May 2016 – Tawa Baptist

May 22, 2016May 22, 2016 Tawa Baptist

Shine

Scriptures: 1^st Samuel 18:1-4; 20:3-4 & 23:15-18

Title: Shine

Structure:

Introduction
1^st Samuel 18:1-4 (Commitment)
1^st Samuel 20:3-4 (Affection)
1^st Samuel 23:15-18 (Remembering & Encouragement)
Conclusion

Introduction:

Today is the second of three Sundays when we focus on the work of Tranzsend and our NZ Baptist missionaries serving overseas

The framework for the three weeks of the campaign is…

Week 1 – Pray (Inoi)
Week 2 – Shine (Tiaho)
Week 3 – Thank (Mihi)

The catch word offered by Tranzsend for, this, the second week of the appeal is shine

Paua

To illustrate what they mean by shine, Tranzsend have used the image of a paua shell (Paua is a kind of shell fish)

An empty paua shell has a beautiful iridescent quality
It is in the nature of a paua shell to shine when it’s turned towards the sun

Psalm 34 verse 5 says…

Keep your eyes on the Lord and you will shine like the sun
The idea here is that God is the source of light and when we face him we reflect His light into the lives of those around us

Friendship is one of the main ways that we shine God’s light into the lives of others

A friend is someone who cares for you
A friend is committed to God’s best for you
A friend has affection for you
A friend remembers you, and
A friend encourages you

Commitment, affection, remembering and encouragement – it spells ‘care’

These are the different colours of the light of friendship

One of the classic Bible stories of friendship is that of Jonathon & David

Jonathon genuinely cared for David
Through his commitment, affection, remembering and encouragement, Jonathon shone God’s light into David’s life
The story of Jonathon & David’s friendship is found in 1^st Samuel chapters 18 to 23

1^st Samuel 18:1-4 (Commitment)

Jonathon was the son of King Saul

That means Jonathon was a prince of Israel (in Old Testament times)
Jonathon first meets David just after David has killed Goliath
We begin their story from 1^st Samuel chapter 18, verse 1

After David had finished talking with Saul, the soul of Jonathon was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathon loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house.

And Jonathon made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathon took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

May the Spirit of Jesus shine light on God’s word

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

On the wall here is the picture of a rope of three strands

There is a verse in Ecclesiastes which says…
A cord (or a rope) of three strands is not easily broken
You sometimes hear that verse read out at weddings
This image speaks of the strength which comes from binding your life to someone else in a solemn commitment

The thing that is striking here is that there are three strands – not two

Without the third strand the rope wouldn’t hold together all that well
You need the third strand for the plat to work
If two of the strands represent the two people in the friendship then the third strand represents God

1^st Samuel 18, verse 1 says…

After David had finished talking with Saul, the soul of Jonathon was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathon loved him as himself.

In the context David has just killed Goliath and now he is talking with Saul, while Jonathon (Saul’s son) listens on

We don’t know exactly what David said to Saul in that conversation but we do know David’s words & actions resonated deeply with Jonathon
So much so that Jonathon’s soul was bound to David’s soul

What was it that bound their souls together?

I believe it was a shared commitment to God
Jonathon saw in David a young man who was completely committed to Yahweh and the Lord’s purpose for Israel
This was Jonathon’s heart too
They both wanted what God wanted for Israel

A friend is someone we share something in common with – perhaps a love of music or a love of cricket or a love of reading or whatever

C.S. Lewis said…

– “Friendship is born at the moment when one [person] says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought that no one but myself…’ enjoyed such and such a thing, whatever it might be [1]

Friends love the same things
They enjoy doing the same activities together
Through their mutual enjoyment of a particular endeavour friends spend time together and a bond of trust and mutual understanding forms
Friends come to know each other

Aristotle put it most succinctly when he said…

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”

Jesus says, “You are my friends if you love one another”

The soul of Jesus is love
If we love one another then we share the same soul as Jesus
And we will enjoy the same things as Jesus

Jonathon shared the same soul as David

Like David, Jonathon was also a man after God’s own heart
The heart is the seat of the will – so to be a person after God’s own heart is to want the same things God wants, in the deepest core of yourself

When your life is bound so closely to another, then you genuinely do love that person as you love yourself – one soul, two bodies

Jonathon formalised his commitment to David by cutting a covenant – making a sacred agreement with David
Jonathon then sealed the covenant by giving David his robe (literally the shirt off his back) and his weapons – an incredibly generous gesture
Jonathon was committed to God’s best for David – he cared that much
What this means is that David & Jonathon’s friendship wasn’t primarily about them – it was about God

1^st Samuel 20:3-4 (Affection)

A true friend cares for you and their commitment comes with affection

We tend to think of affection as a nice warm fuzzy feeling toward someone else

Affection may include warm fuzzy feelings but it runs deeper than that
Affection has to do with empathy – feeling what someone else is feeling

When your life is bound up with someone else’s then you can’t help but be affected by that person

So you feel what happens to them
If they are hurting then you hurt too
If they are lonely then you are sad
If they are happy then you are pleased
If they are distressed then you are moved to help them

We see Jonathon’s affection for David in chapter 20 of 1^st Samuel

By this stage Saul has grown jealous of David and wants to kill him
David is distraught and goes to Jonathon for help, saying…

“Your father knows very well that I have found favour in your eyes, and he has said to himself, ‘Jonathon must not know [that I intend to kill David] or he will be grieved.”

Jonathon said to David, “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do for you.”

