08.25.08
Fivefold Ministry and the Church - 24/08/08
By Pastor Julie Shannon
Article 7 in our church statement of faith says the following:
7. Church government, ministry and administration by apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. With elders to be appointed and approved of at the appropriate times by those with the five fold ministry anointing.
What is the fivefold ministry?
What is the fivefold ministry anointing?
I am using a few resources together with my own experience to put together this sermon, the main one being the book “Fivefold Ministry made practical” by Ron Myer. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in understanding this topic more.
You all have most likely heard the terms apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher and evangelist bantered around the traps somewhere in your comings and goings. However there is still much confusion on what makes a fivefold minister and when one is recognized; what are they supposed to do?
When Jesus left the earth and gave us the Holy Spirit he gave us a job, a command, a purpose to our own lives; to spread the gospel to the whole world. The vehicle he wants us to use to get this job done is the church, and for the church to be able to fulfill its purpose Jesus gives the church the gifts of apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher and evangelist - the fivefold minister. Read Ephesians 4: 11-16
The early church as we see from reading the book of Acts was vibrant and full of joy, they met in peoples homes daily, shared their possessions, ate together and made sure no-one in their church family went without. They were generous to outsiders and many gave their lives for the sake of others knowing the truth of who Jesus Christ is. Prayer was a given whenever they met and miracles, signs and wonders were normal!! Every believer did something, they all worked together, they all encouraged the other and recognised peoples God given gifts and abilities were there so the body of Christ, the church could be build up and made beautiful to the world. These believers were under constant persecution, they risked their lives daily, so powerful prayer was necessary to survival and your church friends played a major part in your life.
Now travel forwards a few hundred years to the Roman Emperor Constantine, he apparently converted to Christianity and let the Christians and any other religion worship whatever they wanted. It became “cool” to be a Christian like the emperor and hundreds upon hundreds of people got baptized so they could be called Christians. There was no longer any persecution, lives were not being risked and Christians became comfortable. The church got so big, so quickly that the first church building was built in 323 AD. Leaders were put in charge to bring in some form of organisation and soon enough ministry was only in the hands of the “super spiritual ones”. Sadly this mentality has stayed with the church throughout the centuries and is still very prominent in most of today’s church. There was and still is a big gap between what is expected of a seat sitting pew member of a church and someone in “leadership”.
Now back to Eph 4, does Jesus gives the fivefold minister to the church so they can lead through dictating orders and taking control or doing everything themselves or does he expect them to be equipping the saints? Why do the believers need equipping if only those in a leadership role should be doing the stuff that the church is called to do?
All Christians need to realize that Jesus wants them to be equipped, mature, and able to think and discern for themselves. He wants us all to have a close relationship with him and be led by the Holy Spirit so we can attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
His way of doing this is through gifting certain individuals to lead and train God’s people towards maturity, unity and service for Him. Not everyone is called to do this; it is a function of certain individuals only. These five fold ministers are no more important than any other Christian; they just have a different purpose.
Every human has at least one God given gift
There are three groupings of gifts;
Gifts of the Father, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Gifts of Christ
Gifts of the Father are understood as motivational gifts or certain aspects of an individual’s personality that shows that we have been created in Gods image. Someone could be an amazing teacher for instance but not be a believer, someone else may have an unusual amount of foresight in business and know the changing of the tide so to speak before it happens, this is a kind of prophetic intuition. Someone else may have an overwhelming sense of compassion and mercy for others but not recognize Christ. God wants this thumb print he has left on everyone to be used for His purposes, but many people never get the opportunity to know him let alone serve him through how He has created them.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit are understood to be operational gifts. They are specifically for believers in Jesus Christ only and are to help us to do the work of the ministry of Christ through the covering of the church. Read 1 Corinthians: 7-12.
For example - wisdom, words of knowledge, Faith, gifts of healing’s, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues.
Each believer will have at least one of these or other gifts listed in the bible from the Holy Spirit, a gift may look and work differently through different people because of personality and maturity. They are evidence that you have made Jesus Lord of your life. These gifts are for the common good of all believers, and they are also used outside the church to help point people to Christ. The Holy Spirit decides who has what gifts and no gift is more important than the other.
Gifts of Christ are understood to be the fivefold gifts. These are the gifts that Jesus gave to the church and are often referred to as the fivefold ministry gifts, obviously because there are five of them. This is my main focus this morning. Each fivefold gift represents distinct ministry functions, however they also show us five principles that help us understand these ministries.
Apostle = governing
Prophet= guiding
Evangelist= gathering
Pastor= guarding
Teacher= grounding
These five ministry gifts are leadership gifts, not every person is gifted to lead and that’s ok, we would be in a mess if we tried leading each other , wouldn’t we? These functions of ministry are servant functions rather than elevated positions of prestige and position. These five fold ministers are called to equip and encourage the body; the church of Christ. These gifts are never self appointed, Jesus gives them and recognized five fold ministers need to be guided by the Holy Spirit so others that Christ chose are recognized also.
Jesus was all five of these ministry gifts;
The Apostle – “As the Father has sent me”’ (John 20-21)
The Prophet – “See your King is coming seated on a donkey” (John 12;15)
The Evangelist – “I am the way the truth and the life” (John 14:6)
The Teacher – “You call me teacher and Lord, and that is rightly so, for I am what I am” (John 13:13)
The Pastor – “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11)
He split himself up so we could handle all the work, and work with each other to fulfill his command to save the world.
The purpose of Fivefold ministers
“Fivefold ministers have a burning desire to lead people into the fullness of their inheritance in Christ and the ministry to which He has called them… They are called by the Lord and commissioned to work within and alongside the local church to help identify, acknowledge and stir up the various spiritual gifts within the body of Christ.” (P27)
These gifts do not always carry a governmental authority (which is where someone has the authority to rule and make decisions In a church), they do however have a higher realm of spiritual authority that is normally recognized wherever they go. Appointed Church leadership should always have the last say and Godly leaders will listen to a fivefold minister’s encouragement in making decisions.
Not every church will have a fivefold minister attending them, but should be willing to listen to Holy Spirit about having them speak into their church for equipping and bringing the saints to maturity. It is common for a church to only have a Pastor and or Teacher as someone in a leadership position, hence why they need encouragement from outside their local parish.
