Sermons @ Kingsley - Audio

Surprised by Suffering?

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Surprised by Suffering? - Audio
1 Peter pt 1
Introduction to the Letter
22/01/2012

As we begin a series of messages from 1 Peter we familiarise ourselves with the story behind the letter. Peter writes to Christians who suffer in various ways for their faith, and who will undergo greater suffering in the future.

God in His providence gives them the help they need through this letter so that they may be secure in His grace and not give in to fear. As we examine the role of fear and worry in our own lives and discover that we too need help to be freed from being controlled by fear. Only then can we truly set apart Christ as Lord in our lives.

Sowing Generously: Playing Our Part in the Global Body of Christ

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:12:00 +0000

As we send a team to the Philippines on a 2 week church-building mission, we take the opportunity to study principles of sowing resources into the work of God's Kingdom. We expose the poisonous error of the prosperity gospel which promises personal wealth and instead rejoice in the genuine promise of God to richly provide all we need in order to do what He calls us to do.

Sowing Generously:

The Global Body of Christ in Action

(click for audio)

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

15/01/2012

Introduction

My encouragement about the Talibon effort:

· 8 people who have given time, invested $2,500 each plus their personal expenses in order to go on our behalf.

· The effort of the congregation in contributing over $10K to the building project

I believe that this is just the latest example of a pattern of growth in how God is being pleased to provide generously for His work and His people through this congregation; and I’m very excited as I look toward the future and what God might do through us.

This morning I hope that you will share my encouragement and excitement about what God is doing and that together we will set ourselves to continue the journey of being invested in the things that matter, the things of eternal value. I hope that as we explore our passage in 2 Corinthians 9 that you will have a deep sense of resonance that says “Yes, this is what I’m about.”

God can do amazing things through people who align themselves with His purposes. I want the members of our Talibon team as well as the rest of us to be reaffirmed in that truth today. Our passage has some great things to say on that subject.

Prayer

What Does God’s Provision Look Like?

Let’s put our attention first of all on verse 11, which sits at the heart of what Paul is saying in this section.

2 Corinthians 9:11

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. ^{^[1]}

I want you to imagine what that looks like for a moment. Imagine yourself being made rich in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion and that your generosity results in thanksgiving to God.

What does being made rich in every way look like? What sort of house do you live in? What sort of car/s do you drive, clothes & accessories do you wear, food do you eat, places do you go? How big’s your TV?

Aren’t these the sorts of things that we think about when we think of wealth?

Wouldn’t most of us like to be wealthy? Wouldn’t you enjoy being able to give big amounts of money to all sorts of good causes because you’ve got a big stash to start with?

Isn’t that exactly what God is promising here?

How the Church in the Developing World Sees Us

You know that when we get involved with churches like the church in Talibon, they see us as being incredibly wealthy.

Sadly they often associate our faith in Jesus with our wealth, and the good news about eternal life in Jesus can actually be corrupted to become good news about a more comfortable life on this earth.

It’s something that we need to be very careful about, because we have seen many occasions where the work of the kingdom has been shipwrecked by the pursuit of money.

We have sometimes hindered our Christian brothers and sisters in poorer circumstances by putting temptation in front of them through easy access to resources and a lack of accountability in how those resources are used. Our church has certainly learned a lot about that over the last few years and so we are very conscious of putting good systems in place so that we use our resources to help and not hinder.

But tragically, there have been false teachers who have sold a lie to millions of believers in the developing and the developed world, that says “God wants to make you rich”.

The Poison of the Prosperity Gospel

Usually the way to start receiving these riches from God is to first give generously to these churches or ministries which begins a vicious cycle. The false teachers get richer, so it looks like their message is true. Church buildings get fancier, people get dressed up in their absolute best in order to look like they fit in with the prosperous faithful, so a whole veneer of prosperity is build up. Secretly though people are still struggling financially, waiting for God to give them the blessing that others are obviously receiving. They cling to hope in desperation, listening to the testimonies of the fortunate few who get paraded out as “success stories”.

Eventually they get completely burned out and leave, disillusioned not just with the false teacher but with God. But never mind, they will be replaced by many others who are easily hooked by the hope of a god who wants to make them rich.

The prosperity gospel makes an idol out of money, turns God into a vending machine and leaves lives destroyed. If you hear anyone listening to or even teaching this sort of nonsense you need to warn them with all earnestness. It is poison.

