faithfully preached and you find the preaching followed by God’s children, it makes a critical difference in the lives of people. 

The most exciting thing about hearing the Gospel preached,  is that we hear more about God.

We also learn to understand that salvation comes from God. He gives it, sustains it and will one day in heaven perfectly complete it.

When we come to Christ, we suddenly realise that God in his mercy shaped the circumstances of our lives to bring us to the point of faith and surrender. Our greatest surprise and our greatest joy as believers is that we find that our salvation through faith, is of the Lord. By his grace alone.

Is this not the sweetest comfort of the Gospel?  I cannot fail the salvation test, for all who believe and trust in Christ alone, see that their salvation is from the Lord who never fails us and forever remains our loving Saviour.  Till the end, and at the end.

Praise God today for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Praise Jesus that he is your salvation!

(Next Wednesday more about “the God of the Gospel”)

The strength of a waiting believer

"...Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint"  Isaiah 40: 31.

The strength of a waiting believer.

God’s promise to us is that if we wait upon the Lord, he will renew our strength. A literal translation would be that we "exchange" our strength.

As we wait upon God – in other words draw near to him with hope and in faith, trusting expectantly in him as our resource, he will impart his strength to us. We know that we often run out of strength and the promise is that God will exchange our tiredness with the strength he gives.  What an exchange it is!

There are times when the Lord calls upon us to run and then we "will run and not get tired." There are other times when we must simply march and then we "will walk and not become faint (tired)."

What a promise!

And the secret is in waiting upon the Lord.

Let’s draw near to him today!

Green Poetry 2: Prayer.

Prayer

Join me with the soil forever,

let me in Your shadow be.

And make fear and gladness –

every night -

immaterial to me.

Days pass like a thought, so quickly.

Every space belongs to You.

Every daily dream of wealth

and fame,

phony silhouettes of gloom.

I’m acquainted with the side ways –

and misplaced within the haze.

Lord, You every time found me

when I was lost:

one last time find me in this maze.

What I am, is only mercy,

all I have is just on loan,

only praying for Your waters of rest - 

lead me Lord, to their shalom.

“Gebed “ –  is an Afrikaans poem by Koos Du Plessis.

English translation:  Andries Combrink - Copy right reserved

We really need the Gospel of Jesus Christ .... Part 2

The heart of the Gospel is a relationship with God.

Paul describes it in these words:

Rom 16: 25:...to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past...  be glory forever through Jesus Christ.

The Gospel has the power to establish us, because it centres on proclaiming a Person and a relationship with him. The Gospel is not in the first place a set of rules for living or even a set of moral principles. It certainly never is just another religious system.

The Gospel introduces us to a relationship with a real Person, Jesus Christ. The Gospel is a proclamation about Jesus Christ.  He is the focus and the heart of the Gospel. 

It has often been said that "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  The main thing in the Church of Christ is the Person of Jesus Christ.  We keep the main thing the main thing, in other words we keep a Biblical focus, when we focus on our relationship with Jesus.

The reason why we are so often tempted to rather focus on laws, rites and life’s principles than on a relationship with God, is because it is the easy way. It is like following a recipe or travelling according to a map. Following recipes, rules and maps may be easy, but it cannot change us.

Relationships, on the other hand, are dynamic. It is alive. It is challenged by changed circumstances and asks for creative effort, commitment and sacrifice born of the love on which the relationship is founded.

Paul calls the Gospel the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past.  The Gospel is a mystery that was revealed to us.  Before Jesus revealed that God’s Good News to us is our renewed relationship with him, personally, people always tried to appease God by rites, rituals and rules.   

Yet, in the Gospel preached by the Apostles – and here referred to as the Gospel Paul preached in particular, God chose to deal with a disobedient and impure humanity in a way that nobody considered possible before. God sent his Son to die in our place and carry our punishment and overcome our enemy: our evil human weaknesses. Jesus Christ came to live in every person who receives him and puts their faith in him. God has opened the way for all people to receive his forgiveness and restore their relationship with him. 