Fivefold minister’s have different levels or spheres of ministry – Local church, Networks of churches, and Internationally recognized ministers. A few of us here are in the transition right now to both networking and becoming known on an international level. Again this is up to God on how and where He chooses to use his ministers to equip and encourage.
Once someone with a fivefold anointing is recognized those who are mature in these gifts assist them to grow and become proven ministers in their own church first before they are then sent out to bring Christs love and wisdom to other churches and the world.
Those Christians within a local church that are not called as a five fold minister have a two fold responsibility; One to allow themselves to become molded and mature by the fivefold ministers that lead them and two- to use their gifts to work alongside them. E.g without the whole body working together we would collapse. People can be great teachers but not have a fivefold anointing on them, people can have a gift of service or helps and without them a fivefold minister may be caught cleaning rather than speaking into someone’s life.
Traps to avoid
We need to understand that how the church is put together is up to God. Through the Father Son and Holy Spirit we are all equipped, anointed and gifted to bring His Kingdom and truth to the world. Jesus trusted the great commission to people, everyday imperfect people. Don’t expect any of your leaders to be perfect or better than you and don’t resent your gifting or compare yourselves to others because when we do that we are saying we don’t think God knows what he is doing.
Godly character is an absolute necessity for a fivefold minister and God often spends many years training and maturing an individual before they are released into a sphere of ministry. Submission, humility, being willing and obedient, self controlled etc. Read Tim 3: 1-7. Churches need to allow anyone to make mistakes and especially five fold ministers so they grow in maturity.
Conclusion
This church has an apostolic heart, as all churches should have. When you think and breathe apostolicaly you tap into the heart and mind of Christ. Without each other there is no church to impact the world. Seek the Lord and understand how he has made you, approach those in the church that are in leadership or have five fold anointing on their lives and as you learn, encourage them back so “the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does it’s work.” Whether you are a large limb that is seen and has a fivefold anointing or you are the ligament that helps it move and keeps it strong you are very important.
I’m going to follow this sermon up with an explanation of all gifts and how the fivefold minister’s do their job in practical terms. Be encouraged and know you are loved and valued as a child of God, trust Him to use others to bring you to maturity through relationship and love.
08.21.08
Fighting on the battleground - 10/08/08
by Stephen Hills 10/08/08
Begin by reading - Eph 6:12
Introduction:
There was a little boy that enjoyed meeting friends and whoever
Would talk. One day, as he was walking in the forest he met a man.
The man asked, “Who are you?” “I’m Timmy” the boy replied. The
Man said again “Who are you?” Timmy uncertain of what to say now,
wondered, why ask again! But seeing the man looking for an answer,
He replied, “I’m Timmy, who are you?” The man looked, didn’t answer,
and proceeded to walk off. Timmy followed, hesitant at first, but felt
safe. After a short while, he stopped. Turning, he said; “I’m a very
good man, I wont harm you”. Timmy smiled, unsure what to say again.
The man then showed him some books he had, and told him many stories
about his life. After a long while, Timmy said, “I must be going now,
thankyou sir”. “Can we meet again?” replied the man. Timmy thought
about it before answering, not knowing what his mother would say.
Perhaps she’d be angry with him. But he was enthralled by the mans stories.
“I’ll ask mum”, he replied. “Yes, you must do that” the man said. They
parted. He did ask his mother, she was not pleased with him seeing
strangers and wanted him not to. However, Timmy kept visiting him in
forest, listening to the stories, to the books, to all the man said, with a
Curiosity of a child. Over time, Timmy grew up, his mother still warning
him, but it was ignored. For the innocent little boy, now older, knew
what was right, knew the truth. He had experienced it, life was good.
The man succeeded in his mission, over time, he had won the boys mind…..
In this world today, there is so much said and implied about spiritual things. Supernatural shows, psychics, mediums, find out your future, contact the dead, spirit guides, psychic healing- and all manner of ‘spiritual assistance. The spirit world and all it’s practitioners is alive and well.
On the same token, the battle for our minds from all quarters is just as hot, is also alive and well. We not only have a world full of stuff to occupy our minds, keep us happy, entertain us, thrill us, sell us something, amuse us and so on. Media being a huge vehicle in all things concerning our minds. We must be entertained at all costs, to keep us feeling good. From video games to ipods, you can’t go anywhere without seeing someone with either a mobile phone to their heads or earphones attached to some tiny little electronic device for pumping out music into our heads.
But what does all this do? Are we happy? Does it help with our internal battles? For if we struggle and fight with say immoral thoughts images etc, that bombard us from everywhere, what happens? It sets us up for spiritual battles, where strongholds can form and demonic influence can come. So with lust, spirits of lust can come and drive us to sexual addictions, compulsive behaviors, and the eventual outcome would be destruction in a lot of cases. Either physical, emotional or spiritual or all 3.
So what is this spiritual realm and spiritual stuff? We’re in a war, whether you know God or not. If you’re not a Christian, the enemy seeks to keep you that way, prevent you from knowing true life and happiness in this life, and finally destroy you. “The devil comes to …..”. If you are a Christian, he tries to firstly make us turn back from faith, or handicap us, weaken us and stop us completely. That is all done by whatever means possible. This all can come about if we allow him access to our minds and spirits.
See, there is a crossover between our minds and what goes on in there, and the spiritual realm. Our minds are linked to our spirits. Now briefly (as this is a subject for another time), I will mention the demonic world, as I know it, see it (as by no means do I know it all). Like an army, Satans troops have different ranks, titles, positions, job descriptions-assignments and weapons. They come in all shapes, sizes and disguises. Many look after hell and those souls there. Some just inhabit this earth, and some in the physical atmosphere (where I’ve read in a book about a vision they saw) the headquarters is located. The high ranked demonic stay there, and send lower ranked on assignments from there, back and forth. The bible mentions 3-heavens:1 atmosphere, 2 universe, 3 heaven itself.