That’s affection

Jonathon would be grieved to know his father’s intention against David
And when he does find out, Jonathon is willing to do anything to help David, even if that means deceiving his father Saul

At the end of chapter 20, after Jonathon has realised that his father Saul is mad and the best he can do to protect David is send him away secretly, Jonathon and David say goodbye, weeping together as they do

Their tears are an expression of their affection for one another

Commitment without affection is cold comfort

Commitment with affection warms us with the reassurance that we are not alone
When we show affection for others – when we feel what they are feeling and are moved to help – then we shine God’s light into their lives

For God so loved the world (he was so affected by the world he made) that he sent his only Son…

Affection comes with being a Christian

You can’t be a Christian and remain unaffected

When we follow Jesus it messes with us – the pain of the world together with the Spirit of God bothers us, disturbs us and moves us

A true friend cares. This means a friend is committed to God’s best for you

A friend is affected by what you are going through
And a friend remembers you and encourages you
Commitment, affection, remembering and encouragement
These are the different colours of God’s light shining through friendship

1^st Samuel 23:15-18 (Remembering & Encouraging)

Sky over Tawa - 19 May 2016 - morning

This picture was taken last Thursday morning (19 May), in Tawa

Isn’t it fantastic the way the light reflects off this dark cloud
Normally the proverb says: Red sky in the morning shepherd’s warning
Meaning we should watch out for bad weather that day
But on this particular occasion (last Thursday) the red sky in the morning was followed by a gorgeous blue sky day

When you look at a paua shell, it’s obviously beautiful – it’s pretty

But when you look at a dark cloud you don’t necessarily see the potential for beauty until the light shines on it at just the right angle

After David is forced to flee for his life from Saul he becomes an outlaw living in the wilderness

It is a hard life for David – he is living under a heavy black cloud
But Jonathon remembers David and encourages him
Jonathon shines light on David’s circumstances at just the right angle to make black look beautiful
From 1^st Samuel 23, verse 15 we read…

While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul’s son Jonathon went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God.

Jonathon remembered David

Re-member – it’s an interesting word

We tend to equate remembering with recalling a memory or a thought
But there is more to remembering than this
To re-member is to put something back together again
Not just back together mentally – in our imagination
But back together practically – in reality
Remembering involves actually doing something tangible

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Mothers’ day

About a week or so before that I said to Robyn…
“I’m not planning to get you anything for Mothers’ Day this year”
My intention was to manage her expectations so she wasn’t too disappointed on the day
A lot of husbands wouldn’t be that sensitive you know

Robyn wasn’t too upset – she knows gift giving is not my love language

She just smiled and said something like…
“Thanks for letting me know. I wouldn’t want you to waste any time on my account”
She was joking of course – but it did make me think
There is more to remembering Mothers’ Day than simply waking up and saying, “Happy Mothers’ Day”
To remember someone requires doing something real

In the end I decided to put a bit of thought & effort in and got her a present – something unique to our relationship

I remembered her properly, with a meaningful gift

When we celebrate communion we remember Jesus’ death and resurrection by breaking bread and sharing a cup

Our remembering isn’t just a mental exercise – it is a meaningful action unique to our relationship with Christ
The body of Christ comes together (is re-membered)

When someone remembers you in their estate it means more than just writing a few words about you in their will

It means they give you something tangible and their legacy to you is special because of the relationship you shared

When we hold the Self Denial campaign each year to remember our Baptist missionaries serving overseas, we don’t just recall them to mind

We remember them in practical ways by denying ourselves certain luxuries and by offering money and prayer for their support

When Saul was trying to kill David and David was forced into hiding, Jonathon remembered David in a practical way by going to see him

There was some effort and time and risk involved in this for Jonathon
What if his father found out
Or what if David’s men misunderstood his actions and tried to kill him
But by going to see David, Jonathon was re-membering their friendship
He was putting their friendship back together – firming up the frayed ends of the rope, making it stronger

Returning to the image of the paua shells for a moment,

In order for the shell to shine it needs to be empty
We can’t shine God’s light into someone else’s life if we are too full of ourselves
We need to go through a self-emptying process if we are to reflect the light of God’s love to others
I’m not going to lie to you – this self-emptying may hurt

After finding David in the wilderness of Ziph, Jonathon then encourages him with words of affirmation and reassurance, saying to David…

“Don’t be afraid, my father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.”

To en-courage literally means to put courage into someone

No one else could put courage into David in quite the way Jonathon could
Not only was Jonathon David’s closest friend but, as Saul’s eldest son, he was also the next in line for the throne
Jonathon was basically saying to David…
“I lay aside any claim to the throne. I am committed to God’s purpose for you and for Israel. You have my full support”
At some point Jonathon had gone through a self-emptying process
His ego, his ambition, his pride, the temptation for power – all of that he put aside for the sake of God’s purpose, that David be king

The light of Jonathon’s encouragement for David was no cheap or flippant thing

His words came at great personal cost
Jonathon denied himself so God’s purpose could be carried out – he wanted God’s best for Israel and for David
What’s more he went against his father (Saul) to do it
Jonathon was a hero in the best sense of the word

In your newsletter this morning you would have received a cardboard paua shell

There are basically two types shells:
One is for putting on your fridge so you remember to pray for our Tranzsend missionaries
And the other is in the form of a postcard for you to remember someone who has shone God’s light into your life
We invite you to fill out the card with some words of encouragement and send it to them as a practical act of remembering

Conclusion:

A true friend cares. This means a friend is committed to God’s best for you

A friend is affected by what you are going through
A friend remembers you in practical ways
And a friend encourages you, even at cost to themselves
Commitment, affection, remembering and encouragement
These are the different colours of God’s light shining through friendship

Who has been a Jonathon to you?

Who can you be a Jonathon to?

