Beyond The See

Foundation Series: BIBLE

2012-01-23T23:01:00.001+02:00

Series Base text: Matthew 7:24-27 - The Wise and Foolish Builders

24. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practiceis like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

25. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

27. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Foundation stones:

1. Prayer

2. Bible

3. Fasting

4. Tithing

5. Worship

6. Giving

One of my favourite kinds of books to read or programs to watch are autobiographies, especially Christians ones, or ones where the person has some kind of encounter with God. I like these because they are stories about real people who, through experiences, have learned something that they now share with me – who is reading the book. I then learn from these people and my life is richer for it.

Some examples:

· Ken Blanchard – Whale done: Leadership Lessons

· Always look up – Michael J Fox: Inspiration

· Next Generation Leader - Andy Stanley: Leadership Lessons

· Soul Obsession – Nicky Cruz: Inspiration

Each book hold gems of wisdom, through their life experiences, that have helped me in my life.

Now, today I want to about 66 other books that offer way more pearls of wisdom than today’s autobiographies and leadership books. All of these books have been collected and placed into one publication.

We know it as the Bible.

So what is so special about the Bible?

“It’s the most successful literary creation ever; more influential than Shakespeare or any of the other great texts. It’s completely international. Consider the translations of great literary works.

· Take the Greek philosopher Homer, for example. He has been translated into 40 languages.

· Shakespeare, the British playwright, has been translated into 60 languages

· The Harry Potter stories: 67 Languages

· The Bible has been translated into well over 2,233 languages! That’s ten times more than any other book. It’s every publisher’s dream. It’s the world’s bestseller — 44 million copies of the Bible sell every year.”

(Source: How and why should I read the Bible – The Alpha Course)

Quote: Ghandi said to the Christians of his day: ‘You look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisation to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle torn planet. But you treat it as though it were nothing more than a piece of literature.’

So lets compare what Ghandi said to you now:

· If you claim to be a Christian, do you read the Bible as the powerful word of God? Or do you simply read it now and then like an ordinary piece of literature?

I do not know how a person can grow as a Christian without reading the Bible. There is no other way. The only way to move from a beginner to a mature Christian is when you engage the Bible - when you read the Word of God.

What you are about to hear is probably one of the most important messages you will hear in your life. Why? Because you DO NOT have what it takes!

You do not have what it takes to be the kind of person you need to be or want to be. You have these aspirations to be the best father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, friend, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, etc. in your life, but you do not have what it takes to be the best.

Well, what is that makes you the best? Wisdom.

You do not naturally have the wisdom it takes to be the best friend, father, mother, etc… when you get started. We do not have wisdom as a default setting when we are born. No baby pops out of the womb and automatically councils the gynaecologist on the issues of life.

No, wisdom is a gift you acquire and grow as you experience life.

And for interest sake… God designed it like that.

How many of you would say you could use a little more wisdom?

Well, then how does a person get wisdom?

There are two ways:

1. Personal experience – Example: You run barefoot across the veld when you stand in a pile of devil-thorns. Ouch! You sit down to take them all out. You start thinking, maybe I should wear shoes next time when I run across a veld.

It took one painful incident to gain one lesson in wisdom.

The second way is a better way:

2. Other peoples experiences – Have you heard the saying, “Life is too short to make all the mistakes by yourself?” Well, life is too short to learn all the wisdom yourself.

Example: Your friend runs across the veld, he stands in thorns, his feet are bleeding as he sits there taking out the thorns. Then you ask his, “What did you learn?” Well, do not run into the veld barefoot.

If you’re smart, you then take that piece of wisdom that your friend gained and apply it to your own life.

Let me tell you why this is important:

You do not have enough feet to stand on all the thorny lessons of life to become wise. We have to learn from other peoples experiences. We do not have enough life in us to learn everything by our own experiences.

Now we are stuck with another question, “Where on earth are we going to do that?”

Well, let me show you. Raise your hand if you have ever gained a gem of wisdom from personal experience?

Now if I was to learn from all your gems of wisdom and apply them to my life… I would be a rich man!

I will have wisdom beyond my experience.

We hear Jesus saying the same thing in the base reading for this series;

24. “… everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practiceis like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”

What’s the difference between wise and foolish?

The application!

Both hear, but both do not put it into practice.

Also, how can you put words into practice if you don’t know them?

It’s best we get to know them.

What are his words?

They are not only literally his words that are written in red in some Bibles, but also the words used throughout the whole Bible that is inspired by God. Different Characters, different situations, different contexts, different lessons – all of which we can learn from. We need to learn from all of their experiences.

The way to do this, it to not only learn from Jesus, but also learn from the other characters in the Bible who had a first-hand experience of God.

The Bible has 66 books to learn from.

66 unedited accounts of men and women who made mistakes – that are not hidden - but shown to us so that we have 66 books giving us a wealth of wisdom to learn from.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (Read the underlined out loud with me)

“ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.”

Do you know what Inspired means?

God is wants us to know that the same wisdom God gave all these great people in the Bible, is the same Wisdom He will give us! So that we will be fully qualified and equipped.

Think about it this way;

These 66 accounts are here to mentor us in this life so that we are able to become the best we can be.

Some of my great mentors have come from the Bible:

· Job – Gave me understanding in my two years of illness and how to be honest with God.

· Gideon – Allowed me to believe in myself and what God could do through me when others didn’t.

· Esther – giving me courage to do the right thing.

· Nehemiah – How to be a good leader.

God specifically designed the Bible to tutor you in this life. He knew you would need it.

But some might say, “Isn’t the Bible just a historical account of God?”

No no!

1 Corinthians 10:11

“1Co 10:11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

Roman 15:4

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Do you get it? All this is for us to learn from.

Picture all the Bible characters alive at once.

Picture them all seated in a huge auditorium and every time you had a questions about something or needed advice, all you had to do was walk into that room and ask them your question. Imagine the answers you would get from all the collective wealth of wisdom from them… all for you! Can you imagine what your life would be like if you could do that?

Well that’s the point of the Bible! You can have an audience with them any time you like! The Bible is the powerful word of God, not a simple piece of literature.

King David got this, so he wrote this:

Psalms 119:98-100

98) Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me.

99) I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

100) I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts.

Do you get this?

You can get wisdom beyond your lifetime because of these people in the Bible who have learned from the throny issues of life, who now can impart their wisdom onto us.

And you know what else… ITS FREE!!!

I have often had many questions where I found answers in the Bible - From personal battles to direction in leading this church.

The Bible hold nothing back as it give freely to you, through these people who have gone before us.

I want to challenge you today, to begin to feed yourself on the word of God. Because everything you need to be the best father, mother, aunt, uncle, grandparent, business person, etc. is found in this book. But you’ve got to feed yourself!

Imagine this with me:

What would look like if you only ate once a month? You’d be scrawny and weak; you won’t have stamina and strength – it wouldn’t be long before you are dead.

Not because you had no food but because you just didn’t want to eat.

If you want to become stronger – you MUST eat!

Now imagine this same analogy for your spiritual life. If we do not feed it, we won’t have any stamina and strength. We’d become scrawny and weak and fade away. No wonder Satan has his way with us and makes our lives miserable. Without feeding on the word of God we won’t have the power to fight him.

We may have the knowledge, but not the strength.

If you want your soul to be strong and powerful – you MUST eat!

How many of you literally still get fed by your mothers? None of you!

Why? Because you know its up to you. The same goes for feeding our spirits.

We need to begin to feed ourselves!

Jesus lets us know this:

Mat 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

I want to challenge you to the most important thing you can do in this life – READ YOUR BIBLE!

You may say, “This is not for me because I have read the Bible from cover to cover, I know the stories, so I'm ok.” No, you’re not. You are missing the point.

You see, your daily devotion, as a Christian, is the foundation for your whole life.

When you read your Bible, it’s more than reading, it’s a time when you sit at the feet of God let Him teach you.

When you read the Bible, you’re not studying the Bible, you are allowing the Bible to studying you. Its great to have the knowledge of the stories but it’s a different story when you are opening up your heart to the word of God. You are saying “Lord search me and take out those things that shouldn’t be there.”

One of the cool things about the Bible is that it’ll search you. It’ll help you find things in your life that shouldn’t be there that will potentially wreck you. It’ll start pointing those things out so you can start dealing with them.

Let me ask you something… Do you think the Holy Spirit will know what you are going to face next week? Next Month? Next year? Of course! But you don’t!

God knows what will trip you up in the future and he WANTS to give you the wisdom to not trip. He knows you are going to need the wisdom you learn today, tomorrow. He wants to equip you but if you don’t take the time to feed yourself and allow God to pour wisdom into your heart, you won’t have it.

You may think, well the Bible takes time to read! No No! By having the wisdom you need for your future challenge, you will save time. Because the Holy Spirit knows exactly what we need before you do. So it’ll save you from digging out of the pit.

I want to learn to play guitar. Imagine if I signed up with a guitar teacher for 1 one hour session a week. I would play ok in a years time.

But how different would my playing be if a master like Jimmy Hendriks or Eric Clapton came up to me and told me they would personally mentor me one hour a day for a year. I would play BRILLIANTLY!

You would be able to tell I had been taught by the master.

That’s what the Bible does for you on a daily basis.

You are learning from the Master about your marriage, your addictions, your soul, your future, your problems, etc. as the Master pours His wisdom into your heart every day.

And it wont be long before someone will recognise that you have been spending time with the master, by the way you will naturally live your life.

That’s the kind of wisdom people need to see in the Church of the Living God.

Where do I begin?

Develop a habit: Last week we spoke about prayer.

I said; “When you pray, give God the best time of your day when you will talk to Him.”

So, begin there. Use the best part of your day to pray and read the Word of God.

You want to give the Holy Spirit your best, so that when these mentors walk through your life, you will not miss a thing.

Earlier this year, I told the church my God Goal was to read the Bible in Chronological order (Read it as it happens). I set time aside each morning and read a few chapters. In the beginning it was difficult because my old habit was to sleep later. But now that I have been doing this for a few week, I find myself excited to read my Bible. I can’t wait. I am LOVING IT! I am learning SO much.

I have developed a good habit of feeding my spirit with the word of God.

Bring 5 things to bring to your devotions:

1. Bible (Devotions are great but bring the BIBLE) – learn how to use the Bible. There is only one book in the universe God promises to inspire. And that’s the Bible.

2. PEN! Underline pieces of scripture. Make notes! The book isn’t holy – ink on paper. What’s Holy is what God teaches you that you place in your heart. Highlight what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. Its not a magical book that will chase the devil out your house. It becomes alive when you engage with it.

3. Reading plan! Else you’ll only read what you know. Do you know who the loneliest people in the Bible are? The Minor Prophets. They are always neglected. I have placed a reading plan on our website for you that you can access to help you. It’s the one I'm busy with.

4. Journal – Write what God is telling you. Remember the wisdom he is giving you. By writing it down, you can always go back and read it. Its like having a cheat sheet for your life. The Bible saves you time.

5. SOAP (acrostic)

· S – Scripture

· O - Observation

· A - Application

· P - Prayer

God almighty has made sure that every word we read is there for a reason.

He has protected the Bible for 2000 years so that YOU can read it today.

So will you?

Friends, read you Bible – Feed your Soul!

*sermon adapted from ‘Read’ – Wayne Cardero

Foundation Series: PRAY

2012-01-23T22:53:00.001+02:00

Series Base Verse: Matthew 7:24-27 The Wise and Foolish Builders
24. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practiceis like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Foundation stones:
1. Prayer
2. Bible
3. Fasting
4. Worship
5. Tithing
6. Giving
Story:
There is a story about two guys who were the only two survivors of a shipwreck. These two men were marooned on an island. Not being a very big Island with limited resources, these two men decided to split island and half. One guy went one way and the other guy went the other way. The deal was that under no circumstances were there to cross the dividing line of the island as the survival depended on it.

Months and months passed by, and on the one side of the island, the one man was flourishing. He had built a hut, he had a gushing stream pouring out freshwater, and all the free trees had more than enough fruit.

The other man was experiencing the opposite. He lived in a hollowed out tree, he had no fruit, and is water had dried up. He lived like that, until he passed away.