Paul calls it a mystery. How it works we don’t know, but that it works is beyond doubt.

As Christ takes control of our lives, he shares with us the power of his life.  The power of Christian living and the mystery of the Gospel is that we live by the power of Jesus Christ living in us. This is an exciting mystery and it is the heart of the Gospel and of Christian life. 

Sermon outline on Isaiah 40: 1-11. "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God"

Sermon outline on Isaiah 40: 1-11

God’s people need comfort, today!

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1).


published on our congregation's website at
www.centurionwest.co.za  and then go to resources, and then to "Sermon Outlines" on the menu.

or click here:
http://www.centurionwest.co.za/sermons.htm

Song: Lyrics based on Psalm 122.

Song based on Psalm 122.

(Music: - Be still, for the presence of the Lord)

I’m glad that the people of the Lord, God’s people said to me:

Let’s go to the House of the Lord, let’s stay God’s might to see.

Your House is strong, o God, we give you thanks, our Lord!

I’m glad that the people of the Lord invited even me!

Give thanks to the awesome Name of God, his throne will ever reign:

the throne of the glorious Son of God, who rules for peace to gain.

They prosper Lord, our God, who love your House, my Lord!

And now may the peace of God our Lord, with all of us remain.

Because of the House of God our Lord, I’ll do what’s best for you!

The peace found within its walls, I pray will bless you too.

Your peace, o Church of God, will prosper all who come!

I’m glad that the people of the Lord invited me, and you!

Lyrics by Andries Combrink. (Copy right reserved)

You are welcome to use this in worship, but not for financial gain!

We really need the Gospel of Jesus Christ .... Part 1

What does it mean to be established?

Lets hear what the apostle Paul says about this.   Romans 16: 25/26.   Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past.

What does it mean to be established? As parents, we all want our children to become established.  This generally means that we want them to one day be strong and enabled adults, well educated, respected, honoured and recognised and productive members of society, with a good job, success, financial independence and stability.  These are some of the things we think about when we say we want our children – and ourselves – to be established.   

Established is the opposite of being stuck. It does not mean that progress has ceased. But it does mean that you have been founded on solid ground from where you are safely propelled to success. It means that you are enabled to wisely do the right things. It does mean that stability comes from wise choices and the ability to stand firm on those choices.

In a world as shaky and unpredictable as ours, where society sometimes change critical values with the fashion of the day and where economic down turns impact on billions of people and where wobbly morals kill just as many, we and our children need a word of wisdom, need a message, a gifting and an ability that will bring us stability and give us a solid foundation for life’s challenges.

In a world full of bad news, because of shaky fashions, wobbly morals, deceitful economics and shady politics, there is certainly a need for good news. And in a world where people are searching for purpose, meaning and a firm base for life, there is a need for the good news that will establish us on a solid foundation.

And this is what God does through teaching the Gospel through his Church. Paul says, “to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel” - our need is to be established and this is exactly what God does through the Gospel. God establishes us and our children and grand children on a solid foundation, in accordance with his Gospel.

And Paul calls it “my gospel”.  The gospel preached and taught by him.  God used his servant to establish people through Paul’s ministry.

Even today our Lord works through people – through Sunday School teachers, Youth Workers, elders and preachers.  They personally are not really that important – but what is important is that God chooses to work through them to bring stability and strength to our lives and for our children!

Who shuns the true teaching and preaching of God’s Gospel, rejects God’s very own choice of interventions to keep us, and our kids, safe and stable, in him.

Let’s be faithful, and by being faithful be safe and become established!

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God " (Is 40:1).

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God  " (Is 40:1).