Let us pray…

[1] From the book ‘Four Loves’

May 15, 2016May 16, 2016 Tawa Baptist

Pray

Scripture: 1^st Kings 17:8-24

Title: Pray

Structure:

Introduction
Prayer is listening in faith
Prayer is asking in hope
Prayer is confessing in truth
Conclusion

Introduction:

Today is the first of three Sundays when we focus on the work of Tranzsend and our NZ Baptist missionaries serving overseas

The framework for the three weeks of the campaign is…

Week 1 – Pray (Inoi)
Week 2 – Shine (Tiaho), and
Week 3 – Thank (Mihi)

The Scripture story Tranzsend suggest for, this, the first week of the appeal is…

1^stKings chapters 17 & 18 – which focuses on the story of Elijah and the drought in Israel

Elijah was one of the great prophets of the Old Testament

He lived at the time when Ahab was king of Israel
Ahab was the worst king in the entire history of the nation
Ahab married Jezebel and together they committed all sorts of evil
In particular Ahab encouraged the Hebrew people to turn away from the one true living God, by building a temple for Baal worship

In the ancient world Baal was thought by some to be the god of fertility and rain

So pagans who wanted a good harvest or rain to water their crops would offer sacrifices to Baal in order to appease him and find favour with him
Baal worshippers did all sorts of cruel things including child sacrifice

God was not happy with this and wanted to show the people that Baal worship was a lie, so the Lord sent Elijah to tell king Ahab there would be no rain for a few years

By stopping the rain God intended to show the people Baal was false
Of course, without any rain, the crops failed and there was a terrible famine throughout the region

Please turn with me to 1^st Kings 17, verse 8 – page 357 toward the front of your pew Bibles

At this point in the story the drought & famine have been in progress for some time and people are really feeling the pinch
From 1^st Kings, chapter 17, verse 8 we read…

⁸Then the Lord said to Elijah, ⁹“Now go to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay there. I have commanded a widow who lives there to feed you.” ¹⁰So Elijah went to Zarephath, and as he came to the town gate, he saw a widow gathering firewood. “Please bring me a drink of water,” he said to her. ¹¹And as she was going to get it, he called out, “And please bring me some bread, too.”

¹²She answered, “By the living Lord your God I swear that I don’t have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour in a bowl and a bit of olive oil in a jar. I came here to gather some firewood to take back home and prepare what little I have for my son and me. That will be our last meal, and then we will starve to death.”

¹³“Don’t worry,” Elijah said to her. “Go on and prepare your meal. But first make a small loaf from what you have and bring it to me, and then prepare the rest for you and your son. ¹⁴For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The bowl will not run out of flour or the jar run out of oil before the day that I, the Lord, send rain.’”

¹⁵The widow went and did as Elijah had told her, and all of them had enough food for many days. ¹⁶As the Lord had promised through Elijah, the bowl did not run out of flour nor did the jar run out of oil.

¹⁷Some time later the widow’s son got sick; he got worse and worse, and finally he died. ¹⁸She said to Elijah, “Man of God, why did you do this to me? Did you come here to remind God of my sins and so cause my son’s death?”

¹⁹“Give the boy to me,” Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on the bed. ²⁰Then he prayed aloud, “O Lord my God, why have you done such a terrible thing to this widow? She has been kind enough to take care of me, and now you kill her son!” ²¹Then Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed, “O Lord my God, restore this child to life!” ²²The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer; the child started breathing again and revived.

²³Elijah took the boy back downstairs to his mother and said to her, “Look, your son is alive!”

²⁴She answered, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Lord really speaks through you!”

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us

In this passage we see how prayer is listening in faith

Asking in hope, and
Confessing in truth

Prayer is listening in faith:

First let’s consider prayer as listening in faith

Listening is about paying attention
Being aware of what’s going on around you
Taking heed of what God is saying and doing, so that we can respond in obedience to God – so we can work in harmony with Him

The story is told of a man who had lost his job and was unemployed [1]

Not being able to find work he was facing a personal famine of sorts

One cold winter’s night as he was driving home he noticed an old lady stranded on the side of the road – he could see she had a flat tyre and needed help

So he pulled over in his Holden Belmont, parked behind her Mercedes Benz and got out

Even with the smile on his face the woman felt anxious and vulnerable

It was a quiet road and no one had been past in the last hour
The man looked a bit rough – he was missing a tooth and he hadn’t shaved in a few days

He could see the woman was cold and frightened, so he tried to make her feel more comfortable…

“I’m here to help you. You look freezing. Why don’t you wait in the car where it’s warm? By the way, my name is Sam.”
The woman decided to trust Sam – she sat in her car and popped the boot open, so he could get the spare tyre out

Sam soon had the tyre changed

Feeling relieved the lady offered to pay him
But Sam just smiled and said, “You don’t owe me a thing. This is what it means to be human – to help people”

Humbled by Sam’s kindness she thanked him, got back in her car & drove away

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small café
Feeling hungry she went in for a coffee and a bite to eat

The waitress had a sweet smile even after being on her feet all day and being 8 months pregnant

She went out of her way for the old lady, moving the heater closer for her to sit beside

As the old lady drank her coffee she remembered Sam’s kindness to her

She wanted to help someone too
Not wanting to embarrass the waitress the old lady wrote a note on a paper serviette, “Someone once helped me out the way I’m helping you.”
When the waitress returned to the table the old lady had left her a $100

Later that night when the waitress got home from work and climbed into bed, she thought about the money and what the lady had written

How could she have known how much she and her husband needed it?
With the baby due next month it was going to be hard
She knew how worried her husband was since he had lost his job
As he lay sleeping beside her she kissed him softly and whispered…
“It’s going to be okay. I love you Sam.”