So there is a vast number of spirits out there heading our way. Do we fear them? 2 Cor 10:4-read. We don’t fight alone, or with no defenses, no weapons. Cause with Jesus, he’s done the major job and defeated the enemies power base. Col 2:15 reads. See Satan is like a terrorist, man in the garden gave him the right to be ‘armed. But at Calvary, that right was removed. Now he’s still out there, but he’s a disarmed terrorist. The unseen spiritual world is, as populated if not more so, there is a lot going on out there. For me, fortunately or unfortunately, I see it nearly all the time. Believe me, they don’t like been ‘seen’. The demonic gravitate to pain, hurt, trauma, sin, and death like vultures to dead things. It starts from actions of people’s minds, that is where sin is conceived. Mat 15:19 and Mark 7:22. From that results every bad action, thought and words, which your enemy uses to come and attach himself in some way. Just for instance, when man/woman rebels against God, often they then worship idols of various kinds and shapes; they can be anything, even our own minds and selves.
In this life, by and large our focus is constantly on our own battles that we face everyday. That affects us so profoundly as we journey this life. Sometimes we get tired, weary, despair of the battles, which occur mostly in our minds. The battlefield of our minds is second to the supernatural.
The verse says we don’t fight-battle against people (including ourselves), but the real instigators of many problems. But primarily, our battles-fights in this world are focussed on people. What they did or didn’t do. Whether they like us or we like them. Jealousy, anger, all those thoughts emotions then outplay towards people. We use so much energy attacking-fighting, judging, criticizing, pulling down, comparing, and hurting others. Why all this pain- hurt? Why often are we directing so much time and effort towards others? Can’t we learn to get along, love honor, respect, build-up, encourage and strengthen each other. We are all guilty! So all the while, the real culprits laugh at our foolishness, and get away with their actions. Because we’re too busy directing our attention elsewhere. Instead of us mowing down the real enemy by the authority and power of Jesus. We mow down our spouses, family, friends, workmates, bosses and anyone else in our sights. In our minds, in the midst of the battle-often needless battles, we forget our mission and orders. Consumed by fear, we ignore the fact Jesus came to destroy the devils works, so we could live battle-free.
How do we live with minds free from unnecessary battles? Living with confidence that though we have the whole demonic realm arrayed against us, we can through Christ do anything, and they can’t do a thing about it. Stand firm in Him. Jesus has already fought for us at the cross. Walk, act, and think in that victory
08.04.08
The mind of Christ - 6th July 2008
By Pastor Julie Shannon
1 Corinthians 2:16 “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him? But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” NLT
Working towards having “The mind of Christ” brings us an understanding of what Spiritual reality is. We can have confidence as Christians that we are being conformed, our minds are being transformed and healed if choose to want to be like Him. Touching this spiritual reality brings us to view and respond to situations just as Jesus did while He was here on earth.
We have been commanded to live in this reality, it’s not just for the “spiritual ones” it’s for every person who loves the Lord!
1 Cor 13:12 “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
Romans 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
There are three levels of spirituality that a Christian needs to learn to move in to become like Christ and therefore be an effective Christian witness in the world.
1. SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Moses, Isaiah, Solomon, David, Deborah, Hanna, Esther, John the Baptist, Luke, Matthew, Mary, Peter, Timothy and Paul - these were all men and women just like we are. The key to their successes was that they not only heard from God, but they also responded to Him correctly!
ANY BUSH WILL DO
When God spoke to Moses in the desert wilderness, there may have been hundreds of bushes in view on the hillside, different shapes and sizes, different ages and a wide variety of flora to choose from. How did God choose the one bush through which He spoke? Was it how beautiful, large and healthy it was? Or did it just happen to be in the right place at the right time? Only God knows, we don’t, we can’t. So why do we try to work out why God has called us to do certain things or have certain gifts or made us a certain way?
Once we conclude that it is God’s choice who He will use, we are left with the conclusion that it is not our innate ability on which the success of our mission is based. Rather, since “any old bush would do”, we must place all of our dependence on Him. This frees us up from Pride, self Righteousness, Fear, Arrogance, and trying to perform for God and others.
The key to Spiritual Awareness is the understanding that God has chosen us and that He will work through us. He does this when we are available. If we make ourselves available to Him, He will use us where we are at spiritually mentally and physically.
We hand over our availability to Him. He imparts grace and faith according to how much we need, and some of us need it more than others! He doesn’t waste any experience, good or bad!
2. SPIRITUAL HEARING
In Romans 10:17, we find one of the pivotal verses of the Bible. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”.
This verse implies that Faith and Hearing are likely dependent on each other, with both qualities hinging on the word of Christ.
John 1: 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.”
Jesus is the word, he reveals himself through the written word and through the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us when we accept Christ into our hearts.
Hearing God is the access valve for receiving your faith, the thing all Christians need to learn is how to open their own personal access valves. If we immerse ourselves in the word – (Scripture and Jesus) we will begin to have spiritual hearing. Spiritual hearing is very rarely physical hearing (through our eardrums)
Hebrew 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Hearing the word goes deep into our very beings: e.g. ways people hear God…….
3. SPIRITUAL ACTION
When you have surrendered yourself to Jesus and begun to be transformed into His likeness you can’t help but want the mission he has given to all of his believers.
Psalm 22:27 “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him”
Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[b] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Acts 13:46 “For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. “
Once you have accepted Christ, your mission is to take action, no-matter how small it seems to be.
How would you go about taking action? Would you jump on a plane and hope it all worked or would you make sure you were prepared as much as possible so the rescue is successful?
THE NEED TO PREPARE
First, you would have to undergo rigorous mental and physical training.
Also, the procedure of action would have to be determined. Will you make a swift frontal attack, or will you secretly secure their release?
Then, there would have to be a confirmation of the authority under which the rescue attempt would be launched, who is in charge, who do we report to, who backs us up from base camp?
Can you see the correlation? As a believer, you have been selected for the mission of setting the captives free. However, your job assignment is not the same as my assignment. Your rank in the spiritual army is not the same as each other, but we are all being trained both as individuals and as a group of soldiers for the Lord.
We each must get our individual assignments and then, be sensitive to the leading of The Holy Spirit. It is His responsibility to direct us in our job assignments. It is our responsibilities to “pray and obey”.
DECISIONS
As we move out in obedience and surrender, we will need to be willing to instantly respond to the leading of Holy Spirit. Jesus, our pattern, said that He did nothing except what He saw The Father do. He said that we would have the same relationship with Him that He had with The Father. He also said that the Holy Spirit would, “Guide us in all truth.”