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). These words need to be heard by all those who come face-to-face with death, their own death and the death of a loved one.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). These words must be heard today by the many across our country who suffer because of their broken marriage relationships. Young men and women who get married with so many dreams and excitement and so much joy and then have to leave with pain, anger and disappointment. And it needs to be heard by the children from these broken marriages. The men, women, and children from broken marriages need to hear God’s word of comfort.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). Those who suffer as a result of life threatening decease - HIV and Aids, cancer, heart-attacks, strokes, TB and many more -  they have to hear these words.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). These words must be heard by those who live with unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and those who experience financial loss and bankrupted businesses. Those who lost everything as a result of dictatorship, and the greed of politicians and officials, of failed government and a failed state. It needs to be heard by those who are persecuted and bullied and robbed and financially abused.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). Teenagers who are intimidated, rejected by their peers, who have no friends, who feel abandoned by family and unaccepted by their fellow learners and educators, need to hear these words. All youngsters who are bullied, simply must hear these words.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). The victims of abuse badly need to hear these words. Women and children who suffer behind closed doors, because of physical, sexual and emotional abuse! Orphans and widows, and child headed families, aunts and grannies looking after too many orphaned children and are crying for help and support, who are robbed and used by the establishment – need God’s comfort.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). You need to hear these words from the Bible if you carry the heavy burden of self-blame, guilt, the shame of sin and the burden of evil. If you are pressed down by stress, hopelessness, sadness, loneliness and heartache and if you feel it is all your fault!

God is coming to you

and his coming means that he will grant you comfort.

You are not alone, anymore....

Because God is coming.

Green Poetry - Fable for a metro child...

Fable for a metro child

When the dust and soot already left us,

the smog has stopped to flow,

we will find a starless open heaven

with a neon-bow.

And should you see it, although it’s mild,

I’ll surely tell you, a fable my child,

of treasures bound with chains all spent,

at the neon-bow's far end.

Follow the soft light through grimy waters,

climb the concrete cliffs -

if you wander on ten thousand hours

find it in the glyphs.

Do not stay, till no time to spend,

the fable says: go on my friend!

In that place is gladness for rent,

at the neon -bow's far end.

Follow the soft light through grimy waters -

you never will be done,

till you find the bright blue chest with treasures -

and maybe beams  - of sun.

A Koos Du Plessis Afrikaans poem –

"Sprokie vir ’n Stadskind", 
Translation by Andries Combrink.

Copy Right reserved!

Are you a new Christian?

Accepting Jesus as the Leader of your life is the most important and powerful decision you have ever made! You accepted Jesus as the one who sets you right with God and as the Saviour you want to live for with passion and with a grateful heart. You now are a child of God – because of what Jesus has done for you personally.

Now, it is also important to share your decision with others, including your peers, who follow Jesus.

You may not know someone because you never had a Christian friend before – then you are welcome to call a church that makes everyone feels at home – and invites the community to Church, close to where you live.  You may call us if it is convenient for you to contact someone in the Pretoria area, at (012) 656 7750 or simply leave a comment, with your email address, on this page. We are looking forward to hear about your experience and can advise you on a good church in your neighbourhood.

It is important that you take the next step as soon as possible. Your friends you had till now may not be supportive of your decision to follow Jesus and may even mock you for it.  You now need a supportive “family” that is excited about your decision to be a Christian – and can help you to “take the next step” - to serve God under all circumstances.  

Find a church where the Bible is respected as God’s Word and where God, the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is served and loved. Or join a Bible Study or small group where you can share your excitement about Jesus and about serving God!

And start reading the Bible in a good and easy to understand English version such as the “New International Version”.   We suggest that you start by reading the Gospel according to John, the 4^th book in the New Testament. 

  You can read it online here.

Check out the “Favourite Links” on this blog too.

Why do we call it a miracle when it seems natural?

It's a miracle, we say...

when a couple we know, who waited long, fall pregnant;

when someone with terminal illness is healed, completely;

when we enjoy our chapel, unexpectedly afforded and built by an initially very small congregation of less than 60 members;

when our congregation grows unexplainably;

when an addicted person is rehabilitated;

when our prayers are miraculously answered again, and again;

when our children are safe from drugs and promiscuity;

when our young adults and young couples flock to church and insist on having more responsibilities and work for the Lord;

when we leave church on Sundays spiritually nourished and quenched by Word and Sacrament;

when we see how we and our fellow Christians are growing in the Lord;

when the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, is the word of God.