Shortly after that a ship was sailing by and noticed the survivors signal fire. The ship rescued the man and he lived out his days back in civilisation.

At a ripe old age, this man passed away, and he found himself standing before God. He said to God, "wow God, thank you for keeping me alive on the island. Without you, I would have died like the other man. You answered all my prayers. But tell me God, why did you not answer the prayers of the other man like you answered mine?" God answered, "I did. When you prayed for food, I gave you food. When you pray for water, I gave you water. When you pray for a shelter, I gave you a shelter. And when you pray for rescue, I rescued you. You prayed many prayers, and I answered. But your friend only prayed one prayer, and that was for me to answer all your prayers."
Today we're talking about one of the most important foundation stones in our Christian lives. And that is the gift of prayer.
Many of us take pray for granted. We only pray when we find ourselves in trouble. We don't use prayer as a time to communicate with God, to learn from God, to gain wisdom, to find peace, or to simply just talk to God. Prayer is treated like a get out of jail free card.
Especially in this crazy busy world where time is a rare commodity - that we do not manage well - when it comes to a relationship with God. God is given what time is left at the end of the day, and maybe not even that much.
Life is busy, noisy, invasive, and relentless. When do you speak to God? Do we speak to God?
And then we ask the question, "where is God? Why can I not hear him? Does God still speak today?"
There was a guy in the old Testament by the name of Elijah, who will help us answer that question. Maybe you remember him, or at least remember one of his stories; HE had a show down with 850 false prophets (1 Kings 18:19) to see whose God is real. They made two altars and prayed to their Gods. Elijah beat them with the power of God. Then He killed them all.
After that, he was on the run and found himself in a cave…
1 Kings 19:
9. There he went into a cave and spent the night.
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10. He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
11. The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
12. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
13. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Did you notice something very profound in this reading?
God was not in the hustle bustle, and craziness of that story. He was not in the powerful acts of the world. He wasn't in the earthquake, the wind, or the fire. He was in a gentle whisper.
To look for God in only big things like rallies, churches, conferences, highly visible leaders, will often cause us to miss him. God is most often found gently whispering in the quietness of a humble heart. Are you listening for God?
There was another person who knew how to pray very well. His name is Jesus. This time in the new Testament, and in the life of his ministry, we often find Jesus, leaving the people behind to escape to a mountainside where he would quietly spend time with God. Because he knew that he would find God, and be able to hear God's voice, in created moments of quiet. Jesus himself did this. We also read that he would get up early in the morning, just so that he could spend time with God, before the world got crazy.
Now it might be safe to say, that our world is a lot more crazy than the world that Jesus lived in. We have loads of distractions that pull us in every direction. But the principle remains the same; if Jesus made time for quiet prayer, then so should we.
Jesus was faithful in this prayer life, so much so, that the disciples asked him to teach them how to pray. And this is what he answered them;
Matthew 6
5. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
6. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9. “This, then, is how you should pray:
(vs9-13)
Pray specifically. – If we look at the Lord's prayer, we will notice how specific he teaches us to pray:
· our father – God is your father (thought Jesus).
· Who art in heaven – God is sovereign above all, and is able to do anything.
· hallowed be thy name – praise God when you pray to him.
· Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven – submit your will to God's will. (Job, body, money, etc).
· Give us this day our daily bread – layout all your concerns with a big or small. If you need a miracle, ask for it without shrinking back.
· Forgive us our trespassers, as we forgive those who trespass against us – make sure there is no obstacle between you and God. Confess your sins, receive forgiveness and live.
· Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil – pray for your protection against evil and victory over temptation.
· For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever – end your prayer with worshipping God. Acknowledge that everything belongs to God and that he is in control.
· Amen – let it be so.
What lessons to be take from this?
1. Get away from distractions. – In the beginning of answering the question, Jesus told his disciples to Get Away from distractions, “Go into your room.” If you are like me, you find distractions deadly in making your connection with God. The secret I have found is this: don't bother fighting distractions, you will lose. Avoid them completely. Find a quiet place, where you can pray without interruption.
John Wesley's mother, was a mother of 19 children. The ways she would get away from distractions was to sit in the kitchen put her apron over her head and pray to God. All the children knew that when mom had the apron over her head , she was not to be disturbed.
Creating a place will become for you what the garden of Gethsemane became for Jesus – a holy place, the place with God meets with you.
2. Create a special atmosphere. – Many of us have a favourite holiday destination, or restaurant, or some kind of place they would like to be. The reason being is because it has the kind of atmosphere we like.
The atmosphere I create for myself happens in the morning is this: I wake up, I make coffee and breakfast and then I go sit on my favourite chair and spend time with God. This is the best part of the day for me. – Give God the BEST part of your day!
3. Mean what you say. – Not only did Jesus tell his disciples to pray secretly; but he told them to pray sincerely. Don't keep on babbling and be careful of cliches. Don't fall into the habit of using meaningless repetition. Speak from your heart.
4. Pray from the heart. – Psalm 62:8 says, "pour out your hearts to him." Talk to God. Telling how you feel. Say "Lord, this is how I feel today. I've been thinking about this recently. I'm worried about this. I'm depressed about that. I'm happy about this." Talk from your heart. That's what God wants.
5. Reflect on your time with God. – The reason why many Christians don't grow is because they don't evaluate the lives. In this busy world, it is important to force yourself to slow down. When it comes to my prayer life, I reflect on my time with God by journalling in a prayer journal. When Journalling my prayers slow down in my head and I actually think about what I'm saying. The advantage is, I can always go back and reflect on my life.
6. Above all, pray! – Jesus said, “WHEN you pray” x3. Do what ever it takes. (Under the ever tree; on the beach; in my room with earplugs (find peace in chaos); in a quiet room).
If we want to develop in any other area like – piano, fitness, any sport – we practice regularly. People who are serious about something always make room in the schedules. The more you do this, the better you will become.
Why is it important to pray? As selfish people we can even ask the question, "what do I get out of praying?"
The answer is this, and it is simple:
when we work, we work;
but when we pray, God works.
God, loves to hear your voice. After all, he invented prayer so we could chat. He wants to know about your life, he wants to know about your troubles and your victories, and you wants to make things workout for you.
God wants to bless you, but you have to cooperate. Cooperate? In what areas?
2 ways:
1. Obedience:
In following God's teachings:
· Lev 26:3 "If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,
· Lev 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Obeying God when he speaks:
· Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
Have you noticed what happens if you are obedient to God? You get rewarded, your prayers will be answered! I'm not talking about praying for a 100 bedroom house, but all your needs WILL be met.
But how do we hear God's voice? Now we're making a full circle…
By creating spaces of quiet to speak to God and listen.
Yes, God does love hearing your voice, but he also wants you to you his voice. God wants to speak to us. One way is through reading the Bible. (Next weekly talking about the Bible).
2. Stillness.
· Psa 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him…”
· Psa 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"
In my Christian existence God has always strengthened me in my times of quiet. I have found wisdom and power in those moments. And I know many of you have too. So why then do we starve ourselves of this power and wisdom and strength, everyday? And why do we starve ourselves of the intimate communication, we can have with God for free, everyday? It doesn't seem right, does it?
Prayer is a place where we hear God's voice.
Rev. Ian Francis Quote, “Prayer is the life-line of the Soul like oxygen is the life-line to living.”
Lauren Scholtz once likened prayer to a telephone conversation. It takes two people. Each one gets a turn to speak and to listen.
If you're new to prayer... There is a simple method that can help you start:
Start your prayer with "You are…" - This is we worship God.
Followed by "I am…" – This is where you unpack your heart to God.
Ending with "Please…" – This is where you ask God to help you.
Then, before you say ‘Amen’ keep quiet for 5 to 10 min and just listen. Maybe you want to write down what you hear.
Note: It takes time to get it right! Hang in there!
For the first two weeks, I never heard a thing. I was thinking about all kinds of different things – like laundry.
Get a focus point. I use a small cross that when I get side tracked I open my eyes and look at the cross for a few seconds and that helps me to refocus.
Life is Busy and we need to connect with God. We need to talk to God. God wants to talk to us. So, Step back – MAKE TIME - from the noise and activity of your busy life and listen humbly and quietly for God’s guidance. It may come when you least expect it.

*Prayer points from book "Too Busy Not to Pray" - Bill Hybels

PREPARE YOUR WAY

2011-12-13T10:49:00.001+02:00

It is December!

Most of us have started gearing up for the December holidays. We have started getting ready for Christmas. The time is getting closer, where we will meet with loved ones and share gifts with one another. People are putting up Christmas trees, baking biscuits, buying presents, taking leave, and looking forward to rest a little bit.

Even our city is getting ready. As we drive around the streets and go to the malls, we see Christmas decorations everywhere. People are preparing for Christmas.

When preparing for something the experience becomes a whole lot more worthwhile.

Last Week:

I spoke about the need for us to be ready for when Jesus comes again.

We do not know when that is but will we be ready, or not?

Because Ready or Not… Jesus is coming.

Now this morning, I want to answer the question of HOW do we prepare ourselves for when Jesus comes again.

Dictionary: Prepare - Make ready in advance for a particular purpose or event. (Remember this)

Here are some quotes on preparation:

John F. Kennedy, "the time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."

Chinese proverb "dig a well before you are thirsty."

Oscar Wilde. "When love comes to an end, weaklings cry, efficient ones instantly find another love, and the wise already have one in reserve."

Video: Prepared pilot lands plane with one wing (he was prepared).

Being prepared will make all the difference.

This morning we have two gospel readings.

Both of them are about John the Baptist and putting them together will give us a better picture of John.

Context: In case you didn't know;

· John the Baptist was a relative of Jesus. He was a little older than Jesus and he was devoted to serving God – He knew his purpose!

Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, ,

2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way” —

3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.’ ”

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

7 And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

John 1:19-28

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was.

20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” (For many supposed he was because of what he was doing. He already had his own disciples. That’s why the big shots came out)

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” (Prophesied that he would come before the messiah)

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?” (Spoken of by Moses – “Are you the Messiah?”)

He answered, “No.”

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” (These guys were confused)

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” (He declares his purpose: He refers to himself as the voice = something that is heard then disappears. He was simply the forerunner of Christ. Christ must be Remembered, not him).

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent

25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.

27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Ironically, the voice of John the Baptist still echoes today. I guess his preparation was better than he thought.

In short:

John, is at a place called Bethany (outside Jerusalem), where he is challenging and encouraging people to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. Those who listened confessed their sins, repented and were baptised.

“Prepare the way for the Lord, Make straight paths for Him!

Make straight the way for the Lord!”

Interestingly the Greek word used for “Make your path straight” is rooted in the Greek word “yoo-thoos” which means, ‘Immediately’/’RIGHT NOW’.

John was telling these people “prepare NOW” for Jesus.

And people were doing exactly that.

John's message remains challenging and encouraging today.

We need to be preparing for the coming of our Lord.

We need to prepare the way for the Lord in our lives.

Lives that will honour Him on all things.

But how do we prepare? This is John’s model for us. Truth: It’s an on-going thing…

1) Identify your sin:

According to John, The first place you start is identifying your sin. Once you've identified your sin, you’re then able to confess it.

Homework: Personally write out your sin so you can see it. If you don’t see it, you can deny it. Then you are wasting your time. Having it in front of you will help you overcome it. Reflect on your year and see where you need to be better.

2) Confess your sin:

You then need to confess those sins. TOUGH CALL!! The advantage you have over the people who were with John is, They confessed publically. You don’t need too.

Homework: Confess your sin and Find a confidant who you can share this with, who will listen and pray with you.

The Bible tells us: “confess your sins to one another and you WILL be healed”.

3) Repent of your sins:

Turn away from them. Stop doing them. Feel so bad about them that you never want to go bad to them. The people who confessed publically where held accountable by the people who heard their confession. You need to find ONE person for this.

Homework: Ask your confidant to hold you accountable.

Then comes the Baptism:

With John, the baptism was water. But the game has changed since then… When Jesus went to heaven, He left us the Holy Spirit.

Now, when we confess our sins, we are baptised in the Holy Spirit. John said so himself: Mark 1:8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

WE WANT THAT!!

With the Holy Spirit, your paths will be made straight for Jesus.

Illustration of above points: Boulder in your driveway.