We are called to be a living sacrifice, this is a giving up of ourselves and our agenda’s and trusting all things to the Lord.
Living Sacrifice - Dying to Self
So, how do we truly present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice? In a nutshell, we must die to our prior selves. This concept is wonderfully presented in this anonymous poem…
When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting or hurt with the oversight, but your heart is happy being counted worthy to suffer for Christ;
That is dying to self.
When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinion ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient, loving silence;
That is dying to self.
When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility, and endure it as Jesus did;
That is dying to self.
When you are content with any food, and offering, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God;
That is dying to self.
When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation or record your own good works or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown;
That is dying to self.
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and you are in desperate circumstances;
That is dying to self.
Conclusion
We as Christians are called to have the mind of Christ, Jesus commanded us to be a light to the gentiles so His word can transform the world to the ends of the earth. For us to be effective we need to understand the spiritual realities of awareness, hearing and action. Understanding who and what the word of God is, is paramount in our becoming transformed into the likeness of Christ. Having His mind, His heart and His guidance will bring release for the captives. He will start with you and move you on to others, until he comes, this is our mission. Be part of the mighty army and live a full life, one of sacrifice of self, one of knowing Christ and becoming like Him, one of setting the captives free.
07.15.08
Complacency in the Church
By Peta Hills
I found out I was down to preach today a little over a week ago. For about three days I kept saying,”what do you want me to preach on Lord?” When I got no response from him I thought about topics that I could preach on. What was going on in my life that God was using for me to get across to others? That is often a fairly ‘safe’ way to preach. You are able to put across a spiritual sounding sermon, looking genuinely contrite for what God was doing in your life and if you word it right you will look like you are shining with a halo on, looking like you have worked through so much with God and your rust has been rubbed of and is shining gold.
Then last Sunday at church at the start of worship last week I felt like I had to stand up. Then He spoke. Only one word, but he did speak. He said ‘complacency.’ When I looked around I saw people sitting down, comfortable in their chairs, some singing, some not. Now I am not saying that you have to be standing up to properly worship God that is not the case. You can worship him sitting, standing, lying, or any way that you are at the time you are worshipping. What I want to put across is a heart attitude, about me. I have grown complacent. I am comfortable. I am as the dictionary defines complacency - a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.
What does the Bible say about complacency. Let’s look at Revelation 3:14-22 and we see the Church of Laodicea.
To the Church in Laodicea
14″To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The church had grown content. They were so content that Jesus – the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation – wished that they were either hot or cold, that they were either for him or against him.
This city was so rich that after an earthquake in 60 AD, they turned down government money to rebuild their city because they had plenty of their own. Laodicea produced high quality wool that was turned into the high fashions of the day. They had a prominent hospital that had developed an ointment to improve people’s vision. And yet, Jesus tells them vs. 17.
(17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.)
What did Jesus mean? They were far from being naked or poor. Everything around them was good. No persecution. Plenty of money. Life was easy. They were living the 1st century’s version of the Australian dream. People looking at them would’ve said, “If that’s what following Jesus is all about, then sign me up.” They seemed like model Christian communities.
The problem these churches were facing was that they didn’t have any problems. But when things are easy, the relationship has the tendency to go stale. They weren’t being tested at all, they grew complacent.
Verse17 digs into the depth of their problem. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
Affluence had lulled the church to sleep. The members were wealthy in material good, but poor spiritually. The lack of spiritual receptivity, devotion and faith in God manifested in a lukewarm state is revealed in the exaltation of material wealth in contrast to spiritual riches. The Laodiceans were prosperous as far as material goods were concerned. Christ quotes them as boasting I am rich.
This complacency is distasteful to God. If something is distasteful what is the first thing that you are going to do. You are most likely not going to quietly finish eating it and then swallow it, you are going to spit it out quickly, even violently to get it out of your mouth, you might even then wash your mouth out with something that you know will remove the taste, the feel of what was in there. When you are neither hot nor cold that is how God feels about you being lukewarm.
Jesus’ repugnancy is expressed in a descriptive fashion. He will spit out of His mouth. If you are unmoved or unaroused by the gospel of His life, death, and resurrection, you make Him sick. Christ gets angry with people who renounce their beliefs but He gets sick at indifference.
Also when I say spit, I don’t mean a careful spit into a handkerchief. I mean a huge great hack. Lukewarm Christianity makes Jesus sick! This is better explained by some older Bibles. The King James Bible says God will ‘spue us out of his mouth.’ Wycliffe says that he ‘will begin to vomit us out.’ God’s reaction is more like a gag reflex that is present when we eat or drink something off.
One day I had Nathan home sick from school. I can’t remember what was wrong, but I know it wasn’t for anything to do with his stomach as I bought us two chocolate milks. I gave his to him and he began drinking, and I started to drink mine. It didn’t taste too good so I checked the date. It was about two months paste it’s use by date and when I realised that I had ingested bad milk I started gagging. I tried not to vomit, but it just was not possible. What made it bad was that I was driving at the time. We were going to Broadmeadows to do the shopping. I had to go back home to get changed. I had made a very big mess of myself.
God thinks of lukewarmness in the same way that my stomach thought of the milk. There was no way that milk was remaining in my stomach, neither is someone who is lukewarm going to remain in God.
Our inner spiritual fire is always in constant danger of dying down. It needs to be poked, fed and fanned into flame. The idea of being on fire for Christ will strike some people as dangerous emotionalism. Fanaticism is not what is intended here. Fanaticism is unreasoning and unintelligent. It is action without reflection. What Jesus Christ desires and deserves is the reflection which leads to commitment. If Jesus is true, if He is the Son of God who became flesh; died for our sins and was raised from the dead; if Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter are more than meaningless holidays, then nothing less than our wholehearted commitment to Christ will do! This means putting Him first in our private and public life, seeking His glory and obeying His will. Better to be icy in rejection than to insult Him and the gospel with half-hearted indifference that communicates to the world that it means nothing to you. There is no point in coming to church if you are going to continue in your sin, your indifference, your lukewarmness. I am not saying stop coming to church so you can continue to sin, I am saying stop your deliberate sin, stop putting other things before God and seek him out wholeheartedly. Remove those idols that are removing you from the presence of sin. Seek him out with all that you have.