Yes, we are a sophisticated and educated bunch in our congregation. World class scientists and technologists joined our community. Well educated and blessed men and women with responsible work in business, labour and government share the fellowship of hard working fellow Christians.

We know we have to work hard and live wisely, even though we depend on the Lord’s provision.

The couple who are pregnant now, did see a medical specialist and the lady cured from cancer did receive chemo therapy. The building was funded because God’s children were generous and passionate about the project. The rehabilitated alcoholic and drug addict went to a Christian rehab centre and we do our best to warn our kids against drugs and promiscuity.  We made our young adults feel welcome and taught them to excel in God’s work.  We work hard at Biblical, expository preaching and teaching and encourage one another to participate in learning and growing in God’s Word.

So, why do we thank the Lord for miracles if we did our best and worked hard to accomplish this, even as we are looking with great interest for guidance in the Scriptures?   Is it not our clever and hard working ways that caused the wonderful outcomes?  Yet we do with much passion thank God on Sundays and on any occasion of prayer and praise, for his miraculous wonders in our lives. 

Yes, we use the word miracle to describe a whole range of wonders, from the gains of science and technology to the awe-inspiring “mystery”, to our downright amazement, when we see our children's growth and development and prosperity.

We do well when we always begin with the Bible and look there for the answer to our question:  Are these things miracles, signs and wonders - or simply scientifically explainable events?

Well, the Scriptures are full of amazing events where God is portrayed as working supernaturally in human history and as personally involved with the details of the lives of his people. The Bible is completely clear in displaying God’s providential power in both ordinary and extraordinary ways.

The God of creation made the world and still commands the forces of nature. That is not only a natural phenomenon but also clearly a super natural divine intervention.

The God of Abraham and Sarah, of Isaac and Jacob guided and provided in answering their prayers in surprisingly, inconceivable ways.

The God of Moses appeared in a burning bush, in fire and smoke, parted the waters, and provided manna and quail and water for his people in the wilderness.

The God of the prophets spoke through them and comforted, challenged and rebuked God’s people – at times demonstrating a power that incurred holy fear.

The gospels also tell of the healing and deliverance miracles of Jesus and of the greatest miracle and mystery ever experienced by mankind –the virgin birth, conquering death and glorious resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The risen Christ poured out the Spirit on his Church, he appeared to the apostle Paul and the Bible tells us of God's mighty acts in the days of the apostles and the first Church.

As Presbyterians we, since the time of the reformation, viewed every experience of life as a whole as reminding us of God's creative presence and providence: as sacramental, miraculous and a mystery.   The reformers taught us to look for the miraculous in the created order, in every way that God provides for our health, our safety, our wellness – and most all providing the miracle of having faith in the Son, of receiving salvation and of living in the power of the Spirit, which is the power of the resurrected Saviour. 

In our age we experience both the incredible accomplishments of science and a new hunger for an experience of the supernatural, the spiritual, and of the divine love, power and might of God.  We continue, as reforming Christians and as Presbyterians, to believe in the power of prayer and we believe God can and does work in both natural and supernatural ways every day. 

In fact, we actually believe that what is natural, or accomplished through science and technology, through medicine, hard work, careful wisdom and prudent living are only possible through divine creativity, God’s unexplained work and provision in every aspect of our lives. We believe that both science and human accomplishment through hard work, are part of God's providence for us and in us.

If we believe that God by his grace and mercy and through our faith provides for our eternal salvation, we also believe in and know his presence with us in every facet of life, in suffering and amidst challenges and pain.

We believe that nothing is impossible with God.  That the same God whom we praise for the forgiveness of our sins, and for receiving the very treasures of heaven through the mystery of feasting on Christ and his love, that the same God will now, till the end and at the end, care for us in every aspect of life, as he provides through the natural gifts the supernatural wonders, and through the super natural wonders, grants us daily, natural experiences of life, his love and his mercy.