You have a boulder on your driveway.

That boulder represents sin.

You cannot go over, under, around or through it.

The driveway represents your spiritual journey.

Your spiritual life will not move whilst that boulder is there – you are stuck.

So what do you do?

YOU APPLY WHAT JOHN IS TEACHING.

To move forward in your spiritual life, you need to:

1) Identifying sin = Seeing the boulder in your driveway and stop ignoring it.

2) Confessing sin = To God and Going to your confidant and tell them that you have an issue… you have a boulder in your driveway.

3) Repenting sin = Allowing your confidant to help you, with the power of the Holy Spirit to remove the boulder - for once and from all - out of your driveway.

Do this: You are free to move spiritually!

You will find your purpose and live it like John did.

You will not be stuck in your driveway!

Personal Story:

This week, I was with someone (Who I will call BOB in this story) who got serious about preparing the way for Jesus and making their paths straight.

Bob had collected stuff over the years that held a spiritual bond over him. This was affecting Bob’s relationship with God without him acknowledging it.

Due to the conversation we were having, all that stuff around the house was collected and we took it outside to burn it.

We piled in to the braai, doused it with petrol and set it alight.

Then a thought occurred to me - which I verbalised, "What is burning there is just stuff. But it could have been you”. We then went inside and I prayed for Bob to be released from the hold Satan had over him.

Bob confessed to God and prayed for forgiveness and restoration.

When we had completed this exercise, Bob looked at me, and I kid you not, his whole face changed. There was a glow to him. And he had the biggest smile.

I asked him how he felt and he said, “I feel like I am free”.

Two days later, he said to me, “If there is anything in my life that I struggle to give up for God, then I’ve made it more important than God.”

Bob is not the same person he was a week ago.

There is a real joy of the Lord, that has exploded inside him now.

It is beautiful to witness.

It was truly a Godly moment.

Why? Because he is serious about preparing his way.

This can be you too! How badly do you want it?

Q: Benjamin Franklin, "by failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."

Don’t prepare to fail. Rather start preparing from NOW what this text asked of us to make your paths straight.

WHY GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS?

Do you remember the Dictionary definition of: Prepare - Make ready in advance for a particular purpose or event?

Event: Jesus is coming again…

Purpose: serve Jesus – like John Served God - while we prepare ourselves, as much as we can, for his return.

He has given us a way to prepare. We just need to do it.

I want all of us to make it.

Prepare your way!

READY OR NOT…

2011-12-09T12:05:00.001+02:00

Do you remember the games you used to play as a kid?

Some games were created with the great imaginations we had, other games would be the traditional games handed down from kid to kid - proving to stand the test of time.

One of those games was: Hide and Seek.

Kids would all stand at one place whilst one kid would close his eyes and start counting. The rest of the group would disperse into every direction possible with one goal in mind: HIDE AWAY FROM THE COUNTER!!

When the counting was done the counter would shout, “Ready or Not… heeeeerrrreee I coooomeeee!!!”. And then he would have to find the others who are hidden away. Once found they could come out of hiding.

Then they would walk around with the counter to find the other hidden people. Once everyone was found they would all walk back to the place where they all started.

This game is very similar to our spiritual lives today.

Keep that image in your mind as we read our text for this morning:

Text: Matthew 24: 36-44

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;

39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.

41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

In this text, we are told that Jesus is coming back.

In addition - we will never know when Jesus is coming back.

We are simply encourage to be ready for when it happens.

And when He does come back, people will be divided into two groups (Even though they are in very similar situations):

· Those who are ready (The saved)

· Those who are not ready (The lost)

Ok, now let us tie this in the game Hide and Seek:

God is the counter - Only He knows when He is coming to find us.

And we are the ones hiding away… Let me explain.

Firstly: Let’s talk about the hiding places:

· Dark

· Small confined space

· Behind something

· Up something

· Under something

· Etc.

Wherever it is, it is in a place where we will go where we do not want to be found.

This idea of hiding from God is not a new thing.

This happened at the beginning of time with Adam and Eve.

God was walking in the Garden of Eden trying to find them and calling out, “Where are you?”. (Gen. 3:9)

Adam answered, “I heard you in the Garden, and I was afraid… so I hid.” (Gen. 3:10)

They hid away from God.

Can you remember what drove them to find a hiding place?

SIN – they disobeyed God.

And they were punished severely for their sin.

SIN tells us that we must have one goal in mind: HIDE AWAY FROM THE COUNTER (GOD).

There are people out there, and even inside this church this morning, who are hiding from God (or trying to), through whatever sin is in their lives.

Sin is keeping them trapped in that dark hiding place.

But God is calling out to us, “Where are you?”

Why?

Because He doesn’t want us to live in hiding.

Not so that He can punish us, but for another reason…

For us to live in the light of His grace and walk with Him – Like being found in the game of Hide and Seek.

This is the good news:

Do you remember what Jesus did to SIN?

He took it! Died with it! And He beat it!

Then gave us Grace in its place.

Now we don’t have punishment but Grace.

With this grace we are able to step out of our dark hiding places into the light wherever Jesus finds us.

And just like the game of Hide and Seek, we have the opportunity to walk with Jesus to find others who are also in dark hiding places.

Today is celebration Sunday.

We are Celebrating that…

· Grace!

· Jesus found us.

· We can be part of the group who goes out to find others who are lost in dark hiding places and help them find the light.

· Jesus is taking us back to the place where we can be together with Him.

· Jesus came once before, and… He is coming again.

· Now it is our turn to work and walk with Jesus to help find the hidden/lost and share with them what they can Celebrate about.

But the question we need to ask ourselves is this, “When Jesus comes a second time to call me to be with Him, will I be ready? Also, am I helping others to be ready too?”

Just like the game of Hide and Seek has been handed down from generation to generation, it is our responsibility to hand down this message of Grace and Jesus coming again to the those who don’t know it.

It is also our responsibility to step out of the darkness with this knowledge of grace, to face our sin with Jesus, overcome it and walk with Jesus.

When you hear Jesus Shout, “Ready or not here I come” - will you be ready or will you still be hiding.

Just like we anticipate Christmas and remember the birth of Jesus, when he came the first time, let us wait in celebratory anticipation of Jesus coming again. And let’s do what it takes to be ready.

How Far Will You Go? (Letter to Philemon)

2011-11-08T08:32:00.001+02:00

HOW FAR WILL YOU GO to push yourself or have pushed yourself, to achieve those things that really mean a lot to you?

Think of some of your achievements in life – How hard did you work for it? At what cost? Was it worth it?

Think of something that you still want to achieve – how difficult does that task seem? What is the cost? Will it be worth it?

There is a ‘drive’ within us that pushes us to “REALLY GO FOR…” the things we are passionate about.

We want to be the best! We want to master it!

Context of our text is: it was written about 60AD by Paul who writes an epistle (A specially long, formal letter) from Rome to Philemon, who is in Colossae, to address a certain situation.

3 main characters:

Paul:

He was Saul, a Pharisee who persecuted Christians, until he met Jesus (via audible voice, after Jesus’ death) and become Paul who promoted Christianity.
He was under house arrest in Rome, under military guard, for his faith.
He is the Spiritual Father of Philemon.

Philemon:

o Wealthy member of the church of Christ in Colossae.
o Committed Christian - He hosts or holds a church in his house.
o He has slaves.

Onesimus (ó-nes´i-mus) – profitable/useful:

Met Paul in Rome where he had his conversion experience.
A competent helper to Paul in evangelising the Gospel, whose work was very acceptable to Paul.
Paul referred to him as “his own son” (in the faith).
Paul would have kept Onesimus as one of his right hand men but He needed to send him to Colossae, to Philemon. Why?
Onesimus was a runaway slave who belonged to Philemon.
We do not quite know what the reason was for running away or how he came into contact with Paul in the first place, be his life changed when that happened. Now he has to make things right.

This is the letter: Philemon 1 (TNIV)

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker,
to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,
because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.
I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do,
yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—
I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.
Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.
I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you.
I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel.
But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favour you do will be spontaneous and not forced.
Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—
no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.
So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.
If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.
I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self.
I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.
Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings.
And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

As we have seen, there are three main characters. We can learn something from each one.

At some point in our lives we will find ourselves be one of these characters.

So let’s start with uncle Paul:

Paul really appreciates Onesimus.

But his conscience tells him that he needs to do what was right.

He needs to send Onesimus back to Colossae, to Philemon.

He could’ve made any excuse to keep Onesimus there, like; “Colossae is so far away” or “Philemon is a Christian, he will and must forgive Onesimus”, etc.

But as soon as he hears what Onesimus did, he realised that if he was blasé about this, his conscience would be tainted with the idea that he is aiding and embedding a wrong doing, and in so, betraying Philemon and in so, betraying Christianity and all that he stands for.

Paul knows, this insight will soak up his energy as it plagues his thoughts.

So, instead of being blasé, he chose to be intentional in respecting God’s will.

Check out Pauls approach to this situation:

o He doesn’t write the letter for the runaway slave,

o Nor does he keep him.

o He sends Onesimus to face Philemon, face-to-face!

Because He is locked up, he cannot go with to help Onesimus, so he sends

Tychicus (another hard working Christian) along with Onesimus.

Colossians 4:7-9 “Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.”

Why did Paul do this? Because he knew how great the temptation is not to do what is right!

Paul, also, never told Philemon what to do either.

In his letter, he was merely being stern in telling Philemon that, before he decides what he is going to do with Onesimus, he must not forget what it cost for him to become a Christian and what it means to live like one. He need to remember the gift of salvation; Eph 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

Paul focused on two things:

Helping Onesimus to stand up and be counted.
Remind Philemon to show the same grace that was shown to him.

Paul orchestrated reconciliation and not division in the body of Christ.

He helps his fellow believers, and us, to see the bigger picture and helps them act on it.

He did this to please God and Do what was right!

What can we learn?

Whenever we face a situation, we need to ask ourselves, “Am I orchestrating reconciliation or division in the body of Christ?”

How often don’t we tell or encourage others to do what is right, in fear of what they may think of us? Often, we would rather stand back a say, “I don’t want to get involved. It’s not my problem.” Well, that's rubbish, because that is exactly what Satan wants.

When Christians aren’t doing what is right and going the distance, he starts becoming masters over their lives.

Paul would not allow himself nor Onesimus to become Satan’s slaves through accepting a ‘distant’ sin.

The truth is, like Paul, it is our problem. Do you know what we call that? Accountability! You are your brother’s/sister’s keeper in the Faith. Especially when they need you to help them make right.

Lesson: HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO HELP OTHERS TO MAKE RIGHT?

Personal story: (Me: helping people do what it right by simply being with them when they confront the person or people they need to confess to.)

o Supporting people/ walking alongside them = successful process.

Secondly, Let’s have a look at Mr Phil:

Weird concept: Philemon owned Onesimus.

If anything of yours is stolen you call the person who stole it ‘a thief’ right?

Now what about this case? Onesimus was Philemon’s property. He ran away, so technically stealing what belonged to Philemon.

This is why Paul said, “Whatever he owes you, Charge it to my account but don’t forget what I cost you to become a Christian”.

Philemon is challenged to remember God’s perfect grace and show the same to the person who did him wrong.

Whenever I am faced with a situation and feel I have the right to justify my feeling because if what someone did to me, I am quickly reminded of what Jesus did for me.

Personal story: (Me: Quickly forgiving someone who has hurt me because I have been forgiven. God loves and has forgiven us equally.)

Lesson: HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO ACCEPT THOSE WHO ARE TRYING TO DO RIGHT?

Lastly, Onesimus:

Onesimus had it tough. Although he had been elevated to human status by Paul, he had to do some work.

Slaves were not considered as humans in the old biblical times but were considered as disposable objects.They were executed for the smallest things.

Now, as a runaway slave, Onesimus, has a huge task ahead of him. He had to go ask for forgiveness and set things right with Philemon. Not for himself, but to honour God who he serve so diligently.

Did he arrive? Yes, because he never destroyed the letter and vanished. He was the letter carrier along with Tychicus, his accountability partner, to the church in Colossae.

Check this out… it was a Looooong Journey from Colossae to Rome:

1600km – as the crow flies. Walking at 30km/day = 2 months.