One group of people that I have great respect for, even though a lot of them are strange, whacky even kooky, are intercessors. They will praise God in all things, with all things, they will dance, pray, wave flags, play with their tambourines, think of Paula. They are lovely wacky, lovely kooky but when they are worshipping they are never complacent. They are white hot for God.
Although God didn’t make us all intercessors, he made it possible for all of us to be fanatical for him like the intercessors are. Now not all intercessors will express themselves in such obvious ways as the intercessors do, some will simply pray with the earnest belief that id God is for us who can be against us.
As a church we need to always be seeking God, not just by conducting nice tasteful church but by seeking him in ways that we have never sought before. WE need not be lukewarm.
Someone who is lukewarm is content or complacent in the position that they are in. When we are complacent we are like the soldier who stops to get a drink and is enjoying what is around him and doesn’t notice the enemy sneak up behind him until it is too late. Satan is our enemy. He is a liar. He is going to tell you that what you are doing is okay that there is nothing wrong with what you are doing if it is taking you away from God. Look at the fruit of what you are doing. If you think your actions are okay and that people are being blessed and you are continually being refreshed by God, then what you are doing is most likely being sanctioned by God but if the fruit is rotten and your relationship with him is suffering there is something wrong and you need to look at what you are doing.
If you are unsure if what you are doing is right or not ask someone. They will be more than willing to help you if they can. The church of Laodicea was given a warning through the book of Revelation; we have both the Bible and other church members. Please do not leave here today without looking at your hot or coldness. Are you lukewarm? Check up with the Bible to see if where you are at is where He wants you to be. Continually keep reading your bible, looking at yourself. Keep short accounts with God of the things that you have done wrong. That way you will not grow complacent, as it says ‘familiarity breeds contempt.
05.26.08
Blessed are the Meek
This sermon started off as a teaching lesson on the Sermon on the Mount, when I realised how long that sermon is, 3 chapters, it then became the beatitudes. For about 2 weeks before I started writing this the loudest words I hears from God were blessed are the meek. So I thought, okay it is on
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth
but when I was nearly finished writing it I realised I should have been listening to God better, he didn’t say blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth, he was saying blessed are the meek and only blessed are the meek. So I had to rewrite this introduction just before I was finished because I couldn’t finish it when the introduction was all wrong. So here goes.
What does blessed are the meek really mean? The first thing that comes to my mind is people who are weak, shy, and cowardly, such as meek as a mouse.
Does God really mean people who are weak, and shy are really going to inherit the earth? Are those that are fearful the ones who will triumph? To find out the answer for that, we need to look at the original Greek.
The original Greek word for that used in Matthew 5:5 is pronounced
‘Prah-ews’. It means mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness. The oxford dictionary says that meek means ’piously humble and submissive. So someone who is meek is not weak, but someone who does not claim great importance for themselves and obediently submits to authority.
Meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation. The humble person is not occupied with self at all.
Let’s look at some people who are not meek or humble.
Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar freed Babylon from Assyria and laid Nineveh to ruins, he captured and destroyed Jerusalem.
Kings 24:15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials and the leading men of the land.
Nebuchadnezzar created a huge sculpture that everyone had to bow down to. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t and for their troubles were thrown into the furnace where they walked with Christ.
This is found in Daniel 3. The statue that he built was 90’ high and 9’ across, totally of Gold, gold that he had plundered from other countries. He ordered all the important people of Babylon to come and be at the dedication service of the statue and to bow down and worship it. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were at the service but would not bow down. These three men had been taken to Babylon as captives and had worked up to high positions within the court, so they were not only people who would not worship the statue, but were people of influence who would not worship the statue. Nebuchadnezzar spat it and ordered the furnace lit 7 times hotter. Let’s read what it says in Daniel 3 verses 19-23:
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual 20 and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace. 21 So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. 22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
While they were in the furnace Nebuchadnezzar saw 4 men within the flames.
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”
So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. 29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Although Nebuchadnezzar was still a proud man he knew a miracle when he saw one.
Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend against injustice. We see this in the character of Joseph, of the dream coat fame. He was a meek man, but he didn’t start out that way.
Joseph
Joseph is found in Genesis, but the part of his life that I want to look at begins in Genesis 37.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph’s life takes a turn then, his brothers kidnap him, they are going to kill him but Ruben convinces them to sell him into slavery and put animal blood onto his prized robe to convince their father he was dead. He then gets accused of rape, put in prison and promptly gets forgotten by the cupbearer whose dream he interprets. Then finally he gets his reward for all his suffering when he is able to interpret the dream of the pharaoh.
Puts my life into perspective! Through all this Joseph is having his rough edges, his pride and arrogance sanded back.
Joseph being in Egypt was all a part of God’s plan. He was in a position to keep his family alive during the 7 years of famine. This ultimately meant that his brother Judah survived and it is through this family line that not only Jesus was born into but also Kings David and Solomon.
When Joseph’s brothers turn up in Egypt looking for grain because they know that they have enough to spare because of the previous 7 years of plenty, they don’t recognise their brother. He is able to then tell them in Genesis 45 who he is and forgive them for what they did to him. Only a humble man would be able to do that. A man who was proud and arrogant would be plotting revenge and pain to equal if not even to surpass the pain that was inflicted on him.
Read the story of Joseph it is a wonderful story of faith.
Moses
Another man who was humble was Moses. Moses was the most humble of men is says in Numbers 12:3.
3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.
He did think little of himself as we see when God is telling him to talk to Pharaoh; he complains that he can’t speak well, what if this happens, and what if that happens. God had to try to convince him by having Moses’ staff become a snake, and then back to a staff and for his hand to briefly have leprosy. Even after these miracles he is still not convinced.
We can read part of Moses’ conversation with God in Exodus 4 verses 10-17
10 Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”
14 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”
Moses went on to lead the exodus out of Egypt. He wrote the first five books of the bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy as well as the book of Job. His influence on the lives of so many is incalculable but it wouldn’t have been worth a jot or a tittle if he hadn’t submitted to God.