Nothing is impossible with God and everything is possible with God.

Through Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord and his grace and his work through the Sprit – our God reigns and our God provides according to his divine wisdom, will and love.

He naturally provides mysteriously and miraculously!

Soli Deo Gloria!

How do signs and wonders relate to us becoming an awe-filled, great Church?

Acts 2: 43:  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

There is no doubt that most people are greatly interested in and really curious about signs and wonders.  Miracles always attract our attention. When we read the verse above, especially as Christians with a ministry, we wish to have our own divine signs that we are part of God’s growth priority. We desire that God must somehow confirm our calling with wonders and the supernatural.

In his days the religious leaders asked Jesus to show them a sign!  But Jesus refused to be manipulated by their misguided requests. He did not do his miracles as a performance. His miracles had a purpose. They were the signs that the Kingdom of God, his dominion through the Messiah, had come into the world.  This is still God’s purpose with his signs and wonders he grants us through his grace!

Does God still do signs and wonders? Is there perhaps something wrong with us that we do not see them as often and as impressively as the apostles and the first Church did?  Some say the reason for this is that our faith is too small or too weak!

Run away from anyone who blames YOU for God not granting a miracle in your life. They will deceive and hurt you and therefore do not display the heart of God.  The Lord distinctively did not give his wonders according to the limited faith of those listening to the apostles. No, he surprised and stunned those to whom the Gospel were preached by working powerfully in the first Church.  He gave them what they did not believe was possible!

Signs and wonders are not related to the power of our faith.  It is related to the revelation of the might of the resurrected Jesus and therefore is intrinsically part of and related to the sovereignty of God’s grace and the mercy of his Son!

Paul taught that (2 Corinthians 12:12), "The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance."  God worked in a special and even unique way through these first apostles. They truly had and will always have a special place in the establishment of the Church of Christ and his dominion after the ascension and after Pentecost. There was something unique about the grandeur of the signs and wonders done through the first Church and the apostles.

But it is not true that signs and wonders by themselves verify and confirm God’s work and teaching as authentic or generate faith in the hearts of those who experience them. The miracles given to the apostles were not the verifying agent of them being used by God.

The experiences of salvation by the grace of God received by those who believed the gospel preached, confirmed that the apostles were doing God’s work and that they were authentic servants within his dominion.

Yet the signs and wonders given by the Lord through the first Church served a most important purpose. The purpose was to help those in need (a pastoral purpose), to grow the faith of the apostles and the first Church (a ministry purpose) and most of all to transform them into an awe-filled worshipping Church to exalt and glorify the ascended Jesus (a doxological purpose).  

There are many examples from Scripture of how God’s people missed what God was doing because of their limited understanding of God’s pastoral, ministry and doxological purpose amongst his people!  As there is also no doubt that God does not give signs and wonders to thrill and entertain us, God works and will always work his miracles to fulfil his purposes.  This is simply whom God is! And always was and will be. 

God is not limited by our inadequate understanding or faith!

The signs and wonders of God remain part of his sovereign interventions to make his Church a great agent of his purpose!

And his purpose for a great church, filled with his Spirit and enabled by the resurrection power of his Son, remains to care for us pastorally, to minister to us efficiently and to glorify and exalt his most holy Majesty!

Awe-filled, miracle experiencing believers will fulfil God’s purpose with his Church!

Believe it, and pray for it!

Becoming a great Church.... Part 3

Nothing can be more exciting, uplifting, and powerful as a church experiencing the anointing of the Spirit, with Spirit filled, inspired members.
We can only become a great Church through the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

And, we can only become a great Church if we are willing to prayerfully wait for God to show up, like he did at Pentecost, and change us and our congregation as he did then in Jerusalem.

Because when God shows up, and starts working, we become a

revived, or regenerated, Church.

Acts 2: 41 Those who accepted his message... about three thousand, were added to their number that day.