2600km – the fasted land bound route to Rome, according to Google™ Earth. Walking at 30km/day = 3 months AT LEAST. So Can you imagine his face when Paul told him to go back to Rome, 2600km, to say ‘sorry’.

But Obediently he went.

Everyday, for at least 3 months, he must have wrestled with the thoughts “What if?” and “But I must!”.

o What if = I get killed; not forgiven; thrown back into slavery; etc.

o But I must = Obey to God; honour God; honour requests of Spiritual leaders, etc.

It’s the wrestle between the Fear of doing what is right and the Obedience of doing the right.

How often do we face those two conflicting thoughts? EVERYTIME WE HAVE TO DO THE RIGHT THING! Why? Because we either Honour God in obedience or we listen to Satan as he scares us not to honour God. Who will you side with?

Personal story: (Me: Confessing to someone dear to me for something I did that caused division between us).

Lesson: HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT AND HONOUR GOD?

In v21 – Paul says to Philemon. “Confident of your obedience…knowing that you will do even more than I ask”. Paul knew the character of Philemon was top class! He knew Philemon was a fake Christian because he lived what he believed. So much so, that he would hold nothing back in honouring God, and Paul’s request.

How far would you go to do the right thing? Are people confident in your character as you serve God? Especially in living what you believe in? Or is your character questionable as you are view as a convenient/fake Christian?

Like Paul, Philemon and Onesimus remembered; We must NOT forget what this all cost for us to become Christians.

Jesus went all the way for you!

How far will you go?

Paul: HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO HELP THOSE TO MAKE RIGHT?

Philemon: HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO ACCEPT THOSE WHO ARE TRYING TO DO RIGHT?

Onesimus: HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT?

HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO HONOUR GOD?

What Good Are You?

2011-10-30T00:21:00.001+02:00

Last week, we looked at Matthew 12: 22-30, where the talk title was “Clean your house”. If you would like to read that sermon, you can do it on my blog…

It revolved around the cleaning out of those things in your physical house, as well as your body, being the temple of the Holy Spirit, of things that are not Godly or God honouring. Not Giving Satan a foothold in your life.

The point of the sermon based on Proverbs 3:33 which states:

“The Lord ’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.”

I asked you if you wanted to be blessed or cursed? We all agreed that we want to be blessed!

Then that meant you needed to do two things:

1. Do a spring clean of your physical house: Find anything that is not supposed to be there, and get rid of it.

2. Do a spring clean of your spirit: Get rid of anything that gets in the way of your relationship with God.

That talk was the foundation that focuses on the relationship between you and God.

Today’s talk builds on that foundation and adds your relationship with others.

Title: “What good are you?”

This question can be explored from multiple angles:

· From the outside – What are you good at.

· From the inside – The goodness you contribute as a person.

This is the question that is asked of us almost everywhere we go.

People want to know what value we can add to them and what kind of a person you are.

Especially, in the business sector, when you sit for an interview… the interviewer asks you questions to determine if you have anything to offer their company. If they feel you are good enough, they will employ you. If not, then they won’t.

Do you remember the first few interviews you ever went for? They we nerve wrecking!

I remember the first few interviews I ever went for. Almost all of them asked, “Tell me about yourself. Why should we employ you?” umm… ahhh…. Ummm…Well, I like dogs…?

There is that saying which says, “Know thyself”. (Now, I don’t know if it’s in the Bible or not, but there is wisdom it).

Only if you know yourself, will you be able to honestly answer this question, “What good are you?”

There are three main categories:

1- Very Low: So many people have a very low self-esteem and to answer that question raises up a whole lot of feelings of depression, sadness, anxiety, and low self-worth because they have been constantly told that they are of not good.

2- Very High: And this is not helped by other people are so arrogant that they are oblivious to their own faults as they continue down the road of destruction in their own lives, whilst affecting the lives of others.

3- The Middle: Then there is the middle ground – Humility – the people who are humble. The Bible tells us that walking in humility is walking with God. These people confidently know what good they are.

What sets humble people apart from the other two; is they quietly go about their business doing good for others, whilst the others hardly do anything.

We need to be on the middle ground.

In that light, let’s explore the answer to this question – “What good are you?”

Context: Jesus in a Synagogue and he is being questioned by the Pharisees. (It was as if he was on trial.)

Matthew 12 (last week’s text included for context).

22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.

23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man? Then his house can be plundered.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

TODAY’S TEXT:

31 And so I tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy. But blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

· If we look at these two verses we are told something very important:

o We are sinners who blaspheme against Jesus, AND, we matter so much that we WILL be forgiven of those things. We are good enough to be forgiven.

o BUT, we must not forget our place. We are not good enough to be above God, or play God.

o Here, both, low self-esteem and arrogance are challenged.

§ Low self-esteem = encouraged to step up to the middle… because of the cross (forgiveness)

§ Arrogance = warned not think too highly of oneself but to step down to the middle… because of the cross (forgiveness)

o Humility = The middle ground is where we should be.

· Arrogance of the Pharisees blasphemed against the work of the Holy Spirit by claiming that the miracle Jesus performed was the work of Satan (v24), instead of the Holy Spirit.

· The unforgivable sin is the deliberate refusal to acknowledge God’s power in Christ. It’s the knowledge of what Jesus has done on the cross for you, refuse to accept it and give God the middle finger, hardening your heart and telling God you don’t want anything to do with it. Then live like that until the day you die.

· “Jesus said they will never be forgiven – not because their sin is worse than any other, but because they will never ask for forgiveness. Whoever rejects the prompting of the Holy Spirit removes themselves from the only force that can lead them to repentance and restoration to God.”[i]

33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.

34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

35 Good people bring good things out of the good stored up in them, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in them.

36 But I tell you that people will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.

37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

This scene must have been electric!!!

Jesus tells the Pharisees, after listening to them, that they are a brood of vipers who are evil because they questioned the work of the Holy Spirit.

He, pretty much gets up in their face and says, “Who do you think you are to question this!?”

Jesus answers the question for us. He says it depends on what is stored up in us, in our hearts: Good or Evil? (vs 35)

This text reveals three areas we must focus on:

What good am I to…

1. Myself? - what do you say about yourself? Good things or Bad?

You are forgiven and God has saved you. You are worthy and you’re good enough. So check your attitude, maybe you’re being warned or encouraged towards humility.

2. God? – What do you say about God?

How often are we like these Pharisees ourselves when we hear about the Holy Spirit doing something, in another church, and because it doesn’t fit with our understanding, and like the Pharisees, we question it?

Or question His work here because we don’t have the same things happen here like in the other churches?

3. Those around me? – What do you say about others who are also forgiven by God? (people who are of a different race than you?)

Jesus tells us, on Judgement day, we will be held accountable to every word we speak. Our words will either acquit us or condemn us.

So we really need to mind what we say.

Every, Single, day, we have an opportunity to assess where our hearts are by simply what comes out of our mouths.

Vs. 34 “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Do you say good things or bad things?

Let me tell you a secret…

The success of a church is dependent on its members not on how well sermons are preached!

How we act and speak, either grows the Kingdom of God or we side with Satan and destroy it.

Which side are you?

What good are you?

The interview you face daily asks; if you will accept the work that Jesus did on the cross for you when He died in your place for you to receive the forgiveness of sins?

- To ask for forgiveness and not live the unforgivable sin until the day you die.

If you have accepted that, then you have pasted the “interview”. Now you’re part of the Kingdom and God knows what good you are to help build His Kingdom.

You are in!

and here’s the cool part… NOW, the Holy Spirit, who worked with Jesus in our text almost two thousand years ago, is in YOU!

The Holy Spirit, in you, wants to do nothing other than good. There is goodness in you which needs to be poured out. The Holy Spirit craves to do good, with you, wherever He needs too. Not only within yourself, but also, through you to others.

YOU ARE LIKE A GOODNESS BOMB READY TO EXPLODE!

So as people who are part of the Kingdom we need to ask, “HOW GOOD IS YOUR CHURCH?”

You are the church! When people come here, will they experience goodness?

· No, if no one helps…

· Most definitely, if you do help…

What is coming out of us? Is it good or its it evil. We’re in this together. And I'm not talking only about BMC. I'm talking about the Church worldwide.

I have been here for 10 months now and I want to applaud YOU for being amazing people. I have heard, on a countless number of times, how BMC makes people feel like they belong here. You people make me proud! I am honoured to be your minister.

Today I am giving you an opportunity to, once again, show Kimberley how good you are, by taking this food bag and fill it, so that you are part of feeding the poor. Go filled those bags which the required goods listed and bring them back to church.

Also, to take this envelope and prepare it for the harvest intake on the 4 December 2011 (Money goes into mission).

What good are you?

You are priceless because you have the Spirit of God in your hearts!

How good are we as a church?

Jesus spoke about a tree the produces fruit. If we were the tree, what fruit are we producing together? Good or bad fruit?

God has got faith in us to produce good fruit. I believe we will!

Let us prove Him right!

Know thyself and walk humbly with God.

Turn to one another and say, “YOU matter to us”.

[i] (Tyndale and Zondervan, 1997 p. 1674)

Clean Your House

2011-10-29T23:53:00.001+02:00

How many of you clean your house? Why?

It happens about once or twice a year.

People wash walls, clean windows, wipe cupboards, defrost the fridges, wash curtains, clean the carpets, sanitize the bathroom, clear out the rubbish, reorganize the cupboards,…

We’ve dubbed it spring cleaning (even though we do it in winter).

It’s a time where we get all out stuff together, we sort out our lives.

It’s often time consuming, dirty, hard and often draining.

But, once you’ve complete your cleaning session. You sit back and think; “From now on, I will NEVER let anything lie around again. I will NEVER let those drawers get filled with rubbish again. I will NEVER allow myself to mess up my cupboards again. I will definitely stop collection and hording just! Why? Because this, new and clean look, make me feel happy!”

You feel like a new person! Everything looks, feels and smells better.

You start enjoying your living room again.

Bad smells no longer exist in your cupboards,

And you aren’t afraid of something biting you when you open the fridge!

It’s an awesome feeling!

Today, I want to talk to you just about Cleaning Your House.

When is the last time you cleaned your house?

Now, I'm not talking about what I described as the good ‘ol fashioned spring cleaning… I'm talking about the kind of cleaning that stops Satan from having a hold over you.

Let me give you an example:

Think about your house…

Have you borrowed something form someone and you haven’t returned it yet, for a looooooong time? (take a CD for example).

Technically, until you return it, you’ve stolen it. Making you a thief.

And no matter how much you try honour God in your house and want Him to bless you, He won’t because you are living in sin.

The 10 commandments states: “Thou shalt not STEAL”.

I’ve lost countless CD’s to friends who have borrowed them. Moreover, when I look for them, I can’t find them or remember who borrowed them.

In 2007, I went on MAJOR spiritual spring clean.

I found loads of items that I borrowed but never returned.

My options were:

Keep them or Take a full day and take everything back to their rightful owners.

I figured if I had to keep this stuff I would be no different that a common thief.

So, I took everything back.

Every delivery I made – I felt my soul get happier and i found myself smiling so much that my cheeks hurt! It was weird!

This week, when God gave me this subject to preach on, I reflected on that day.

And this is what I learned:

Proverbs 3:33 “The Lord ’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.”

Righteousness = right standing with God!

Do I want to be cursed by God or do I want to be blessed by God?

Obviously I want to be blessed. We all do!

But It depends on how we run our house.

Let’s take our “permanently borrowed Item” again.

If you have not returned that item, which does not belong to you, you are allowing yourself to live in wickedness and, in turn, giving Satan a back door into you house.

Think about it…

If you do not want Satan in your house, then get rid of anything that will give him access into your house.

Holding something that’s not yours, over the reasonable borrowed time, is theft! That is Satan’s department – Not Gods.

So who are you pleasing in that situation?

Yourself? God? Satan?

You see how something as small as that plays a huge part in your spiritual life?

Matthew 12:22-30

Jesus in a Synagogue and he is being questioned by the Pharisees. (It was as if he was on trial.)

· Reading divided into two: other part Next Week.

22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.

23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

Jesus makes a statement:

“…every city or household divided against itself will not stand”

What could potentially divide your house between the Holy Spirit and Satan?