Now the ultimate in humbleness is Jesus.
Jesus
He not only gave up over is life, but the time He spent on earth He could have been in heaven, with the Father. He chose to come down in the most humble of forms, as a baby and live on earth with sin around him, violence, greed and malice around him for one reason only, to die.
In Mark 8 Jesus predicts his own death. It says that
And he began to teach then that the Son of Man must suffer many, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.
He knew what was going to happen to him, he also knew why it was going to happen to him. He tells us this in Matthew 20 verses 25-28
25Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus knew that he was going to die for the sins that we committed. He was going to pay our ransom for us; he was going to pay the ultimate price so we could be free.
Jesus died that we might live, that we might be in heaven with Jesus when we die, we will be spared eternity in hell, but be given eternity in heaven.
Jesus did this not for those who look the best, who are the most educated, or have the most money, but he did it for me, for you, for us all. Please don’t go home today without asking yourself, ‘can I honestly go through life without Jesus forgiveness? Can I go through life without his help, without his love or without the assurance of eternity in heaven? I know I couldn’t. My life is not perfect now that Jesus is my saviour, but I know that it is a darn sight better with him than it was without him. Won’t you allow him to be your saviour?
05.13.08
11th May 2008 - Prayer - It’s all about the views!
Ex 34:6, Ps 23.6, Ps 31.19, Ps 33.5, Ps 52.1
It was very good to have my brother speak on trust in God last time; it fits in perfectly what I’m speaking on today. The last time I spoke I talked about prayer- the basics, what is it? How we do it? When, Where, answers and why we don’t do it! I felt led to do a follow up. Two themes I thought of were: How we hear God? And what about unanswered prayer? Three weeks ago, I got the answer to the theme; the Holy Spirit split the 2 down the middle. So I’m still talking on prayer, but where I come from is different. It’s something we all struggle with, no one immune. It’s an area that Satan loves to attack, and delights in when he sees the results. This talk isn’t based on just one or two scriptures. It’s based on many verses and themes. Our view of God, His view of us, and our perceptions of that and then prayer.
- Gods Goodness.
How do you view God? What is your picture of Him? Do you see Him in the light of the Old Testament? Ready to toast us, wipe us out because we are bad, sinful! Is it our view of a judge ready to condemn us to hell? Or if we aren’t so bad, allow sickness or trouble or trials or problems to come our way. Maybe our view is like a headmaster. Maybe it’s like our own earthly dad; perhaps stern, strict, inflexible, lacking love.
But isn’t He a God of love! Wait a minute yes He is! He died for us didn’t He! He took our sins, saved us. We struggle to understand Him, we see old vs. New Testament God and wonder. We know about love- His love, however still there is fear, still questions and doubts. Isn’t that what happened in the garden, Satan sowed doubt, and they took it hook line and sinker.
What can be done to reconcile it all? Satan would have us question! Is God really a good God? Is He perfect as He says? I don’t understand why this and that happens if He’s good? How can I pray to God if I doubt His intentions, His ways His plans- His goodness! We’ll struggle to ask anything, perhaps out of fear. We’ll struggle to believe Him, we’ll wonder if he’ll answer us or even hear us. If we are praying and not getting an answer; the question might be- does He care? But of cause He does!
If we don’t believe the absolute truth that God is good, all He does (or doesn’t do) is good, even if it doesn’t make sense, even if we can’t fathom Him or work it out; then don’t try praying. It’s a waste of time; it won’t achieve anything, because doubt blocks prayer. Mark 11.23, Mat 21.22. So if we doubt Gods goodness we may not even pray, if we do we may not ask freely. We certainly will find it hard to approach Him. Heb 4.16. God is always right; can’t lie, can’t sin, always knows what’s best for us. Never changes, is perfect, is love, is Good. So if we learn to understand that God is good, what else is there when it comes to prayer?
- Our View of Ourselves
1 Pet 2.9. If you are anything like me, your self-esteem is low. You find it hard to accept compliments. You may not look after yourself; hey you may even want to kill yourself at times. In worship you/we develop a hardness in our spirits. I’m no good, worthless, useless, can’t do anything right. If I try something I’ll fail; stupid, dumb etc. So why should I worship- how can I! Then the hardness stops the Holy Spirit from energizing our hearts and spirit in worship.
You know, worship is where I hear from God very frequently. It was where this talk originated. Worship is anything that pleases and blesses God/Jesus. Our lives can and should be one long worship to a God who’s absolutely good. Who is pleased with us anyway whoever we are, whatever we’ve done, wherever we’ve come from, and whatever or however we view ourselves.
How do you view yourself? Do you see yourself as beautiful, good, of worth-value? Or is it opposite? The view should be as a reflection of how our creator God/Jesus sees us. It’s not based in or on self, it’s based in the perfection of Jesus and the work of the cross. Prior to the cross, sin changed us, held us captive- slaves. However, now Jesus has dealt with that issue. He sees us perfect, washed, whole. Without fault or blame, without any accusations.
So why do we despise ourselves? Rejection- of God and others. It stops us getting close to God in prayer, in intimacy with Him. Fear rules the roost! It stops us with people, we want love and friendship, but fear comes in with rejection and we pull away (weather God or people), and in the process doing and saying silly things. Lastly, as we’ve mentioned, we reject ourselves- negative thoughts actions words which all wage war on our prayer life. I’m a worm, why pray to a holy God! Oh how much more we are to God than a worm. So so much more. Can we get a hold of this fact? - Our view determines answers.
In short- a God view of us will bring God results. David knew who he was in God, a king etc, and despite hold-ups, that knowledge kept his eyes on the prize. Never quitting, always strong and faithful, with Gods’ promise in mind, he made it. He was a man of prayer, read the Psalms- worship and prayer. Seeing Gods goodness to him, and knowing who he was, determined his future. Jer 29.11-13. We are kings and priests too - Rev 5.10, take on that view of yourself.
For our enemy Satan would have us in a state of continual confusion. Not seeing the truth, not seeing our position in Christ, knowing our identity in Christ. Constantly putting ourselves down, pouring scorn on Gods beautiful creation. Why? Why? We are sons and daughters of the most high God. So what about prayer?
