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!