But isn’t it Biblical?

Didn’t we just read it?

No, we read into it! We read a text and with my encouragement we imagined our desires into the text. That’s not the way to understand God’s Word, but I asked you to do that in order to highlight the fact that it is what we naturally tend to do, and it is what false teachers encourage people to do.

2 Timothy 4:1-4

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Reading our desires into Scripture is popular but it is not right. We need to expose myths with the truth of God’s Word which is actually far more exciting and wonderful than the myth that seeks to replace it.

So let’s do that with this passage.

Remember our slogan - you can’t understand a text unless you understand it’s context. What is the literary context - how does this sentence fit with everything else being said in this section of Scripture? What is the historical context - what was God saying to a particular group of people at a particular time and place in history?

Let’s start with the historical context.

Famine in the Empire

In Acts 11 we read that a prophet named Agabus in Antioch predicted that a famine would strike the Roman world during the reign of Claudius, sometime between 41 and 54 AD. This famine had a particularly dire effect on the people living in Judea, so the believers raised money and sent it with Barnabus and Paul to Jerusalem. When they heard about this, other churches in the areas that we would now call Turkey and Greece decided to raise funds to send to Jerusalem for the sake of their destitute brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Corinthian church was one that asked to join in, so Paul recommended that they take up a weekly offering so that when he and the other people entrusted with the mission arrived, there would be funds waiting for them. He even suggested that some Corinthians could be entrusted with the task of delivering the money to Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:1-4).

Already at least one contribution has been sent (2 Cor 8:10), but the need is still there and so they are being urged to complete what they have started.

I want you to remember that Agabus predicted that the famine would strike the whole Roman world. In other words, the areas that gave to the church in Jerusalem were themselves affected by the famine, just not as severely as what Judea was.

Now Paul is on his way to Corinth. He has some issues that he really needs to deal with there, including a number of people who are seeking to turn the church against him and to teach things that do not fit with the truth of Jesus.

He writes this letter to prepare the church for his visit. One way that he wants to prepare the people is for them to have their gift for the Judean Christians ready to go. He doesn’t want to get there and find them unprepared. He doesn’t want to have to try raise the money as a last-ditch appeal. He wants them to put their love and commitment into action by being generous as part of a regular Christian discipline.

The last part of the historical context is revealed in chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ²Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. ⁵And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.

Notice here that the Macedonians are not wealthy. Their overflowing joy does not stem from financial abundance or even security - they are extremely poor.

Yet their joy in Christ despite their trials produces a desire to help other believers worse off than themselves.

They discerned for themselves that it was God’s will for them to give - they were not coerced or even expected to do so, but their love for God and His people found expression in giving beyond their ability. Their trust in God was proven by the fact that they relied on Him to meet their needs even as through them He met the needs of Christians elsewhere.

Paul mentions the Macedonians because they are an example of the very principles he is about to teach.

He mentions them for another reason also. He is aware that some of them might travel with him down to Corinth.

How do you think the Corinthians would feel if they - as people who are better off than the Macedonians - had not followed through on their promise of help? How would the Macedonians feel visiting a wealthier church that showed no concern for their poorer brethren?

Paul wants to make sure that doesn’t happen, so he gives the Corinthians fair warning.

If you hold to a prosperity gospel, the Macedonian Christians were failures. But inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul holds them up to the Corinthians and to us as examples.

Moving from Poison to Promise

So if God is not promising us financial prosperity in 2 Corinthians 9:11, what is He promising us?

Let’s look at the immediate literary context, starting at verse 6…

2 Corinthians 9:6-11

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written:

“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Picture this - you have a bag of seed that represents the material resources God has entrusted to you. How much of that are you going to sow into God’s work and how much are you going to keep for yourself?

Sometimes we see giving to the Lord’s work as giving away what’s ours. But who is the real owner of everything we have? God is! He is the one who supplied the seed (v.10).

So we can either hog God’s resources for ourselves or we can invest them into others.

It’s interesting isn’t it that what we keep for ourselves does not multiply, but what we give away does. It produces more than what it starts out as.

Many of us have seen the practical reality of this. What a dollar can achieve if I spend it on myself here is far, far less than what it will achieve if I invest it in a child in Malawi or a church in Talibon. So I reap a far greater blessing by sowing than I do by saving or spending.