If we want the blessings of God to fill our households, then we need to find those things that prevent them and get rid of them.

Personal story: Mens health Magazine and FHM.

I asked God why he wasn’t blessing me finalcially? He answered me, “why must I bless you when you are sponsoring Satans Campaign of lust?”

Other examples: Show books…

What is in your house that needs to be cleaned out for you to live in the Blessing of God?

That’s all outside stuff… Clean your House!

Now, the inside stuff…

As I have illustrated earlier, what is in our houses is VERY often connected you our spiritual wellbeing. (Remember the “borrowed” CD = Thievery?)

Allow me to help you understand the meaning of the word house in this context:

Psalm 135:19,20

“19 House of Israel, praise the Lord;
house of Aaron, praise the Lord;
20 house of Levi, praise the Lord;
you who fear him, praise the Lord.”

Explain: House = The nation of people whose founding father was… (Israel, Aaron, etc.), not a physical house.

When you become a Christian, you become the Children of God. God becomes your Father and you then have the privilege to house the Holy Spirit within you and your body becomes known as the…

1 Corinthians 6:19

19) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

Temple = Holy Living place (house) of God.

Your body is the house of God.

“House of God, Praise the Lord”.

The thing is… Satan wants to divide and destroy this house of God – Globally.

DO NOT SHOW HANDS this time: How many of you clean out your spiritual lives regularly?

Often, our spiritual lives, our souls are a mess!

There are things in our everyday lives that we really need to be careful of so that the sly snake of Satan doesn’t get in a ruin us.

We need to be vigilant as to what we allow into our spiritual lives… our houses!

List a few: (books, astrology, lotto, symbols, other beliefs,…) = people put their faith into these things and not God.

When that happens, we divide our souls. Our House is divided between the Holy Spirit and other rubbish.

ANYTHING YOU PLACE BEFORE GOD BECOMES THE IDOL YOU WORSHIP…

Astrology: Deuteronomy 4:19 – “And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (NIV)

We need to be smart and do things which encourage our growth with Jesus and the Body – not divide it.

Here is the crux:

Speak about Satan’s Gateways = Backdoors he uses to get in. A foothold. A foot in the door. (Any metaphor you like) – To get into your physical house as well as you spiritual house (your body).

Why?

To prevent God’s blessing upon your life.

To hold you captive.

We all need a spring cleaning… SO…

Conclusion:

Two things I want you to do:

1. Do a spring clean of your physical house: Find anything that is not supposed to be there, and get rid of it.

2. Do a spring clean of your spirit: Get rid of anything that gets in the way of your relationship with God.

You WILL be amazingly blessed by God when you do this…

Remember:

Proverbs 3:33 “The Lord ’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.”

You feel like a new person! Everything looks, feels and smells better.

You start enjoying your living room again.

Bad smells no longer exist in your cupboards,

And you aren’t afraid of something biting you when you open the fridge!

21 October = The World Ends?

2011-10-06T08:22:00.000+02:00

So I'm sure you heard about the dude who threw the world into a frenzy when he 'predicted' the Judgement day to be the 21st May 2011 (which I'm totally happy that it wasn't else I would missed my birthday 5 days later) and the... dum dum dummmmm.... END OF THE WORLD on the 21st October 2011!

Well, he was wrong! Duh! Or else I've, and you who are reading this, has been left behind.

Well, now he has a whole new spin on his 'prediction'. Now he says its all going down on the 21st October 2011. And get this... Its going to be super uneventful and (ssshhhh, in an Alme Fudd voice) vewy vewy qwiet!

Read the link below and tell me what you think in the comment section... (Its a mobile link)

http://sowhat.mobi/pl/svt/si/ttcrux/po/thumbtribe/dk/thumbtribe2.10-05-2011.5635p0000/sc/cruxfaithbasedh/ms/5nmVivLXI6/r/1317881354/pa/205263

Shhhh, be vewy vewy qwiet!!!

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Sermon: Who’s the Boss?

2011-10-04T11:19:00.001+02:00

I read a story of a Pastor who, one day, brought a Golden retriever onto the stage as a sermon illustration. This was not his dog. This is what the pastor did:

· He threw a ball across the stage and told the dog to fetch it – The Dog stayed sitting. It didn’t budge for a religious leader.

· He called up a large body builder who told the dog to fetch – the dog stayed sitting. It didn’t budge for power.

· Then a banker came up and flashed money, telling the dog it would get a reward for fetching. The dog stayed sitting. It didn’t budge for money.

· After that was a peer pressure attempt. The whole congregation shouted “fetch, fetch” – the dog didn’t budge for peer pressure.

· The two models came up, One male and one female, who seductively, told the do to fetch – Dog didn’t move. I didn’t budge for lust.

· Until the Pastor called up the dogs master. The master gave the command, “Fetch” and the dog shot across the stage and fetched the ball.

This dog didn’t fetch until its master spoke to it.

Whom are you fetching for? (power, money, lust, status…)

Who is your boss?

Romans 6:16 - Tells us that we have a choice as to who, or what, we follow.

16) Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey-either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Every one of us has a master, and that master determines our behaviour and our actions.

If you’re master is:

· Money = then everything you do is centred on money.

· Power = your life is centred on trying to obtain that power.

Having free will gives us the freedom to choose what we want in the centre of our lives. But if it’s not God then we will be bitterly disappointed. Because that centre spot is made for God alone!

In the end, we will find out that we need God and that God is ultimately the one in charge. Saying that, you don’t want to turn around one day and have that ‘oops’ moment (oops, I should’ve put God in charge). It could mean where you spend your eternity.

So, Be honest with yourself…

Who is the boss of your life?

Our reading, helps us reflect on this question…

Jeremiah 18

1. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

2. “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”

3. So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

4. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5. Then the word of the Lord came to me.

6. He said, “Can I not do with you, house of Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

7. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,

8. and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.

9. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted,

10. and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

11. “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’

When God told Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house, the Israelites where living in time of spiritual crisis.

This chosen nation who belonged to God, who were blessed by God – Had turned from God and forgotten God. Who was there Boss?

They were chasing after things for their own pleasure. They turned from God to do and live however they pleased.

God sent Jeremiah to tell them to turn away from their evil ways and to turn back to God.

God says:

if they turn to Him, He will not inflict disaster.

If they don’t, he will reconsider the good he planned for them.

This was their response…

JEREMIAH 18: 12,18

12. But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’ ”

18. They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”

In this reading we learn two invaluable insights…

1) People don’t like being controlled when things are going their way and are asked to give them up. We literally turn against the church, God’s messengers, and invariably, we turn away from God when we are told to change – WE REBEL.

2) God doesn’t take rubbish. Either we are with Him, putting Him first in our lives and, spiritually, we will flourish. Or, we are against him by being the master of our lives, do our own thing and invariably, destroy ourselves spiritually.

We forget that, although part Jesus’ work on the cross saves us from God’s wrath to our sin, God is not going to tolerate our evil behaviour. We must not forget that God is still the ALMIGHTY GOD – who hates evil! He is the Boss!

So, in short…

1) Turn back to God, put God first, make God the boss and Flourish.

Or…

2) Put yourself first, be your own boss and be destroyed.

Deut 30 – Same message from Moses (Choose life (God) or death (yourselves)).

The Choice is yours…

Who is your boss?

So why is God so serious about this?

That’s because God is a Jealous God. Not a bad kind of negative jealousy, but one where God will do what it takes to get you into realising that He is the God of salvation and He will do anything to get you into Heaven with Him.

God’s jealousy is so righteous and profound, that He made sure He didn’t and doesn’t share you with Satan. The way He proved that was by hanging Jesus on the Cross to rip us out of the clutches of Satan. Not for anything else but to save you!

God is the potter, we are the clay.

He formed, created, moulded us to be His, and when we wander from that, God has every right to be jealous. So when Israel was wandering from God, God didn’t stand back and say, “Oh, that’s okay…have a good time.” No, He sought to bring them back. God wanted them back to Himself.

vs. 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.

4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

We live in a marred world. Just look at the headlines from this week. There are wars, famine, strife, you name it and we got it. This world is not the way God made it, it is marred.

And humankind is the same way. We try hide it but no one here is perfect.

But did you notice that something AWESOME happened!...

The Pot the potter was shaping collapsed and it was ruined. But the potter didn’t fling the clay into the dustbin and start with a new batch…

He took the same broken down, ruined piece of clay and continues shaping it from scratch, giving it its perfect and stronger form.

When we mess up and fall apart, God message remains the same. You are in my hands and I will remake you into something better.

You may have messed up (royally), been disobedient but God can still turn it all around for you. He can give your life form, shape and strength.

The only way is to make Him the ultimate Boss in your life – in EVERYTHING!

Ask God to rule in your life and stop being the boss.

Story: John Newton is a good example.

His life was falling apart. He was a drunkard and a slave trader (he got so drunk once that he fell off the ship and his shipmates had to harpoon him to bring him back on board.)

We would say what a waste, but not God. God would give John Newton another chance, and one day when fearing his life while at going through a storm at sea, John Newton gave his heart to Christ, and later this slave trader turned preacher would write the words of his life in a hymn, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see.”

God has a purpose for your life.

Following Jesus has been the best and greatest decision I have ever made. The times I've let Him direct my path, have been the greatest adventures and growth points in my life. It hasn’t been easy – BUT it has been so worth it! I would never changing it for the world! Jesus is the Boss!

How do you make God the Boss? Where do you start?

Colossians 3:17 “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

I said earlier…

Every one of us has a master... Who is yours?