Prayer is listening in faith

Our reading from 1^st Kings earlier began with Elijah listening to God in faith

God told Elijah to go to the town of Zarephath, near Sidon, and stay with a widow there
I’m not sure exactly how Elijah heard God but I’m pretty sure it would have taken a fair bit of faith for him do what God said

Zarephath was not part of Israel

This means Elijah had to leave his home country
In a very real way this was cross-cultural mission – representing God in a culture which was not his own

The other thing about Zarephath is that it was near where Jezebel came from

Jezebel, the queen married to Ahab, was Elijah’s nemesis
God was sending Elijah into enemy territory – but Elijah listened in faith and obeyed God

Our Tranzsend missionaries serve God overseas in a cross-cultural context

And like Elijah they are often called to live with and amongst people like the widow of Zarephath
People who are poor and vulnerable and barely scrapping to get by

Just as Elijah listened in faith to God, so too the widow of Zarephath listened in faith to Elijah

When Elijah asked for bread and water she said…
“All I have is a handful of flour and a drop of olive oil… That will be our last meal and then we will starve to death”
But Elijah said to her…
“Don’t worry… The bowl will not run out of flour or the jar run out of oil before the day that the Lord sends rain.”

Despite the fact she and her son faced starvation, the widow listened in faith and prepared some bread for Elijah

That’s some faith – sharing your last meal with a complete stranger
But this act of faith saved the woman
She discovered the flour and oil did not run out and there was always enough for the three of them

Tranzsend call their campaign Self Denial

The implication being that we deny ourselves something in order to identify with the poor and support the work of overseas mission
We appreciate that everyone is in a different position financially
Some people are able to give more than others – that’s okay
From a human perspective the amount you give does matter
But from God’s perspective the faith and love with which it is given matters more

People should decide how much to give after listening to God in faith

So I encourage you to try and hear God on this
Is there something you could give up (like a daily cup of coffee or some other treat) in order to put the money toward the Self Denial appeal
Or do you have a stash of loose coins sitting in your car that you could clear out to give to Tranzsend at the end of the month
Or is God saying, “Be more generous than that. Give a day’s pay”

I’m not here to tell you how much to give – that’s between you and God

What I can say is that when we give as God directs, like the widow of Zarephath, we find that our needs are met

Prayer is listening in faith, and prayer is asking in hope

Prayer is asking in hope:

Things seemed to be going along okay for the widow and her son until sometime later the boy fell ill

He got worse and worse until finally he died

I can only imagine how hard it would be to lose a child

But for this poor widow it was worse
She had already lost her husband
And her only son was her whole life – her present and her future

At this point the widow says to Elijah…

“Man of God, why did you do this to me? Did you come here to remind God of my sins and so cause my son’s death?”
Ouch – these are the words of a mother in pain
The woman blames everyone – she blames Elijah, God and herself
She thinks God is punishing her for her sins

The widow’s words reveal a lot about what she believes

She had been brought up to think like a pagan
A pagan lives in fear of the gods
A pagan thinks, ‘If something bad happens to me it’s my fault and I’m being punished’
That was part of the lie and the evil of Baal worship

Sometimes we can believe the lie that God doesn’t like us

We may suffer some misfortune and wonder…
‘What have I done wrong this time? Is God punishing me?’
We may have this concept of God as a harsh judge and cold executioner
And while the Lord is judge of all the earth, He is not harsh or detached
God is more like a loving Father and a caring coach – he likes us
God is not our critic – He doesn’t want us to fail
God is our strength and our support – He wants us to prevail
Whatever might happen to us – God still loves us
So when things go wrong we have hope – we can ask God for a solution

The widow wasn’t feeling God’s love though – she was feeling judgment

Elijah knows that her perception of God is out of balance and he goes about giving her a new (more accurate) concept of God

Because Elijah has hope – he takes the boy in his arms, carries him upstairs and asks God for a solution. Crying out with heartfelt emotion he says…

“O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die? Let this boy’s life return to him.”

The Good News version, which you have in your pews, has Elijah saying to the Lord, “…why have you done such a terrible thing to this widow?”

I think that translation may have taken a few liberties with the original text – it almost sounds like Elijah is accusing God
Rather Elijah asks God respectfully “…have you brought tragedy on this widow?…”, as if to say…
‘I don’t believe it is your will for this widow to suffer like this’

Elijah can’t tell God what to do – but he can ask God in hope – and when he does the Lord restores the boy’s life

Prayer is listening in faith, asking in hope and confessing in truth

Prayer is confessing in truth:

The famous Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon once said…

“True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.”

On seeing her son restored to life the widow confesses in truth, saying…

“Now I know you are a man of God and the Lord really speaks through you”

What we notice here is that the widow’s confession of truth is hard won

It’s not just loosely patched on the outside – she owns it on the inside
The crucible of loss & despair gives weight & substance to her confession

In John 17, Jesus talks about how his disciples have been sanctified by the truth

To be sanctified is to be made holy, purified, cleansed
In a way this woman has been sanctified by the truth
Not only has Elijah been proved a bona fide prophet of God
The widow has also come to know, through personal experience, that Yahweh is Lord of life and death – Baal is just an imposter
And knowing that truth sets her free from the fear of Baal

What God did for the widow of Zarephath is kind of a story in miniature (a living parable) of what he was doing for Israel through the drought

Israel had to go through the crucible of the famine to realise the truth that Yahweh is the Lord of life & death and Baal is just a fraud
It’s the truth that sets people free
It’s the truth that sanctifies us
But getting the truth through a hard heart takes tough love
And Ahab, it seems, had the hardest of hearts