This first mark of a great church is really the source of all the other ones you could list. The first Church was a regenerated church. This simply means that the people of the first Church were saved people. They had been born again, or regenerated, or revived by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus, long before this day, said that every person needs this. He told Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel:  "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3)

Jesus came to us to revive us. Suffocating in our sins and impurity, he breathes new life into us, so that as we “inhale” the Spirit, we become new people who are in relationship with the Father through Jesus, his resurrected Son. And so, as we are revived in order to live again, our new life is so radically different from the old life, that it is as if a new person has been born  -  one who hungers for a relationship with God and one that welcomes the work of the Spirit in his life!

New life by the Spirit makes all the difference. It makes us Christians. It makes us children of the Most High! It makes us brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. It makes us people who are gifted by the Holy Spirit to do the Lord’s work well, making an impact and healing people. 

Too many people’s names have been added to church rolls without ever adding these people to the Church of Christ through being revived by the Spirit. To be in the Church of Jesus Christ is no mere formality of adding your name to a roll. To truly be part of the Lord’s Church, you must first be born again.

The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is by faith. There must be faith in the heart of the person trusting in Christ for his or her salvation. No one can believe on behalf another person. Each one must come to Christ personally.

Our text indicates that those who accepted Christ’s message given through Peter were the ones who were added to the church. Before we can be added to his Church, we must agree with God concerning what his Word says about our sinful condition, our inability to save ourselves, and the necessity to trust Christ alone for our salvation.

Becoming a great Church, is becoming a Church that leads people to Jesus, and to help them to through faith, be revived into a new life and ministry through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Are you still suffocating spiritually? Have you been revived? Did God breathe his eternal life into you? Have you been born into the true Church of Christ and into a relationship with Jesus?

The quest for courage...

The desire for boldness was the joint desire of all the believers in the first Church. They and their leaders were intimidated and instructed to stop preaching and ministering in the Name of Jesus Christ. They needed boldness, confidence and courage and they went to Jesus to receive it.

And so they prayed:  "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." (Acts 4:29-30)

How do you face intimidation and fear?  Jesus is the power by which we live and serve. He is the power by which we become confident. He is the power by which we face threats and pressure victoriously.

The first Church needed courage, so they prayed.

Firstly, they asked God to note the threats. They believed that to resolve the threatening situation, was God’s work to do.  And so they laid that problem at his feet. They believed God would do something about it.

Secondly, they prayed that they would be given confidence to speak God’s word.  That should still be the desire of the Church today.

And thirdly, they prayed that God would act in a divine, miraculous way through them, to touch and change the lives of people.

You better be careful when you pray this kind of prayer, because this is the kind of prayer that God answers. He certainly answered the first Church. The Bible says, after they prayed they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)

They faced intimidation, they turned to the Lord, and intimidation turned into boldness. It happened then, and it happens today.

The Christian life is both impossible and easy at the same time. It is impossible to live in our own power, but easy to live in the power of the Lord.  It is both hard beyond our comprehension and simple, in that all we have to do is surrender to Jesus and let him figure it out for us.

A personal experience of the work of the Spirit

We experience the presence of the Spirit in our lives, through faith.

Every teaching of Scripture agrees that the shape or form that our experience of God as Holy Spirit takes, is a faith relationship in which God takes the initiative through his Spirit and the individual believer accepts and responds with the heart.

It is faith that saves us, because it unites us with Jesus Christ, from whom new life flows into us. 

John Calvin said Christ remains an object of “cold speculation … at a great distance from us, unless and until we are united with him. And it is only in the Holy Spirit that he unites himself with us.  Only through faith does he lead us into the light of the gospel."

The concrete experience of our faith relationship with Christ and of the coming of God as Holy Spirit into our lives, is twofold:

1. It is the experience of forgiveness

2. and the flooding of our entire life and being by the Spirit, in order for us to more and more surrender ourselves and our lives to the rule of Jesus, through the work of the Spirit in us.