Sermon: Tit-4-Tat

2011-09-04T17:14:00.000+02:00

When you hear 'Tit-for-tat', What do you think of?
Its Getting back at someone for something! Eye for an eye!
Dictionary: "some other retaliation in return for an injury from another."
Story of a nasty friend:
I have a friend who would not give it two thoughts about how he would treat me or anyone else for that matter.
It was impossible to talk to him about it because he obviously didn't see it the way everyone else did.
Until one day, I decided that I am going to treat him the same way she would treat me.
I applied the 'Tit-for-Tat' method.
I was set on giving him what he gave out.
In the beginning it worked out pretty ok,
And I enjoyed giving back to him what he gave. Then after a while we had an argument about how badly I was treating him.
Ironic don't you think?
Anyway, it tried to explain to him that he was the one who needed the lesson and I was only reciprocating what he was doing to me and others. Needless to say, it was a useless argument and no ground was made. So I apologised for treating him badly.
It didn't go to plan. I felt horrible and I was mad at myself for allowing myself to change. I left there more frustrated than I was before when I decide to adopt the 'tit-4-tat' attitude towards him.
However, I have learnt a valuable lesson out of that…
There are people in life who are nasty, arrogant, self-righteous, self-centred people who will not treat you well. And I must not allow their shortcomings to change who I am and who God encourages me to be.
Too often, we allow other people and society to influence us negatively in how we ought to treat other people. And sadly, this has become a social norm. For example: Think of the business world (whether corporate or at home: eg. Housekeeper, garden worker) – It has become acceptable for Bosses to treat their subordinates with disrespect and get away with it. And what makes it worse is if those 'Bosses' call themselves Christians.
This is not how Jesus acted or treated anyone. He treated everyone equally with love and respect, and those who were the victims, were the ones He defended.
We need to learn from Jesus in how to live our everyday lives. He gives us insight in how to do this.
Here is the instruction...
Matthew 7:7-12
7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened.
9 "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Here we see Jesus give us a very important instruction… Vs 12. "in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,…"
This is no different than many other religions…
So what makes ours different?
Where do we start?
What is our foundation that will equip us to actually do to others what needs to be done?
Here it is...
Matthew 22:34
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
We start with love!
1st, Love God – Heart, Soul and mind = everything.
Why?
To love God is to know God, to know God is to imitate God.
2nd, Love your neighbour as you love yourself.
Why?
Look at the example of Jesus:
Jesus treated everyone well. As equals. He helped and loved everyone from the highest to the lowest rank, from the most evil to the really good. He loved them all.
We need to imitate God, like Jesus did, and allow his love to flow out of us. Sadly, This is a foreign concept to this world…
I often get into trouble for being such an affectionate person. If you haven't noticed by now, I'm a hugger. I like hugging. I love showing the love!
After all, I am in the business of love!
We live in a world that is desperate for love and people are desperate to feel loved, but when love is shown, then someone will have something to say about it.
I often tell my friends that I love them. People don't always understand that because the world dictates that if we say we love someone, it 'must be' because we are romantically attracted to them or we want something. It often puts people on the back-foot.
So I have a theory…
If I am the only one, on this planet, who shows the love of Christ to other people, I would stand out like a sore thumb and be labelled for it. But, if everyone in the world allowed themselves to show the love of Christ to the people around them, would I still stand out and be labelled? No ways! Because it would be the new norm.
So I won't stop loving!
We have the instruction to love everyone and to do good to others.
How do we do good for or to others?
Galatians 6
1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.
2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
3 If any of you think you are something when you are nothing, you deceive yourselves.
4 Each of you should test your own actions. Then you can take pride in yourself, without comparing yourself to somebody else,
5 for each of you should carry your own load.
6 Nevertheless, those who receive instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. People reap what they sow.
8 Those who sow to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; those who sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Building on that love is the instruction we need to fulfil. We must be willing to do (Action) good to all people.
"People reap what they sow" – How true is this? Extremely true.
My nasty friend, whom I told you about, finds it difficult to befriend people. What he sows is what he is receiving.
Every single day, I try find opportunities to do something good to someone. Not because I am wanting to tell you how good I am, but rather to tell you that I am training myself to follow this instruction that we have been given.
I have been SOOO amazingly blessed with good things.
Personal Story:
Earlier this year, I helped a couple and a baby, who were down and out, with money I saved for my upcoming holiday. It was R1000. When I met them, I did not want to help them but God convicted me to do so. So I did. I used all my money to help them out over the period of a weekend.
The next week, a couple in the congregation gifted me with R1000 for my holiday because God told them too do so.
God is faithful!
So, to whom do we do good?
Vs. 10 = ALL people
Even the bad people? YES!!
Check this out...
Romans 12:20-21
20 On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
This is God's 'Tit-4-Tat' strategy and He includes us in this. This is where God says, "Take the gloves off and do the opposite to what the world expects".
Story of doing the opposite: My friend Shaun, who was an Atheist, wanted to divorce his wife, who is a Christian. She refused. He went as far as having affairs in front of her to sway her to divorce him. Her conviction not to was that she made vows to God plans to stick to them.
His wife decided to pray for Shaun instead of quit. A few years later, Shaun gave his life to Jesus and now ministers to gangs.
She adopted God's Tit-4-Tat strategy. "overcome evil with good."
God doesn't get into a boxing ring, instead He got His Son to hang on a cross. For you.
We are instructed to show:
Love instead of hate,
Peace instead of war,
Grace instead of punishment,
Hug instead of a punch,
Friendship instead of being enemies,
Forgiveness instead of grudges,
Etc…
Why must we do good things to others?
Because we expect the good things for ourselves. "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,..."
Quote: Oswald Chamber, "If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what he pours through us that really counts."

That's the point of this text.
If everyone allowed themselves to imitate the love of God through themselves to other people, this world would be a different place.
Kimberley will be a different place.
Beaconsfield will be a different place.
BMC will be a different place.
Your families will be different.
The spiritual fight is to win souls for Jesus. If we don't do good to others, we won't be part of the process but we will be part of the problem.
Tit-4-Tat has to be where Jesus wins…
We have seen many video or heard of stories where animals do what they can to help other animals and people.
So, if animals know how to do good for others then how come is it difficult for us, who are superior beings in creation, to do the same?
We are better than animals – So let's start acting like it.
When the world comes rushing past on the highway of life and someone gets hit – let us be the first to help them. Jesus would expect that from us. Because if we were the ones to get hit on the highway of life then Jesus would expect someone help us.
Here's what we need to do:
1 – Love God
2 – Love your neighbour (Friend or enemy) and yourself
3 – Do 1 good thing every day (friend or enemy).
If we do this right, we will be imitating God here on earth.
And we will make Him proud of us.
Tit-4-Tat: We can Fight God's way – With love and goodness!
Communion:
We come with sin, rebellion, disobedience... But we get grace, love, mercy, forgiveness!
"how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

What will you do with this sermon?

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Don't Forget

2011-08-23T08:28:00.001+02:00

Ever heard that saying "You don't know what you've got until it's gone"?
Have you ever been in a situation where a relationship ended? Maybe it was due to going separate ways, or maybe, due to death?
Reflecting on that relationship, thoughts cross your mind of; "If I had that relationship over again, or if that person were still alive, I would make a point of doing things differently."
We have this incredible way of looking at our lives and believing that we are always right. Am I right?
But as soon as that person is not around any more, we have sobering moments of realising that we weren't right all the time and we, all of a sudden, start realising how often we screwed up. And, given a second chance, we would make sure that we would do things the right way. But very seldom those second chances present themselves.
If you had a near death experience, or, if you have died and come back to life, how differently would you live your life now? What would you change?
I did a talk a couple of years ago where I asked the question, "If you had to die today, how would you be remembered?" After the talk, a man approached me with tears in his eyes and proceeded to tell me that, in that week, he died in the hospital theatre. The Doctors had declared him dead, when all of a sudden he came back to life. He was blown away by the second chance at life he had received and he has devoted himself to serving Jesus wherever he can, and never take his life for granted again.
In our minds, we try logically explain what actually happened because the idea of a miracle is simply foreign to us. We claim to believe in miracles, especially as Christians, but when we are exposed to one, we question it. Don't we?
The point of this is:
If you had a second chance of doing things over; or having that miracle take place in your life...
- How differently would we live right now?
The truth is this... Right now, We are living in our second chance already.
Let me show it to you:
Ephesians 2:
Vs 5,8 "By Grace you have been saved"
The Foundation and the Turning point:
When you receive communion, what does it mean to you?
•Is it just something you do because everyone else walked up?
•Have you forgotten what it means?
•Does it symbolised to you the power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the torture he endeared, sacrifice he made in taking your place, to unite you with God?
•Does it remind you that you need saving more than anything?
•Does it humble you and make you want to serve God the way he serves you?
•Maybe it doesn't mean anything to you.
Communion reminds us of Jesus's act of salvation on the cross which came almost 2000 years ago! Methodists call this Prevenient grace!
Rom 5:8 " God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
VS 13 – Prevenient grace! - the price that was paid.
Jesus died for you before you were even born to commit your first sin.
God made sure there was a way for you to be free from sin.
DON'T FORGET!!! – We must not forget this.
God made sure that we have a second chance in hope that we live a life with him. We are already living in our second chance because of Jesus.
That is where it ALL starts!
WE ARE LIVING IN THAT MIRACLE RIGHT NOW!
ITS HERE...
We forget this!
Don't forget!
Remember, we said that if we ever had a chance of doing something over, we would do it way differently!
•You have been given a life beyond the sins and transgressions that this passage speaks about.
•You have been given a second chance.
•You have been given new life in Jesus.
How are you living this life?
How can we check the way we are living this life?
Ephesians 2 highlights it for us…
Compare versus:
Vs1-3,12: (note the previous tense)
1- As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
2-in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
3-All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
12-remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

vs 10,13,18,19: (note the present tense)
10-For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
13-But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
18-For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19-Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household,
What Ephesians is reminding us here is, that we have a choice.
•We are either obedient to God or we are not.
•We are either living separate from God or we are members of his household.
•We either invest all our energy into sinning, by disobeying God, and live under a false sense of salvation and end up being under God's wrath.
•Or; we accept what Jesus Christ has done for us, and be obedient in doing all that God requires from us.
If you claim to be a Christian, you are automatically called to serve Jesus and you need to be obedient in all your ways. Then you will be living true to vs 10,13,18,19. If you are justifying what you are doing, in anything, you are living your old life in vs 1-3,12.
How will you live this life now?
Do you live it to please God or yourself?
Don't forget!
•Don't wait for something drastic to happen in your life before you live the right way.
•Don't forget: You are dead to sin – Don't live in death
•Don't forget: you are alive – Jesus made sure of that.
•Don't forget: What it cost him for you to be alive.
•Don't forget: God's great mercy.
•Don't forget: You need to live a life that glorifies God RIGHT NOW!
Q: What do you need to change in your life, right now, to live right?
Tomorrow is too late!

Keep the SON in your eyes!

a MUST read: And the greatest of these is Love!

2011-07-04T10:43:00.000+02:00

I am deeply moved and inspired by the following story of Martin, my friend's (Kim) brother. (Click on the link below).

Everyday we are exposed to disappointments in some form, challenging us to our core. Pessimism, negativity, and the feeling of quitting, starts festering deep within us. Resulting in the formation of the foundation by which we choose to make our choices as they influence our outlook on life.

But this is when we need to dig deep and hold onto HOPE that Jesus will provide for our hearts desires. Have FAITH that He is in control and has our best interests at heart. And, most importantly, hold onto LOVE - Never letting go of the greatest of all three!

Believe in Love! Its the true essence of Jesus.

This story has inspired me to hold on and keep hoping, in faith, that Jesus' expression on love will be complete in my life.

May you be inspired too.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2010610/The-Ghost-Boy-The-uplifting-story-Martin-Pistorius-survived-mystery-paralysis-ltove.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Who's the Boss?

2011-06-21T09:13:00.001+02:00

Do we know what it really means to call ourselves Christians? I don't believe that to be true for 90% of people claiming that privilege.

Labelling myself a Christian, a Disciple of Jesus, a Christ-follower, etc., should always serve as a challenging reminder that we are called to follow Jesus wherever He requires us to be and do whatever He requires of us.

My life is not my own. It hasn't been that way since I gave it to Jesus, and even more so since I accepted my calling into full-time ministry. But sometimes I try orchestrate my own destiny, when my life is not my own to orchestrate. When I do that, I forget that I've asked Jesus to be the Boss of my life. In those moments, I lose focus, purpose, drive and joy.

Following Jesus has been the best and greatest decision I have ever made. The times I've let Him direct my path, have been the greatest adventures and growth points in my life. I am reminded of this again and therefore, once again, resign myself to the will of Jesus. He is the Boss.

As O. Chambers puts it, "We must get to the point of being sick to death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God might tell us about ourselves".

Will you resign yourself to the will of Jesus, allow Him to be the Boss and take you on the most amazing adventure you could ever dream of?

Stay in the groove

2011-06-14T17:22:00.000+02:00

We don't like being told what to do. But we forget a more important instruction; telling ourselves what to do.

"God will not make me think like Jesus, I have to do it myself; I have to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." - Oswald Chambers

This is a great challenge. Our thoughts need to be brought into the presence of Jesus with a question, "Lord how would you do or handle this?". Its the classic question; What would Jesus Do? Followed by; How would He do it, when, why, and so forth.

The purpose of consciously telling ourselves what to do, in light of bringing our thoughts in-line with Jesus, is to keep ourselves in check to not become the ones who naively work against the work of God within and through us.

Jesus always sought to better someone's life or improve a situation through his interaction with them. He was placed in many an unsavoury situation (physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally) but despite that he always sought the betterment of that person or situation - even to point of selflessness and sacrifice. He was and is the epitome of goodness.

Our privilege is to live like Jesus in being the agent of betterment, not only in someone else's life, but most importantly, in our own.

Being obedient to Christ means we should constantly keep ourselves in check with His work within us, for he will use any situation as a training ground for our growth.

In any interaction you have today, will that person leave you being better off as YOU align yourself under the will of God?

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Sermon: PS I LOVE YOU...

2011-06-13T01:03:00.000+02:00

BMC - 12 June 2011
Rev Kev
PS I love you!
1 John 4:7-21

Ladies: How many of you like chick flicks?
Here is a little secret for you... guys like chick flicks too!
We won't always admit it but it's true.
Do you know why we all love chick flicks?
Its love!
Take Braveheart for example... It's about the passionate love for a woman.

What turns any movie into a chick flick is a great love story.
I'm not talking about a slap-stick-no-budget-falling-in-love-Hannah-Montana-movie.
I am talking about the movies that move your soul, that connect with us on deeper levels.

BUT WHAT IS IT ABOUT LOVE THAT IS SO APPEALING TO US?
Psychologists tell us that "Love is a basic human need" - everybody wants to feel loved and accepted.
Therefore, we identify with those feelings.