In his book The Ragamuffin Gospel Brennan Manning (a recovering alcoholic) tells the true story of a group therapy session he participated in once [2]

It was April 1975 and there were 25 chemically dependent men in this rehab facility for drug addicts and alcoholics

The leader of the group was a skilled therapist by the name of Sean Murphy-O’Connor

Sean told one of the patients, Max, to sit in the hot seat in the centre of the group
Max was a nominal Christian, married with 5 children and the owner of a successful company
He was wealthy, affable and gifted with remarkable poise – it was hard to rattle him

Sean, the group leader, started bluntly…

“How long have you been drinking like a pig, Max?”
Max winced, “That’s a bit unfair”
“We’ll see”, replied Sean. “How much do you drink each day?”
“Two drinks before lunch, two after work, two before dinner and two before bed”
“So that’s a total of 8 drinks a day, Max?” Sean inquired
“Yes, not a drop more and not a drop less”

“You’re lying”, Sean replied

Max didn’t like Sean’s tone and insisted that his word was his bond but Sean wasn’t buying it
“Get me a phone” said Sean
A phone was brought in and Sean consulted a memo pad for a number
The phone was on speaker so everyone in the room could hear

Sean dialled Max’s local and spoke to Hank Shea the bartender

After introducing himself Sean asked Hank if he knew Max
“Yea, I know Max well”, Hank replied, “He has his standard six martinis every afternoon”
Max leapt to his feet and unleashed a stream of profanities that would make a stevedore blush
Then, after regaining his composure, he sat down again

One of the addicts in the group, a guy named Fred, spoke up…

“Have you ever been unkind to one of your kids, Max?”
“Glad you brought that up Fred. I have a fantastic rapport with my four boys. Last year I took them on a fishing expedition to the Rockies, a great time. Two of my sons graduated from Harvard you know…”
“I didn’t ask you that Max. At least once in his life every father has been unkind to one of his kids… Now give us a specific example.”

There was a long pause while Max tried hard to think

“Well, I was a little thoughtless with my 9 year old daughter last Christmas Eve”
“What happened?”
“I don’t remember exactly. I just get this heavy feeling whenever I think about it”
“Where did it happen? What were the circumstances?”
“Now wait one minute!” I told you I don’t remember.”

Sean dialled Max’s home number to speak with his wife

“Sean Murphy-O’Connor here ma’am. We’re in a group therapy session and your husband just told us he was unkind to your daughter last Christmas Eve. Can you give me the details please?”

A soft voice filled the room.

“Yes, I can tell you the whole thing. Our daughter Debbie wanted a pair of shoes for her Christmas present.
On the afternoon of December 24^th my husband drove her downtown, gave her $60 and told her to buy the best pair of shoes in the store.
That is exactly what she did
When she climbed back in the car, she kissed her father on the cheek and said he was the best daddy in the whole world
Max was preening himself like a peacock and decided to celebrate on the way home
He stopped at the Cork n’ Bottle and told her he would be right out
It was a clear, extremely cold day, so Max left the motor running and locked both doors of the car from the outside so no one could get in
It was a little after three in the afternoon…”

Max’s wife began to cry.

“My husband met some old Army buddies in the tavern… He lost track of time and didn’t make it out of the Cork n’ Bottle until midnight
He was drunk
The motor had stopped running and the car windows were frozen shut
Debbie was badly frostbitten on both ears and on her fingers.
When we got her to the hospital, the doctors had to amputate her thumb and forefinger.”

On hearing his wife speak the reality of what he had done Max collapsed on the floor and sobbed hysterically – undone by the truth about himself

Max was a liar: his lie consisted in appearing to be something he was not – a social drinker

Truth for him meant acknowledging that he was an alcoholic and his drinking was hurting those closest to him

Like Max, king Ahab and much of Israel were lying to themselves – appearing to be something they were not – righteous

Truth for them meant acknowledging that their religion was false and that their worship of Baal was hurting those closest to them
God had to turn the rain off to get the message through
Israel had to go through a crucible of loss and despair to realise the truth – to be able to pray in truth

It’s the truth which sets us free – the truth that sanctifies us

I’m not sure what your truth is
Maybe you’re not an alcoholic, maybe you are a workaholic
Or maybe you’re addicted to something else
We all have a tendency to lie to ourselves in some way
The point is: prayer requires us to be honest with God
But before we can be honest with Him we need to be honest with ourselves
Prayer isn’t just reciting a few words from a book
Prayer is confessing in truth
Being real and owning what we say before God, personally

Conclusion:

They call it the Tranzsend Prayer and Self Denial campaign, because prayer is essential to mission – without prayer there is no mission

Prayer means listening in faith
Asking in hope, and
Confessing in truth

[1] This story is adapted from the story, By the way, my name is Joe, in “Stories for a Man’s Heart, compiled by Al and Alice Gray, pages 17-18.

[2] Refer pages 123-130 of Brennan Manning’s book, ‘The Ragamuffin Gospel’.