Becoming a great Church.... Part 2

Nothing can be as wearisome as church work without the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is also true that nothing can be more exciting, uplifting, and powerful as a church experiencing the anointing of the Spirit, with Spirit filled, inspired members.

The Church is Born...

The events leading up to the Day of Pentecost were exceptional times for the followers of Christ. Firstly they experienced traumatic and confusing days. Jesus had been crucified, yes, the One they believed to be the Messiah had been killed, cruelly. They didn’t know what to do.

Then they heard the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. He appeared to them to confirm this. Even “doubting Thomas” came to an emotional confession calling Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” 

Jesus then told them to wait in Jerusalem for the power of the Spirit of God to be poured out on them and that through this power they would be his witnesses all over the world. Then he ascended into the clouds before their eyes.  What a roller coaster ride it must have been emotionally. They certainly intensely experienced every single emotion one could have.

Then they earnestly and obediently waited upon the Lord to fulfil the Pentecost promise: the Holy Spirit will come upon you.   And God showed up in the most awesome way possible. God poured out his Spirit and therefore his divine power, on one hundred twenty followers who were waiting, praying and expecting these great deeds of God that would follow the resurrection miracle.

How powerful, how spectacular and how encouraging was the demonstration of God’s power on Pentecost:  tongues of fire floating above everyone while they heard a sound like that of a raging wind. And they could speak languages they have never learned – some of it probably never even heard spoken. Something amazing was happening. Something supernatural was given to them. When God showed up in their community, everything was about to change.

What we notice first is that scared and timid men and women became bold beyond reasonable explanation. Their leader, Peter, was touched particularly and this fisherman started preaching in a powerful, persuasive way.  The same Peter, who struggled to confess Christ to a young servant girl, became as bold and courageous as a lion.

Peter certainly received the power that the Lord Jesus promised them!  He preached as an anointed messenger of God and at the end of his sermon told them exactly who Jesus Christ truly was.

When the people heard this (who Jesus really was), they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Act 2: 37) (This was exactly where God wanted them to be).

And Peter replied, "Repent.... and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit... With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." (vv. 38-40)

We too have the promise! We too may receive God’s calling and the power to do his work through our gifting.

Are you willing to wait for God to show up like he did at Pentecost! Are you willing to dare praying for it? Do you too want to be part of it? Do you pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

The power to heal and to be healed!

On the Day of Pentecost, power from heaven came down to God’s people. The power of God turned despairing pessimists into dynamic disciples. They received the Holy Spirit and were now equipped with power from the risen Christ.

But did they receive power simply to feel better about themselves and become more successful in their daily lives?  Did they receive power for their own sake and benefit?  No! They received the power of God to strengthen them to be witnesses of Jesus Christ in a society that is spiritually powerless and to touch humans caught up in tragedy, to share the transforming power of the risen Christ with them.

The power of Pentecost is given to heal the paralysis of the world. It’s about personally caring for people in order to transform their lives and heal their hurt.

But how do you share the Gospel with people who appear to be self-sufficient and seem to be doing well without serving Christ, or even believing in God?

The truth is, things are not always what they seem. The down-and-out and the up-and-coming have two things in common: They are both human and they both have experienced needs throughout their lives that still hurt deeply in some way or another.   Inside every one of our homes are people who hurt, because they have unmet needs. Many of us could share our own story of human tragedy, and every one of us needs a touch from God.

In our text from Scripture today, we see the power of God healing a human life. We see people who have been touched by the power of God, now touching others through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3: 2 – 10:  Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money....  Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.  When all the people saw him...  they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

This passage is an excellent example of the power of God given to heal though our Christian ministry. This man was healed physically, and it turned his life’s tragedy into experiencing great joy. So the message of this passage is not limited to physical healing. It deals with human healing on every level.  I pray that this story in Acts 3 will inspire us to use every opportunity to touch hurting people with God’s power to heal!

And that it will touch you that you too may receive God’s complete healing, today!

Commissioned by God

Matt. 28: 16 – 20:  Commissioned by the Holy Trinity

By baptism in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are ordained into fellowship and service of the most Holy Trinity!