3. Joining the two in effective prayer
Prayer is knowing who God is and knowing who we are in Him. Once we have this truth imprinted on our hearts, anything is possible. Prayer is just communication with God. As we learnt last time I spoke, there’s no set formula. It’s a faith thing; it’s a supernatural thing.
You know, in any relationship, if we don’t trust the person (a) say, there won’t be free communication. It’ll be tense, strained, limited, stifled, not open, and sometimes not honest etc. If also person (b) feels inferior, worthless, weak, useless, ugly and so on, there’s going to be even more problems. Relationships require all these of the above on the positive side to work. So as with God and prayer. He is a relational God- He created it in the first place. Prayer is a vital part of our relationship with Him; He wants it to be intimate, close, honest, open, bold, relaxed, free and face-to-face. If you’re face to face with someone, it’s hard to avoid talking etc. His desire is for it to be an out of this world experience- and it is. If it’s not, there’s something not quite right.
So with new sight seeing a loving, trustworthy good God, and viewing ourselves in a God reflection of us- the ultimate self-image of all time. What’s stopping us/you from having a dynamic prayer life? Do you/we see what can be accomplished by a man or woman who has none of this baggage? Let it sink in, don’t analyse it, or work it out, just accept it. There’s no condemnation here for those who struggle in prayer.
You can do great things in and for God with an unclouded view. With a trust in a God of goodness. Knowing your own standing in God. Satan doesn’t want Christians to realize this truth, it threatens him, makes him fear. That’s fine, let him, cause he’s going down. His lies of a bad God, lies of puny bad ugly worthless us; will no longer prosper.
Hold your head high; know the acceptance of your super soul mate, and super Jesus- supernatural God, pray to Him who loves like no other. Pray and expect to be heard and get answers. Pursue Him, storm heaven, embrace our God as our most faithful friend, trusted advisor, greatest ally and defender, on our side- not our enemy. Who is delighted in hearing and seeing us every time. Who is never bothered or annoyed at our coming to Him. Who saves our prayers like a lover with love letters; who collects our tears- weeping with us, rejoicing with us. Walking with us (even when we think He’s sick of us and left) through life. Never alone, never forsaken, always prepared, waiting to hear our voice.
What a God!
03.24.08
24th March 2008 - The Resurrection Road
The Resurrection Road
Simon, Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon, Jude, Judas, Mary, Mary, Martha, Joanna and Susannah. These are some of the main disciples and followers of Jesus, there were also at least another 500 people that had been following Jesus their (Rabbi) teacher and Lord. He was viewed as a King, as the anointed one. He had come to Jerusalem to conquer and sit on the throne of David, at least that’s what most believed would happen.
Read Luke 23: 26-27
Those were close to Jesus watched as he was mocked, lashed and beaten, made to carry the cross beam of what would be the cross he was nailed to through his wrists and feet. They watched as he refused the wine laced with Myrrh and gall which would have dulled his pain. They watched as he forgave a thief on the cross next to him, and were amazed when he asked the Father to forgive his accusers. They watched as he cried out in pain and asked his good friend to look after his dear mother. They watched as he breathed his last breath, they watched as the soldiers pierced his heart and lungs just to make sure that he was dead. They watched the women that loved him wail and groan in deep emotional torment. They watched the silent tears of his disciple’s, and the confusion on the faces of those who just wanted him to do a miracle and save himself. They watched as Jesus was taken down, limp and lifeless covered in blood.
The surreal silence over Jerusalem would have been almost unbearable those few days after the death of Jesus. There would have been major Disillusionment, feelings of abandonment, overwhelming grief and pain for those who knew him. In a small way I liken it to unexpected deaths in our day and age; for example the shock of Princess Dianna’s death, the twin towers disaster, and last year Peter Brock and Steve Erwin’s sudden deaths.
At the end of the Passover feast, early on the Sunday morning two of these followers of Jesus started the 12 km trek back home to the town of Emmaus. Obviously shell shocked, confused, angry and grieving the loss of their beloved Messiah; their conversation would have been filled with pain and passion.
Read Luke 24:13-34
They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?”
Luke uses the term antiballo which means “to throw back and forth” in explaining the conversation between the two men. It implies that they were bantering back and forth with intense emotion. They would have truly wanted to know what went wrong!!!
. The men’s limited perspective, on who Jesus was, prevented them from seeing the truth.
Cleopas and his friend had all the facts but they interpreted them wrongly, Jesus kept his identity hidden from them though as he walked beside them in their grief, a narrow view of things blinded them from the truth.
Three defective factors prevented them from seeing the truth and kept them searching for answers in despair. Jesus came to them to peel away these perspectives one layer at a time until they could see the truth clearly.
1. 1. Perspective; They had an earthly rather than a divine perspective.
Before we get all poo hooey about Cleopas and his friend, remember what it’s like when life all of a sudden takes a turn for worse! When our expectations and dreams crash down, when circumstances stink and we feel tossed every which way except where we want to be. Our vision all of a sudden becomes horizontal, we forget to look up! It feels like our prayers are being unanswered and God has forgotten about us! Let’s face it: it’s a natural response that we’re all guilty of choosing when our carefully planned lives collapse under their own weight.
In the case of the two men on the road, God’s involvement couldn’t have been any closer! While Jesus was so extremely near he carefully helped them look from their circumstances to the promises of God in the Holy Scriptures. He brought them to the scriptures and explained prophecies about himself beginning with Moses through to the prophets. He helped them find a divine perspective again.
What do we do when things are upside down and round about, do we look at our circumstances – Earthly perspective or seek the promises of God – Divine perspective?
What perspective will you choose if your plans come unravelled or someone shatters your dreams?
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” (Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes)
2. Agenda: They had a Human Agenda rather than expecting a divine agenda
“And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel.” Said Cleopas to Jesus. His agenda was based on the way things had been done up to now, on the stories passed down from generation to generation about victories in God such as King David’s defeats and the great wall of Jericho crusade. The Israelite people had made the mistake of believing the Messiah was to be like a King David, that he would overtake the Romans and regain the Jewish empire that God had established.