One of favourite movies is P.S. I love you! Have you seen it?

In the beginning of this movie, we meet a married couple, Jerry and Holly.
They meet in Ireland and fall MADLY in love.
They are crazy about one another.
When you see them together, you are happy and you feel their joy.
It was bliss!

But there is a terrible tragedy in beginning of this movie...
Jerry gets sick and dies, and Holly is left behind shattered.
She feels abandoned and that her life losing all meaning.

Then, Months later, on her birthday, she receives a gift from Jerry.
Before he died, he planned that every once in a while, she receive a letter from him.
These letters would lead her on an adventure to rediscover new life and happiness.
To remind her that, even though she cannot see him, He still loves her very much and is with her.
He ends the letters with PS I Love You- constantly reassuring her.

By him doing this, Holly's life starts falling into place, she finds hope, restoration and purpose for her life, and she feels alive once again.

Love does that in all our lives, but where does it comes from?

Reading: 1 John 4: 7-21

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

• 2 Cor 5:21 God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister, we are liars. For if we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen.
21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another.

You might be asking what does this 'PS. I love you' have to do with this passage?
The essence of this passage tells us that God is love and to illustrate that love to us.
The story, 'PS. I love you' is very similar to the story of God.

God's nature is to love. It is God's character. He is Love. He Constantly sends reassurance to us - ps I love you! He did that throughout the Old Testament.

A lot of the Old Testament can be bottom lined as God saying to His people, "PS I LOVE YOU"!

To understand God, we need to understand His character. Love!

Love explains (vs 9, 10):

1) Why God creates – because he loves, he creates people to love;
In the beginning when God created everything, He felt that there was something missing... humankind.
God wanted to end his creating with something so wonderful and special that it would resemble God's image. Male and Female.

This must have been one of God's happiest moments when He created humans.
Can you imagine how God, Adam and Eve would walk around looking at what was created, playing with all the animals, having great conversations and laughing so hard, holding their stomachs, until tears poured down their cheeks.
It was Bliss, until tragedy happened. Adam and Eve turned away from God by sinning.

And because this happened, God has no choice but to separate Himself from them forcing them to leave the garden.
This must've been one of God most heart breaking moments – he was betrayed!
But God still loved them so much that He didn't kill them and start over – he cared for them.

2) Why God cares – because he loves them, he cares for sinful people;
Surely God could've started all over again. After all, Creation was still very young.
God loved them!

And from then on, God's heart was longing to be intimate with His children again.
Have you ever longed to be with someone?
The whole Old Testament is about God making plans to get back into a personal relationship with his children.
God never quit! Time and time again we read how God tried, and how his people turned away from him.

3) Why we are free to choose – God wants a loving response from us;
But God NEVER STOPPED! He kept on pursuing them.
God went as far as giving designs of a tabernacle (Portable church) to the people, because through the use of the tabernacle, his people could be close to him, but there was a problem, curtains and walls separated God from his people.
vs. 10: SIN – SACRIFICE!

OT: The whole time God was saying, "PS. I Love you".

So God was close but this did not satisfy Him.
He wanted to be closer.
All He wanted to do was be with the people he loved.
So you can imagine how this was wrecking God's heart.

Until one day...
4) Why Christ died – His love for us caused Him to seek a solution to the problem of sin;
Vs 10 – "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the heavenly boardroom.
CLOSER THEN:
•Breath
•Shadow
•Heartbeat
And so it happened... Jesus gets tortured...
while GOD painfully watched His Son being nailed to a cross... Every time the nail drove deeper into Jesus' flesh, God was shouting to us, "I LOVE YOU!... I LOVE YOU!"

5) Why we receive eternal life – God's love expresses itself to us forever.
John 3:16, "For God so love the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes is him may not die but have eternal life".
What happened here is called Prevenient Grace.
God loved us first before we were even born,
And died for us before we even committed the first sin.
All because God wants to be close to us.
To have a close intimate relationship with us.

Jesus planned that even though we cannot see Him, he is permanently there sending 'ps I love you' to us. This, to help us on the adventure of life, to restore us, to give us hope and purpose, and to live once again.

Vs 17- "We are like Jesus" – its our privilege to tell others that God loves them. We are God's living "ps I love you" letters to others.

You may have made some bad choices that have walked you down a round where you don't want to be.
I'm here to tell you that it's not too late.
You being here today, is God telling you, "PS. I Love you".

God wants nothing more than to have a closer intimate relationship with you.

CONCLUSION:
God's Love for you explains:
1) Why God created you.
2) Why God cares about you.
3) Why you are free to choose God's love or not.
4) Why Christ died for you.
5) Why you can receive eternal life.

God loves you now matter what you have done, no matter what you will do!
He loves you every day!
Will you accept his love?
It is the best choice you will ever make!

We are like Jesus. We are the PS I love you's to this world!
vs. 21 And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another.

Keep the SON in your eyes!

The Next Level

2011-05-05T18:01:00.001+02:00

Almost everyone has played a video or computer game at some point in their lives (provided you are not a really old person reading my blog – but you’ll get the gest). Do you remember the first time you played your favourite game? I was almost impossible! You crashed into everything. You died all the time. You just couldn’t press the right button at the right time. You were still learning the controls. IT… WAS… DIFFICULT!

But you were determined! You wanted to get this game ‘waxed’ so you put in a lot of time and effort. You taught yourself muscle memory to the degree that when you play that game today, you don’t even glance down to the controls anymore! Your attention is FULLY in the game and not distracted by a stupid button that the manufacturers put in the wrong place. You are on cruise control. And you are going from level to level! The levels are getting harder but YOU have gotten better! You are kicking some serious video game butt! (old people, i hope you’re still with me on this).

Anyway, the same lesson can apply to life. When you are faced with an almost impossible task, or a heavy burden, or some giant-sized issue in your life that just seems impossible to overcome. I want you to think of the video game parable (say that sentence with an old wise Chinese man’s voice for effect). It would be wise to apply that same tenacity into your life to beat whatever it is you are faced with.

Think to yourself, “How can I own this thing?” Then figure out the skills needed to overcome it. Then, just like the game, put a lot time and effort into the right kind of stuff that will help you overcome what you are facing. Very seldom in life will that giant-sized thing you are facing just vanish. You will need to look at it in the eyes, clinch your jaw, put your finger in its face and say, “I will own you!”

I think of the not-yet-king-David (in the Bible). He faced a giant-sized problem named Goliath. Goliath was such a hard-arse that he had all the ‘non-practiced-video-game-army’ shivering in the sandals. But when David entered onto the battlefield, he was ready to take on this dude. Why? Because he practised how to take issues head on in his life (read the story before the fight). He put in time to develop the right stuff within himself to face anything. He wasn’t bigger or better than the other worriers. In fact, he wasn’t even trained up like them. He was a shepherd. But this boy had some skills due to the right attitude he had which helped him develop his in-your-face approach. And what happened? Goliath bit the dust! David won! He was victorious and made King (a little later).

So, whatever you are facing. Are you putting in the time and effort to teach yourself the skills needed to overcome it? Or are you simply hoping by ignoring it, it will just go away? Fat chance. It’s more likely to get bigger. But if you are, you will overcome whatever you are facing and take yourself to the next level of your life. You’ll be stronger and fitter for it, and even more prepared to face anything else that comes along.

It’s up to you. Face it and own it. Or let it own you.

Sermon: Prepare Yourself

2011-04-17T11:08:00.001+02:00

Palm Sunday service.
Beaconsfield Methodist Church.
17 April 2011.
Rev Kevin Zondagh.
Theme: PREPARE YOURSELF

Psalm 118:19-29
19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD
through which the righteous may enter.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
23 the LORD has done this,
and it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 The LORD has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.
25 LORD, save us!
LORD, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.[a]
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up[b] to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Sermon: Prepare Yourself
Have you ever been in a situation where an opportunity presented itself and you've missed it? After that opportunity, you looked back and thought, "how did I miss this? I should've been prepared." No matter what we say afterwards, the fact is we have missed that opportunity – and there is no getting it back. It only way not to have missed it, was to be prepared for it.

We've heard the saying, "Be prepared for anything!"
WHAT THINGS DO WE PREPARE FOR?
• Exams
• Work
• Food
• Retirement

– WHY DO WE PREPARE FOR THOSE THINGS BUT WE DO NOT FOCUS ON PREPARING OUR SOULS?
PREPARATION IS VERY IMPORTANT!

PREPARE YOURSELF

Hulettes Sugar has a quote on one of their packets, "Life happens when you make other plans."
As human beings, we are led to believe that we are in control. We project what will happen in the next day, week, month, or year. We would like to believe we have everything under control. The truth is we do not! We do not know what is going to happen - even in the next 5min.

(Play Video: accidents)
As we have witnessed in this video, these people believed they were in control but we can see that they were not.

When life happens, will we be prepared?

Recently, I received an e-mail from a friend of mine. She was freaked out. This IS what she got.

There has been a long e-mail going around quoting scripture after Scripture, pointing to sign after the sign, piecing together a picture concluding that Judgement Day is on the 21 May 2011. If this is true, we have 35 days left before our time will come to be judged. In addition, the end of the world will happen on 21 October 2011. If that were true, we have exactly 187 days left on this planet. How does that make you feel?

If this were true, what are some other things you need to fix up before this happens?
Will you be prepared?

Let me put your mind at ease before we carry on into sermon. We are told in Matthew 24:35 – 36.
35) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
36) "but concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

This is straight from Jesus mouth. And not once in that e-mail about Judgement Day and the end of the world was this text included. Jesus says plainly, only God knows. Not even, he knows. Therefore, we can be rest assured that Judgement Day will not happen on 21 May 2011.
But if it does, will you be prepared?

"It's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared." Young Jr., Whitney

Like in that video, we do not know what will happen next.
This morning we are going to look at two readings. Reading them together will give us a more colourful picture into the same event.

Context:
The whole Jewish nation were converging on Jerusalem at this time. They were coming from everywhere to celebrate the Passover festival to remember how God freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and spared Israel's firstborn children.
In short, they were remembering when God saved them.

This is Jesus' last journey before he is crucified in Jerusalem.
He knows this, and he is PREPARED for it!
Jesus has been teaching and moving around for about three years.
Word had gotten out about him and people are familiar with his teachings, healings and miracles.
He is well-known.

I cannot help but see God brilliance in his plan.
Everyone who was everyone came to this festival in Jerusalem.
They hear Jesus is coming and they prepare themselves.

They were VERY excited! But here's the catch; they expected a mighty king to ride in and nationalise the Jewish nation. They were expecting Jesus to overthrow the Roman Empire, and once again establish the rule that they feel was rightfully theirs. And they were prepared for Jesus!

With that in mind, let us have a look at two readings of this event:

Luke 19:28 – 40
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them,
30 "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
31 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.' "
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.
33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"
34 They replied, "The Lord needs it."
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.
36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Psalm 118:25,26)
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

John 12:12 – 19
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
"Hosanna! " (Save)
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Psalm 118:25,26)
"Blessed is the king of Israel!"
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: (Zech 9:9)
15 "Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey's colt."
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.
18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"

In this text we read that Jesus sent his disciples to go and fetch him a colt. The question many people ask is, "is Jesus a donkey thief?" After all, there was no bartering or exchange of money for the colt. Was Jesus a donkey thief?
The answer very plainly is 'no'.
The people had they prepared themselves.

They had dressed up. They were wearing cloaks. They went into the fields and brought back palm branches to lay down for the entry of the King. In modern-day terms, this is like the ultimate red carpet entrance.
You have the rich who had cloaks and branches, you had the poor with branches – because they wouldn't have cloaks. Either way, the Jewish people prepared themselves for the coming of the King.
The laying down of cloaks and branches symbolised submission to the King - Declaring his rule over the people.

These people heard from all over that the Messiah was coming. He was coming to save his people. They heard it, they believed it, and they prepared themselves for it! And you know what happened, he pitched up!

Today, on Palm Sunday, we remember Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, preparing to face death and we also remember that he died, and was resurrected from the dead and he will come again. Today we declare that Jesus' will come again.
Rev 22:7
"And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."