It is the Triune God who sends us: Go!

Who commissions us:  Teach!

Who assures us: I will be with you always!

Who reveals in and through Jesus Christ: “To me has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”

We too are called to "go" to where Jesus will meet us to be cleansed. We too are called to worship. We too are directed to the place where we will meet the living Christ.  We too are called to share, in Christ, communion with the Holy Trinity, where Jesus meets his people, and shares with us the peace that is the essence of whom God is, through our relationship with Christ.

 

No human person can make anyone follow Jesus. What the disciples had is the word from the living Christ that continues beckoning them to follow. What the disciples had is the word from the living Christ that beckons others to follow. His promise is that "I am with you always, to the end of time”.

The Word keeps beckoning the worshipful to discipleship. And as we follow, as we go, as we worship, Jesus will prove his word to be true:  through the Holy Spirit he will be with us always - bringing us safely  to the Father.

Becoming a great Church... Part 1

Nothing can be as dry as dust, as pointless and wearisome as church work without the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is also true that nothing can be more exciting and uplifting, so alive and full of power as a church experiencing the anointing of the Spirit, with Spirit filled, inspired members.

2000 years ago, after the first Pentecost Sunday, a congregation of believers was planted in Jerusalem, that without a doubt was such a Church. We read all about this in Acts, chapter 2, and we are astonished about what God does in the lives of people and of congregations.  The Jerusalem congregation was a living, dynamic expression of the power of God changing lives and ministering to the community.

What made this Church great was that we see God at work. We see God at work as the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. We see God at work when Peter, earlier a cowardly follower of Jesus, receives the boldness to become a fisher of men. We see God at work when three thousand people are added to the Church in one service. We see God at work in changed lives, miracles and deliverance of men and women devoted to Jesus Christ. It was a great, dynamic Church, because we see God at work there.

We want to be a church like that. We want to experience the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit of God. We want to see God at work amongst us. We want to experience the life which comes from the mighty initiative of the Holy Spirit amongst us.

So we have to ask ourselves - what can we do to follow their example?

Over the next few weeks, we will see from the book of Acts several characteristics of a great church. But it will not be enough to merely see them and note them. We have to ask God to make it happen! We have to pray with the earnesty and faithfulness of the first congregation. We have to love as unconditionally and we have to follow Jesus as faithfully as individuals and as a community.

Acts 2:37-41:  When the people heard this, (Peter’s sermon)  they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Our relational God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

Holy Trinity Sunday is observed on the First Sunday after Pentecost.  After following all the gospel events over the last 7 months, beginning with Christmas in December, we concluded this journey on Trinity Sunday with the question:  Who is the God that so graciously saved and sanctified us?

Contemplating the impact our confession of the Trinity has on our faith and worship, is not about asking the mathematical questions about how 3 can be one and one can be 3. No, the Holy Trinity has been revealed to show us the essence of the character of God and when we see this, it should bring us to worship, to being in awe and reverence!  And at the centre of God’s character is that he is a relational God. The essence of God is that he, from all eternity, exists as God in the relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God – the one and only true God. And the three ways of God’s being are in perfect harmony, at peace with one another.  The best known Hebrew word is “Shalom” and means “the peace of God”.   When we wish each other “shalom” it means that we pray that the peaceful relationship that God has as the very essence of his being, will extend to us, to you! That, as God is in perfect harmony with himself, he will be in harmony with us as well.

Holy Trinity, meaning in essence God-in-relationship, desires us to share in his peace and harmony. The Father created us for this purpose and the Son came to create for us this harmony, by giving his life to take away the sin that stands between us and God. The Holy Spirit was sent to live in us to grant us faith and power in order to have a relationship with the Father through our relationship with the Son.
 

God calls us to be one with him and to, in obedience to him, be commissioned by him and sent into the world to share his peace with all who still live outside a relationship with him.

Glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! As it was in the beginning it is now, and will forever be!