May 8, 2016 Tawa Baptist

Baptism

Scripture: Mark 16:16a “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved”

Title: Baptism

Key Idea: Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

Structure:

Introduction

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

Conclusion

Introduction:

This morning Duan is being baptised

The word ‘baptise’ means to dip or immerse
There is a pool of water here at the front – we call this the ‘baptistery’
Duan will go into the water, make a profession of his faith in Jesus, then be immersed under the water before coming out again
That is the act of baptism

Baptism comes up in the New Testament quite a bit

John the Baptist immersed people in the Jordan river to get them ready for the coming Messiah
Jesus himself was baptised by John, as a sign that he had come to take away the sins of the world

Later Jesus went through another sort of baptism – not in water – but on the cross, when he was immersed in suffering

After his resurrection from the dead Jesus commanded his disciples to…

Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. [1]

Throughout the Book of Acts, the apostles did as Jesus instructed…

They preached the gospel and when people believed in Jesus the apostles baptised them

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith:

We could go on listing other New Testament references to baptism but the key idea I want to communicate this morning is…

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

Or as Beasley-Murray puts it…

“Baptism is… the divinely appointed rendezvous of grace for faith.” [2]

In the New Testament the same gifts of grace are associated with faith as with baptism – so grace, faith and baptism go together

Baptism is a nexus point for God’s grace & our faith

Just so we are on the same page…

By grace we mean a multifaceted gift from God
A gift, by definition, is freely given – we don’t pay for it
So grace is unearned – it costs God but it doesn’t cost us

And faith is believing (or trusting) to the point we are prepared to act on that belief

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

Let me illustrate by way of analogy

Imagine someone tells you that Mexted Motors are giving away cars – brand new cars at no cost
All you have to do is turn up at their car yard, collect the key, get in the car and drive away

Grace is being given the new car for free

And baptism is the rendezvous point for collecting the new car – that is: the yard at Mexted’s

Faith is believing that what you have been told is true and then acting on that belief by walking down to Mexted’s, collecting a key, getting in a vehicle and driving away

Faith is not saying, ‘I agree that Mexted’s are giving away cars’ and then sitting at home on the couch
Faith is acting on your belief – trusting that what you have heard is true

Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

Now, in many ways this is an inadequate analogy for baptism

We don’t just turn up to collect the goodies from God and then drive away – see you later. No
In baptism we become forever friends with Jesus
So when we get in the car (when we are baptised) the Spirit of God is already there waiting for us – ready to show us the way to go through life

Translating the analogy for you…

Duan has heard the gospel preached
He has heard the good news that God has grace – a wonderful multi-faceted gift to give away
And he has come to the waters of baptism in faith to receive God’s grace
After receiving the grace God wants to give, Duan will continue his journey through life with God

So what is this grace of God?

Well, firstly Duan, there’s no free car
And that goes for the rest of you as well
I don’t want anyone turning up at Mexted’s this afternoon, saying…
“I’ve been baptised. Where’s my free car.”

Seriously though, Jesus embodies the fullness of God’s grace

All the different facets of God’s grace we find in Christ
Jesus is God’s gift to the world for the salvation of creation

When we are baptised into Christ we receive forgiveness from sin [3]

And union with Christ [4]

With forgiveness God wipes our slate clean – He doesn’t hold our wrong doing against us

That means our guilt is removed – we’re justified & accepted before God
Not only are our sins forgiven – but sin also loses its power over us
The power of sin is death – because we are forgiven, death can’t hold us
And because we are justified, the accusations of the evil one won’t stick

In believers’ baptism we also receive from God union with Christ

Baptism is sort of like a wedding ceremony in that it unites us to Christ
Just as marriage is for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, so too union with Christ is for better or worse, through thick & thin
Baptism doesn’t mean the end of suffering or difficulty in this life
But it does mean the end of trying to cope with difficulties on your own

It also means a change to our lifestyle

I remember when I married Robyn, I had to change my mind set
No longer could I think like a single man
Now I had to consider Robyn in everything I did
I needed to learn to listen to her and tell her what I was thinking & feeling
It’s the same with our union to Christ – we have to consider him in all our decisions – how will this affect Jesus?
We need to listen to him and be honest with him – we call that prayer

Union with Christ is a biggy – it comes with a number of benefits

For starters union with Christ gives you the Spirit of Jesus
The Holy Spirit is the key to everything really
The Spirit precedes baptism in that He leads us to Christ and makes faith & repentance possible
Faith is a gift from God
The Holy Spirit is also given in baptism [5]
One of the Biblical metaphors for the Holy Spirit is water
We are baptised in water as a sign that through our union with Christ we are being immersed in God’s Spirit
The Holy Spirit then follows baptism – we go on being filled with the Spirit who empowers us to live the Christian life

Union with Christ gives you the promise of resurrection

In Romans 6 Paul writes: Don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death?
…If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. [6]

Because Jesus is God’s Son, union with Christ makes us sons & daughters of God

As co-heirs with Christ we will inherit God’s kingdom

And last but not least, union with Christ means we become members of the church universal

Duan’s baptism is not something which is done in isolation
It’s not just between him and God
Duan’s baptism is between him and God and us
Duan is being incorporated into Christ’s body, the church
So we who have been baptised are affected by this
We are encourageed and strengthened by it

There is much more I could say about baptism but that’s enough for today

The main point is: Baptism is where God’s grace meets our faith

We will now hear a testimony from Duan…

[1] Mark 16:15-16

[2] G.R. Beasley-Murray, ‘Baptism in the New Testament, page 273.

[3] Acts 2:38

[4] Galatians 3:27

[5] 1 Corinthians 12:13

[6] Romans 6:3 & 5

May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 Tawa Baptist

Strengthening Fellowship

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-3

Title: Strengthening Fellowship

Members Pledge 5: To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

Structure:

Introduction
United by Christ, not by likes
Strengthening fellowship (Eph. 4:2)
The bond of peace (Eph. 4:3)
Conclusion

Introduction:

Over the past couple of months we have been journeying through the 23^rd Psalm – making reference as we go to the various ways in which this psalm points us to Jesus

During May we take a break from Psalm 23 to focus on other things
We have a baptismal service next Sunday
And for the following three Sundays after that we will give our attention to the annual Tranzsend Prayer & Self Denial campaign
We intend to return to Psalm 23 in June.