This morning I want to ask you, this church, when Jesus comes again will you be prepared? We do not know what is going to happen next 5 min. It is important for us to live our lives prepared for when Jesus comes.

Jesus tells parable of what it would be like for those who are prepared for him to come again and for those who are not.
Mat 25:1-13
(1) "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
(2) Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
(3) For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
(4) but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
(5) As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.
(6) But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'
(7) Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.
(8) And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
(9) But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.'
(10) And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
(11) Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.'
(12) But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.'
(13) Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Here He says it again. We will not know… but will we be ready?
As Jesus illustrates in the parable;
Those who were prepared – went with him.
Those who weren't – missed it.

The Apostle Paul, never subscribed to a specific date or time in which Jesus would come. He encourage to all the people to BE PREPARED ALL THE TIME.
Are you prepared?

Do not believe for one second, that you are in control of your life and you will start preparing tomorrow, Because tomorrow might be too late.

If your life is not right with God - I suggest you start sorting it out.

God has let it be known that Jesus IS coming again.
Judgement day is real.
The world will end.
He has told us because He wants us to be prepared and ready to go with him.
Out of his love – he tells us.
Out of his wisdom – he doesn't tell us when.

The parable tells us to be wise and not foolish.
We must prepare ourselves.

Do you want to know how to be prepared?
Read your Bible. It's all in there.
All the answers, all the guidelines, all the directions.
Read your Bible, why? So you don't miss it.
Start with the Gospel of John.

JESUS PREPARED HIMSELF FOR YOU, WILL YOU PREPARE YOURSELF FOR HIM?

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Taking the back seat

2011-04-14T09:37:00.002+02:00

We are taught almost every day of our lives that we need to be in control of our own destinies. That is up to us to either make it in this life or not.Whenever we go, the pressures there.In fact,this is the attitude that is passed down from generation to generation.So from a very young age we are encouraged to take full control of our lives.In that we become driven and maybe even obsessed in trying to control everything.

I have recognise this in my own life and over the Lenten period I have decided to take a backseat. Often we have to realise that we control our lives so much that we stop living by faith. We want to control everything! This can be profoundly destructive in our lives. So over the Lenten period I decided to give up image. In short, it's all about elevating Jesus more whilst I become less. And in doing so, take the back seat of my life and allow Jesus to take the reins.

John the Baptist got this right. He was a master of putting Jesus above all. When Jesus really started rolling in his ministry, John started moving to the backseat. He worked his butt off proclaiming the way of Jesus, and then, when Jesus started gaining momentum, John faded into Jesus a shadow. This was a great attitude.

Just like John, we must work hard and know, we must become less and Jesus must become more. John 3:30, “He (Jesus) must become greater; i must become less”.

I am 10 days away from the end of my Lenten journey. In 10 days time my fast will end and I will shave off my beard. But over the past 37 days I have come face-to-face with my own self absorbed image and I was able to consciously except that I am less and Jesus is more. Not shaving my head and my face was a trivial thing, but it gave me powerful teachings and lessons into myself and into allowing Christ, to live more in me and through me. The objective of my fast as for people not to see me but rather to see Jesus in me (which might have been easier seen that I had a beard like him). To be honest it was very difficult for me to grow beard as well as my hair. The temptation was there to take full control, justify why I can accept defeat by saying things like, “well, I'm not Jesus so for me to fail in Lent is okay. Just as long as I can shave the stuff of my face.” But my conviction in Lent was to give up control of my own image and so I have not shaved - even though it feels like ants crawling all over my face. And, truth be told, on many occasions I would feel self-conscious but that and I would remind myself that it's not about me it's about Jesus. And so I took the backseat.

My encouragement is this, don't allow yourself to be god of your own lives, but rather take the backseat and allow Jesus to drive. Don't fall into the temptation of trying to control everything, but rather, in faith allow Jesus to rule over everything.

Keep becoming less and allow Jesus to become more.

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Ministry survival not–so–secret, secret

2011-04-13T13:47:00.000+02:00

There is a children's song which tells us to "cast your burdens unto to Jesus". (It even has actions of casting and everything). But as a kid, what burdens do you really have? We should sing this song in "big" church. That is where we need to be reminded.

Psalm 55:22, "cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."

I need to know I can cast all my cares onto God. I do feel overwhelmed with all the pressure as most times, but I don't have to be. I can get help from God! God even offers to help me.

To think about it, most of my burdens are ministry related. I sometimes feel exactly like David where he says, "if I had wings like a dove – I would be outta here! I would go to a place where I could find peace." (Paraphrased verse 6). He felt so burdened he was willing to go live in a desert.

Imagine that? Being so run down that an empty wasteland looks attractive and inviting – just to get away!

Sometimes this is how I feel about my calling. This thing gets HEAVY! And I start wondering about life outside of ministry, in a perceived environment that is less stressful.

But now, reading the Psalm, I have discovered that this is not a new feeling when it comes to people in ministry (or other Christians). David found the key to 'ministry survival'. It's in verse 22 – Be righteous!! Be in right-standing with God. Be close to God!

Why? Think of it this way;
the easiest time to offload a burden is when you are closest to someone (physically). All you have to do is just pass it over. The most difficult time is when you are farther away, then you will use a lot more energy and strength to give the same sized burden over. I.e. the further you are, the heavier the burden. Eventually, you are so far away, you realise how difficult it will be to unburden yourself, that you feel hopeless, you disengage, to eventually quit.

The secret is to stay as close to God as possible. The Psalm says, "he WILL sustain you".

Oswald Chambers says this:
"if we set out to serve God and do his work, but get out of touch with him, the sense of responsibility we feel can be overwhelming and defeating."

"Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated." (Satan is going to destroy you if you don't stay intimately involved with Jesus).

This Psalm tells us that when we are righteous, God will NEVER let the righteous be shaken.

God will carry our burdens, carry us, help us, protect us/me. We must make sure we stay righteous. God will take care of the load he placed on us, as long as we stay close to him. I.e. my ministry: I must constantly give it back to him. All of it! Then I will not only survive, but flourish!

So, like David, I will trust you!

Romans 8:28

2011-04-01T09:55:00.001+02:00

1 year ago today; my heart was ripped out of my soul, my future destroyed, my hopes and dreams wrecked! But Thanks to Jesus I have new hopes and dreams, a restored heart, repaired soul, and a new future! He can resurrect anything!

Romans 8:28. " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"
Keep the SON in your eyes!

New Beginnings–My journey at BMC so far

2011-01-26T12:12:00.001+02:00

It has been just over a month since i landed in Kimberley and started my new life in Beaconsfield Methodist Church (BMC). Over this past month, i have been trying to find my feet and discern what God is wanting me to do at BMC. So far, this past month has been one of high energy output but absolutely wonderful.

When i attended my first service in BMC, i went in as a ‘regular Joe’ - just another face in the crowd (up until i was introduced). Whilst we were singing i sat down and started praying. I felt an overwhelming sense of peace flood over me and i felt God say, “Welcome home”. At that point, i knew this is exactly where God wants me to be.

A few weeks later, i held an ‘Open Meeting’ where i invited the congregation to attend where I will be able to engaged what the church is all about. They were/are my resource into the work God has been doing in BMC. My question to God is, “Lord, why have you brought me here? What do you want me to do?”

There was great conversation in the meeting – very engaging. During which a man stood up and said to me and the meeting, “We have been without a shepherd for several years. we need to be lead. We need you to be our leader. We need a Shepherd. You need to be our Shepherd”. To which i replied asking the meeting what they want me to do. I asked, “What does BMC need from me? To be a leader/shepherd or do they need me to manage the church as is?” The meeting responded by saying, “We want you to lead us”. This was great as i got to hear what the people expect from me. But was this what God wanted from me? So not i had this question before God.

Two weeks later, I sat down in my time of devotions when i was lead to Acts 20:18 (by accident). It reads, “Keep watch over yourselves and the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His blood”. God answered my question. It was clear. God has confirmed the voice of the people. He wants me to be the Shepherd at BMC. I was blown away! God is awesome!

I then, asked myself, “what do Shepherd do? How do they lead and guide with maximum effectiveness?”. Those answers came to me as i unpacked the verses the followed:

vs. 29 - “Be Vigilant!” There are wolves! They want to destroy the church. Maybe even key people in the life of BMC and the Methodist church.
vs. 31 – Be on guard from dangers and threats against God’s vision for BMC.
vs. 32 – Be committed to God and His word. This needs to be built up.
vs. 34 – Work hard!
vs. 35 – Help the weak. Give.

Then in verse 27 it says, “Proclaim the WHOLE will of God”.

So, i looked at verse 28 (“Keep watch over myself”), as my first instruction and unpacked it. I got two instructions from it.

Watch my actions: I cannot be a good shepherd if i do my own thing and put the flock in danger.
I must protect myself: A shepherd is no good if he is weak, timid, afraid and intimidated. i must stay fit to protect my church. A shepherd must stay strong, courageous, wise, alert, caring, loving and protective.

How do i do this?

Protect my rest days, rest periods.
stay committed + strong
protect my devotion times
read
protect my prayer life.

It dawned on me, if i protect myself first, the “watching my actions” will come more naturally. In reverse order, i will fail.

In summary: I must protect myself and watch my actions. I must be a great shepherd and follow the instructions from God. And watch over the flock.

I have sensed BMC hungry for change so may God’s will be done.

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Running Late?

2010-10-19T14:56:00.001+02:00

I went to a car audio place this morning to get a quote to put sound into my bakkie. GM told me to go there. So I did. When I got there they were not open yet at 8:45am. So I decided to go back before 1pm to get the quote and put sound in. My whole day ran late because two friends needed my council when I got home at 9 in the morning which pushed my whole schedule back. I never told them to come back later because I was on a schedule, but rather made the time for them. I believed God sent them to me for help so I helped.

From there, I wanted to drop my bakkie off at the audio place before lunch and walk to meet someone for lunch (who was around the corner). But due to me running behind schedule I decided to have lunch first and go to the audio place around 2pm.

When I got there, I saw this (check pics).

A huge tree had fallen onto the parking and entrance of the audio place, squashing the cars parked there. My bakkie would've been parked there if I forced my own agenda and not followed Gods.

Thank you Jesus!

Once again, I am convinced that I need not worry about what will happen or fuss too much over time. God has His own time and wants us to go on His clock.

We always pray, let Your will be done. But will we let it happen that way?

--

Keep the SON in your eyes!

Rev Kev

twitter: LamaMonk
Blog: http://beyondthesee.blogspot.com

Health Log 10- drugged

2010-09-27T08:33:00.000+02:00

I'm all drugged up now. Apparently I won't remember anything so I'm typing this to see if I will. Sheesh am I funny or what. I like me!

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Health Log 9 - Circus act

2010-09-26T22:50:00.000+02:00

The last time I wrote I mentioned I was to fast for three days. Well, I sort of fasted. I couldn't fast like I wanted to because that monday I got flu. But luckily God knows my heart. So while I was fasting, I felt energised and strengthened. God revealed Himself to me in the different ways; like friends praying with me, scripture, signs, etc. I don't know if anything happened to me physically as far as healing goes but certainly my spirituality and faith in God matured and was strengthened tremendously. Pretty awesome!!!

God is faithful and alive!

Tomorrow morning at 07:30 I will be going to the Heart Hospital for a Trans-escophogeal echo (TEE). In other words, I'm swallowing a pipe with a Sonar attached to it. Its a great circus trick. This will check out my heart to see if there is any vegetation on my heart valves. Apparently that's a bad thing. I would agree. Imagine a pumpkin growing on your heart valve.

This Doc who is doing this procedure is awesome. His wife (she's a nurse) works with him and they gonna check me out. They are awesome because they love Jesus very much. So be rest assure you blog-readers, Jesus is on top of this one too. Cool hey!

Keep the SON in your eyes!

.
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Health Log 8 - Fast Healing

2010-09-13T08:32:00.000+02:00

Today I start fasting for three days. I will be seeking God to help me heal.

No doctor has come up with a diagnosis as to what is happening in my body or what the cure is but luckily God knows. So I will be before God asking Him for help.

My hope is that God heals me completely over these next three days. So if you read this, please pray for me.

Keep the SON in your eyes!

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