Throughout His ministry on earth, Jesus had combated this limited way of thinking and tried to help people understand the much grander designs He had for the world. But as long as people cling for dear life to his or her own agenda, they remain blinded to the reality that God is in the process of creating new ways of doing things, not just rolling off clones and repeats. .God was planning a new covenant, one that done away with temporary victory. The Messiah would bring freedom to Israel and the world but through a different way than expected. It was much greater, had worldwide benefits and ushered in the Kingdom of God by potentially freeing all people from the chains of sin.
Think for a moment and consider these questions: To what expectation are you clinging? What future have you decided for yourself?
“We typically view circumstances, especially those involving loss, as difficult because reality does not fulfil our expectations. Moreover, the impression that God has abandoned us to our suffering only intensifies the pain of loss and the frustration of difficulties. The two followers on the road to Emmaus undoubtedly felt God‑forsaken as they mourned the death of their dreams. Ironically, the very perspective that caused their pain kept them from seeing Jesus in their presence.” (Great Lives: Jesus, by Charles Swindoll)
As they approached their home town, the two men were so engrossed in the discussion; they urged the stranger to stay the night in keeping with their ancient rules of hospitality. Jesus accepted the offer of course, while still keeping his identity hidden He still had one more lesson to teach.
3. 3. Doubt; They doubted the resurrection rather than believe Gods power.
“They had heard the reports; they had all the facts. They simply refused to believe with their whole hearts. And their lack of belief affected everything. If these two disciples had believed that Jesus was alive, they would have behaved differently in at least two respects. First, they would have been walking toward Jerusalem, where Jesus was last seen, not away. Second, they would have accepted the trials, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus as the fulfilment of all He had promised, not as the end of their hopes.” (Great Lives: Jesus, by Charles Swindoll)
As the day was drawing to an end, the two men prepared their dinner. They most likely were still bantering questions back and forth as they had the whole day. One question may have gone something like this- How can Jesus be King if he’s dead?
When Jesus sat down at the table with the men, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. At this point their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Then he vanished out of their sight (Luke 24:30-31 NET).
“The Greek phrase translated “their eyes were opened and they recognized Him” literally means “their eyes were completely opened and they came to fully comprehend Him.” This was more than a passive, casual recognition of His features. They came to recognize Jesus in all His significance as the Messiah, the Suffering Servant, the Son of God, and their risen Lord!” (Great Lives: Jesus, by Charles Swindoll)
It is through sitting with Jesus and listening to him that we get to know him.
How can we learn from this passage of scripture and apply it to our own lives?
First, Perspective- choose to view life through God’s eyes. This isn’t easy; we naturally look at our circumstances- keep in the word, keep praying and keep in the presence of other Christians that hold you up.
Pray and ask God to change your thinking. Let Him do what you can’t. Ask Him to give you an eternal, divine perspective. Ask Him to replace your way of thinking with His.
Second, Agenda- surrender your expectations. Stop trying to change the world to work the way you think it should. “Grief is essentially the process of adjusting your mind to accept a radically new situation”. “Tears are the silent language of grief” (Voltaire quotes (French Philosopher and Writer.) Believe that God actually knows what’s best.
Pray and ask God to reveal His plans to you.
Third, Believe- acknowledge the resurrection of Jesus Christ and stake your very life upon it.
“A genuine belief in the fact of His resurrection will radically transform how you approach life. The death of Jesus conquered sin and overcame death’s finality, but it’s His resurrection that gives us life, hope, and reason to continue when everything appears hopeless.” (Great Lives: Jesus, by Charles Swindoll)
02.21.08
February 10, 2008 - Communion
One Body
One body, one heart we all share a place in this house, we all together make up this heart. Together we express ourselves to one another and to God. We are whole together. Every new day we share, we are complete with one another we are alive with one another. capturing what it means to be one, known as one, whole; shalom is achieved when we move forward no longer as individuals, but together, striving to reach out to our Father; striving for a righteous life.
We heal together
We break together
We are made whole together
As we each move forward in life, each new day at a time, remember what was spoken to the Corinthians, we are one body, each person plays a different role in the church, we all were designed for different things, differentiating between each other so there lay one person perfect for where God is moving our church.
If you or I weren’t apart of this church, its appearance would differ.
All of us, are beautiful before our God.
He is who we give splendor to.
As each person takes apart in this this-morning, remember always remember of the love that our God has for us. Remember today the greatness of his name.
God, one body, multiple lives. Together we are greater.
Mountains move, and valleys are widened when we speak of his love; when we remember him.
Jesus’ disciples made up an image also. They remained whole together; as they continued to eat and drink in remembrance of Jesus; of what He, stood for. We, together as we take this bread stand for Him. Together we make up church, we are his followers; after him we will go.
After him, we walk. hand in hand, partnering together in this life with one another, following on with what he has left for us to do. We are called to be here for each other we are called to live life by simply loving. We are in this together.
The image we create is like none other in God’s mighty kingdom. Our image is different, but, our foundations remain the same as those of the disciples who did life with Christ.
Life, together, Remember; we do life together.
We are here for each other; this is our community; this is our family; each of us make up apart of His kingdom. We are all in this life together.
So as you take up this offering to Him here, now, recall this moment, recall other moments; memories that are newly created; memories that have stood time, how ever recent, or distant your memories of love; His love; are; in this, take this bread, and drink as we offer up our lives to Jesus, joining together in this moment.`
02.10.08
10th February 2008, The Journey of Lent
The Journey of Lent
Most of us have heard of Palm Sunday; the Sunday before Easter where children in church often wave palm branches in remembrance of when Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey not long before His crucifixion.
But it is too easy and promotes too cheap a grace to focus only on the high points of Palm Sunday and Easter without walking with Jesus through the darkness of Good Friday, a journey that begins on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a way to place ourselves before God humbled, and knowing we can bring nothing towards our salvation. It is a way to confess our total inadequacy before God, to strip ourselves bare of all pretences to righteousness, to come before God in dust and ashes. It is a way to empty ourselves of our false pride, of our rationalizations that prevent us from seeing ourselves as needy creatures, of our “perfectionist” tendencies that blind us to the log in our own eyes.
Many Christians observe Lent, the forty-day period before Easter beginning on Ash Wednesday. Participants are to imitate Jesus, who spent forty days in the desert in prayer and fasting before beginning His public ministry. Observing Lent helps to cultivate the spiritual discipline of ma