With Ben & Becca Allen being welcomed into membership our message today focuses on one of the members’ pledges…

To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

Sometimes people ask me, ‘why do we have membership?’

‘If I become a member of the church universal when I’m baptised then why do I need to become a member of a local church also?’
After all salvation is not by local church membership – it’s by faith in Christ
Well, joining yourself in membership to a local church is not something you do primarily for yourself
It’s something you do for the well-being of the people in the local church

From a legal and financial point of view the church needs to differentiate between members and non-members in order to protect itself

In our situation the members are the ones charged with the responsibility for decision making
If we didn’t have members with voting rights then, in a worse-case scenario, some other larger group could come along to a church meeting and pass a resolution to take over our buildings & programmes for their own nefarious purposes
So the people we allow into membership really need to have the best interests of the local church at heart

Therefore, when someone becomes a member of Tawa Baptist they pledge…

To do all I can to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people.

United by Christ, not by likes:

Membership isn’t just about providing a measure of legal and financial protection for the local church

More importantly it’s about taking care of Christ’s reputation as well as our relationships with each other

Strengthening the fellowship of the church and developing the spirit of love, is essentially about the quality of our relationships together, as a community of faith

The church is not a building

The church is a network of relationships – like a family
In a general sense, a family shares the same heritage, the same blood, the same DNA
As a church family we share Christ’s heritage, His blood and His Spirit
It is Jesus who unites us and so the primary criteria for church membership is our relationship with Christ as formalised in baptism

The church is not a club either

A club is a group of people who are united by a shared liking for something
So for example, people who like collecting stamps might form a stamp collecting club
And people who like shooting guns might get together to form a gun club
And people who like drinking wine might form a wine tasting club

But a church is not a group of people united by a shared liking

The church is united by Christ
Therefore the church brings people of different likings, different cultures, different socio-economic backgrounds, different ages and different personalities together

Think about the implications of that for a moment

Being united by Christ means we don’t necessarily like the same things
For example, we don’t all like the same kind of songs
Some prefer hymns while others prefer Hill Song music – some enjoy all styles of music and still others can’t wait till the singing is over
Some people like interactive worship services – where you get up and move around – others like to sit still and listen to sermons
And others aren’t as interested in the sermon as they are in catching up with people over a cup of tea afterwards

The point is we all like different things and that’s okay – that’s as it should be

Because we are not a club – we are not united by our likes
We are united by Christ

The main metaphor for the church in the New Testament is family

You can choose your friends based on common interests or shared likes
But you can’t choose your family
You don’t get to choose who else comes to church here
You may like different things from the person sitting next to you
But you are still committed to their well-being

If you like Hill Song music then you still sing hymns for the sake of the person in the pew opposite you who is helped by singing hymns (& vice versa)

Or if you prefer the more interactive stuff to the sermon then you still listen patiently to the sermon for the sake of the person here who is fed by preaching
In these sorts of ways we strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people

C.S. Lewis wrote a book called The Screwtape Letters

It’s an enjoyable and thoughtful piece of fiction
Screwtape is the name of a demon who writes letters to his nephew, Wormwood – Wormwood is an apprentice tempter
Screwtape’s letters are full of advice on how the young demon, Wormwood, might turn a human being away from the Christian faith

In one of his letters Screwtape writes to Wormwood…

“Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.” [1]

If you ever manage to find a church which caters for all your likes and avoids your dislikes then you probably aren’t in church – you’re in a club or a bar

The opposite is also true
When you find yourself not liking something in church then you can probably take it as confirmation that you’re in the right place

We are united by Christ, not by our likes

And Christ’s Spirit (His DNA) is love
Love seeks the well-being of others

Strengthening fellowship:

What then does the Bible have to say about strengthening the fellowship of the church?

Well, one key passage which sums it up well is found at the beginning of Ephesians 4
While in prison for preaching the gospel of Christ, the apostle Paul wrote to the first Century church in Ephesus saying…

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Paul gives us 4 or 5 qualities which are essential to strengthening the fellowship of the church – this is how Christians are to treat each other…

With humility
Gentleness
Patience
Forbearance
And love

Humility in this context means ‘lowliness of mind’ or thinking low (not being proud or haughty) [2]

Being humble is really an attitude
It’s about having an accurate awareness of yourself in relation to others – not thinking too much of yourself
Being conscious of the fact that without God our life has no meaning and that without Christ we can do nothing
Humility is recognising that we need other people and more importantly the wider community of which we are just a small part needs other people
We are not the centre – it’s not all about us

A humble person does not think, ‘My team needs me to a score try’

A truly humble person thinks, ‘How can I best support my team mates to score tries?’

The church at Ephesus was a mix of different cultures – some Gentile, some Jewish

While humility was a virtue in Jewish culture, it was not valued in Gentile culture at that time

But valued or not, humility is primary to strengthening any fellowship or community

Humility keeps our ego in check and prevents us from worshipping ourselves
Humility also makes gentleness possible

If humility was despised in the ancient gentile world then gentleness is surely despised in our contemporary culture

Violence, brute force, power – these are the things which are glorified in our day and age
Gentleness is misunderstood as weakness when the truth is: gentleness requires a greater strength than brute force or violence
Gentleness requires self-control and skill

If violence is the hammer, then gentleness is the screw driver

If force is the butcher’s cleaver, then gentleness is the surgeon’s scalpel
If power is a drone strike, then gentleness is the kind word which turns away wrath
You might be tempted to smack your children into submission but you are more likely to take a gentle approach – to remain calm, wait for the tantrum to pass and lead them to better choices
You can coerce a person into grudging obedience to God by threatening them with the fires of hell,
Or you can gently remind them of God’s goodness and grace so they want to do His will

Humility and gentleness – these are two qualities that Jesus embodies in himself

In Matthew 11, verse 29, Jesus says…
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Patience is also needed for strengthening the fellowship of the church

An ancient Christian preacher by the name of John Chrysostom said,
To have patience is to have “…a wide or big soul” [3]

Having a ‘wide or big soul’ means having room for other people in our lives

Not being so fixated on our own agenda that we don’t have room for interruptions
Now it is not appropriate for us to accommodate every interruption
It is important to maintain some healthy boundaries
But we don’t want to be so tightly scheduled, so tightly managed and focused that we can’t attend to what’s important

The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates largeness (and smallness) of soul

The priest and the Levite were so fixed on their own little agenda
(Must get to church on time – must be seen to do the right thing)
That they didn’t have room to care for the wounded stranger on the side of the road
By contrast the despised Samaritan had a largeness of soul which made it possible for him to put aside what he had planned to achieve that day, dress the stranger’s wounds and carry him to safety

Patience is making room for other people when it matters

Strengthening the fellowship of the church requires the patience (or the largeness of soul) to make room for each other

To sing each other’s songs,
To prefer each other’s needs,
To listen to each other’s concerns,
To help in practical ways where we can
Or perhaps simply to be together without any agenda

So then, the fellowship of the church (our relationships together) are strengthened by humility, by gentleness, by patience and by bearing with

one another in love

Bearing with one another means putting up with people

And love, in this context, means seeking the other person’s well-being

The reality is that other people can be annoying sometimes – they can get on your wick (often it’s the little things)

It’s not that they mean to aggravate you – they are just being themselves and it gets under your skin

Paul is saying, don’t sweat the small stuff

Don’t walk away from the church over some trifle
Put up with the little things for the sake of love – that is for the well-being of the whole community

I remember the pastor who married us said, “Don’t worry about a bit of poop in the stable – poop is a sign of life”

Yea – people will annoy you sometimes but don’t lose sight of the fact they also have qualities which are good and which the rest of the church needs

Besides, we all have things about us which annoy others
You might think you are being very gracious in putting up with someone
But they probably think the same thing about you
What we realise as we get older is that we are all difficult in our own way
So we all need to show each other grace
And we need to learn to laugh at ourselves too

Now this exhortation to ‘bear with one another in love’ needs to be held in balance with verse 15 of Ephesians 4, where Paul talks about…

Speaking the truth in love so that we will grow up into Christ

There is a time to bear with difficult behaviour and a time to speak the truth

If we always graciously tolerate things we don’t like then the other person never really learns or improves and resentment grows
The trick is speaking the truth with humility and gentleness
Not being too quick in speaking the truth – but checking ourselves first to make sure we have removed the plank from our own eye before pointing out the speck in theirs
Making sure that we are motivated by what’s best for others and not just our own comfort or convenience

The bond of peace:

It’s been a dry summer and autumn here in Wellington – the weather’s been lovely

We’ve had to water our gardens more than we’re used to lately
Sometimes when you water the garden you get a kink in the hose and the water flow slows down to a trickle
If that happens, what do you do?
Do you throw the hose away or do you fix the problem by taking the kink out of the hose? [Wait for response]
Yes, that’s right you straighten the hose to take the kink out – then the water flows properly again

Paul continues his exhortation to the Ephesians in verse 3 saying…

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

I’m not sure I fully understand this verse but I’ll share with you what I know

Firstly, the Spirit of Christ creates unity in the church

We don’t create unity, the Holy Spirit does
However, we are responsible for maintaining the unity
And we maintain unity through the bond of peace

Peace (in the Bible) isn’t just the absence of conflict

It’s shalom, it’s abundant life, joy and right relationship in community with others

The bond of peace, therefore, is not a bond which stops us from doing things

It’s not like hand cuffs or shackles or a leash or a tie
The bond of peace is something which connects us to each other in positive ways
It is like a hose with water flowing through it – it is life-giving

Sometimes the bond of peace gets a kink in it

Sometimes our relationships get a bit twisted
People misunderstand each other or have expectations which are disappointed, then one thing leads to another and before you know it they’re not talking – the life-giving flow of water slows to a dribble
When our relationships get a kink in them we don’t throw the relationship out – we don’t say, ‘Well stuff you – I’m out of here’
No – we find a suitable time when we are calm and unhurried to talk it through – we straighten the kink out – we forgive each other

We don’t create the unity but we do need to maintain it by taking care of our relationships, by taking the kink out of the hose

Jesus encouraged his disciples to maintain the bond of peace with each other by teaching them to pray…

“Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

You see Jesus establishes a bond of peace between us and God

He gives us a brand new hose with water running through it
Because of Jesus, God forgives us up front and in advance
We get given that forgiveness, that bond of peace, for free
But we still have to maintain it
And we maintain the bond of peace by paying it forward – by forgiving others, just as God forgave us in Christ

Conclusion:

This morning we have explored what it means to strengthen the fellowship of the Church by developing the spirit of love in the family of Christ’s people

In short we are to relate with one another in an attitude of humility,

With gentleness and with patience (or largeness of soul)
We are to bear with one another in love – not sweating the small stuff but at the same time not ignoring those things that need to be addressed

In a few minutes we will share communion together

Communion is a time when we remember (and celebrate) the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace established by Jesus

Now though let’s stand and sing…

♫ Brother, Sister, let me serve you…

[1] C.S. Lewis, ‘The Screwtape Letters’, page 81

[2] Klyne Snodgrass, The NIVAC on Ephesians, page 196.

[3] From Chrysostom’s homily on 1 Corinthians 13:4 – referenced in Klyne Snodgrass, The NIVAC on Ephesians, page 197.