But this principle is not just true practically but also spiritually. When we allow God’s spirit to guide our giving so that we are not giving reluctantly or because we feel compelled, but cheerfully; God has a way of making His grace abound to us so that we have enough to do the good things He wants us to do.

We may think that we only have enough seed for a certain amount. We only have so much to give. But when we start, we find that God provides more than we expect or causes what we do have to stretch further so that we are able to do far more than what we expected to be able to do. We find that just as He promises, we have everything that we need in order to abound in every good work.

I want to tell you a little bit of how this has worked out for Carolyn and I in our married life.

We got married straight after I finished Bible college and had no real resources behind me. We moved to Busselton to take up a 2-day a week youth ministry position with an understanding that the church was going to work toward increasing the number of hours as the ministry grew and as their resources increased.

So we moved down and I started looking for other part time work. Carolyn got some cleaning work but for some reason the other work I applied for never worked out - until God provided work for me teaching in Christian schools in Busselton and Bunbury. It was a bit discouraging not getting work straight away, but when God provided work in ministry to young people we began to see His plan for us.

Despite working a number of different jobs we weren’t bringing in a lot of money. We were able to afford to rent a fairly compact unit which was full to overflowing when we had youth bible study. We had a rusty old Mazda hatchback named Faith - I think it was probably only faith that got her going on cold winter’s mornings!

Then God provided through an Elder in the church a house for us at below market rental which really helped us in being able to work from home and host the young people together as a group. It was a great ministry base for us.

Not only that, but when my parents finished their ministry as missionaries to indigenous Australians they needed somewhere to live as they sought God’s direction for the next chapter of their lives. Having the house in Busselton gave us the ability to help them out.

So in our early years in ministry God provided not only the extra income to sustain us, but also the extra opportunities to do good works in the process. That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in this passage. We were given everything we needed to do every good work that God planned for us to do.

That’s what 2 Corinthians 9:11 is actually saying. The English Standard Version translates it like this: “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way”^{^[2]}

False teachers would argue that it’s saying that we will be made rich in every way that we desire, so that as well as being rich ourselves we can give generously to others.

People who swallow this lie therefore look forward to becoming rich so that then they can also become generous. That’s not what the Macedonians did. It’s not what the vast majority of faithful Christians in history have done and it’s not what this passage teaches.

It’s saying that God will enrich you - He will generously provide you - with everything you need in order to be generous to others.

Does God want you to provide money for the work of the Kingdom? He will generously give you everything that you need in order for you to do that good work.

Does God want you to provide wisdom for those who need it? He will provide it generously so that you may offer it as a service to others.

Does God want you to perform an act of service? He will generously provide you with the strength to carry it out.

Does God want you to invest time in serving others? He will generously provide you with enough time to do that good work.

God will give you everything you need in order to serve Him. Is that what you want to do? That’s what Paul is challenging the Corinthians about. He’s saying “Don’t keep the seeds in your bag. Sow them! Watch God multiply them and increase your joy and your righteousness”.

This section comes to a close with a series of reasons why generosity matters.

2 Corinthians 9:12-15

¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Through our financial generosity:

The needs of God’s people’s and others are met (v. 12,13 - see Gal 6:10)
The people of God are given reason to thank and praise Him; and those who do not know God see evidence of what we believe (v.12-13,15).
We prove that we are truly children of God who share His heart and are obedient to His will (v.13)
We build a real sense of unity, love and concern for each other (v.14)

According to the principles taught in this passage, these outcomes will continue to multiply as we prove faithful in sowing generously.

Conclusion

I’m excited to see how this is unfolding in our mission to help the Church in Visayas region of the Philippines. I’m excited to see how this is unfolding in our mission to support workers going to connect with ethnic minorities in Scotland, to train church leaders in East Asia and among indigenous Australians as well as many other people and places.

I’m excited at what we are sowing into the lives of people in the community surrounding Kingsley and particularly as we plan for the year ahead there are some wonderful new opportunities that God is opening up for us.

Will you be a generous sower?

Will you be encouraged and amazed by what God does to multiply the things you release from your hands?

Do you want to be part of reaping a harvest of fruit that is eternal, being diligent to guard your heart from the obsession of saving for and spending on things that are temporary?

There’s nothing wrong with saving and there’s nothing wrong with spending - I recommend that you do both! But will you guard your heart from being controlled by what you save and spend for?

Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and Money (Matt 6:24). Does your discipline of giving show that you are a true servant of God, that you trust Him as your Provider?

Let’s be like the Macedonian believers. They gave themselves first to God, and then to doing God’s will.

^{^[1]}All Scriptures unless otherwise noted from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

^{^[2]}The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (2 Co 9:11). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

1st to 21st

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:17:00 +0000

1st to 21st - Audio

Since the very beginning, Jesus’ priorities for the church have always been the same – to be a healthy, growing community that honors God in both word & deed. From Jesus’ own mouth come 2 of the most telling statements of His will for us. The “Great Commandment” in Matthew 22 tells us to love God & to love others, while the “Great Commission” tells us to make new disciples, include them in the life of the church, and to be transformed in obedience through the truth. The way we do it in the 21st century is different from the 1st century, but it’s never a bad time to review the foundations of our calling, and Jesus’ purpose for His people.

How to Have a Great Christmas

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:15:00 +0000

How to Have a Great Christmas - Audio

In the final message of our Christmas series, we add tinsel and treats to our tree. The Tinsel reminds us of the humility of the Saviour’s birth. If He had chosen to come as a king He would have needed to rule justly, treating us as we deserve. The Baubles we added to the tree on the previous week remind us that we have all sinned against God, and the penalty that our sins deserve is death. Jesus as King would need to pass judgement.

However He did not come to function as a King, He came to play the role of servant. Instead of a palace He had a stable and a bed of straw, which is symbolised by the tinsel on our tree. As a servant He did exactly what the angel announced to Joseph – He saved us from our sins. Now there is forgiveness and freedom for those who accept it from Him.

The treats complete the message. They represent the goodness that waits for those who have been saved from sin. Because our sins have been dealt with, we are free to belong in God’s family and enjoy eternal life with Him. We look forward to the time when Jesus returns as King or we go to be with Him, where evil no longer corrupts us and everything around us because it has been judged and dealt with by the King of Kings.

So how can we have a great Christmas? The shepherds provide us with a great example.

· They Heard the Message about Jesus
They didn’t give in to fear and run away! They allowed God to break into their normal experience to speak a life-changing message.

· They Received the Message about Jesus
They allowed the angels’ message to shape their actions. They left their sheep behind and went to Jesus.

· They Shared the Message about Jesus
Once they had encountered Jesus for themselves, they then shared about Him with others.

We can choose to do the same this Christmas. We’ve had the chance to hear the message about Jesus. Will you receive that message and allow it to shape your life? Will you accept Jesus as the Saviour who came to free you from your sins and the King who now reigns in glory? Will you share the message about Him with those around you who need to hear about Him?

All of us will meet Jesus as King one day. How we meet Him will depend on whether we have first met Him as our Saviour. Will you stand before Him as one whose sins are forgiven and who can receive blessings from His hand, or will you stand before Him on your own merits and face the awful reality of His judgement?

Your Christmas can only be a Great Christmas when it reminds you of why Jesus came the first time and when you know that you stand prepared for when He comes again.

The Lure of Sin

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:02:00 +0000

The Lure of Sin - Audio

The Light of the World shows us who God is, but He also reveals who we are. Part of that is good news - we are people made in the image of God. Part of it is bad news - we have been corrupted by sin. There is a part of us that is attracted by things that we know are wrong, even though we are aware that the consequences of sin are disastrous. In this message we explore some practical biblical instruction for how we can turn away from the lure of sin in order to live the life Jesus came to give us. He has set us free and shown us how to live in that freedom. We discover the need to:
   1) start at home, looking at our own lives rather than focusing on the sins of others; to
   2) identify the issue, which is not temptation 'out there', but evil desires within us; to
   3) set our hearts and minds on things above rather than focusing on things that draw our sinful nature; and to
   4) use the tools God's given, which are His Spirit, Word and People who serve to identify areas of hidden sin and help us to change.

Jesus is the Light of the World

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:55:00 +0000

Christmas series 2011 pt 2
Jesus is the Light of the World - audio
11/12/2011

Having established in the previous message that God is by nature relational - He exists in a perfect love relationship with Father, Son and Spirit - we now move on to explore Jesus as the One who reveals God to us. We can share in the love relationship that exists within God Himself as we believe and receive the truth that is found in Jesus. This truth not only reveals who God is, but who we are and how we can be reconciled to God.

Three's a Crowd?

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:56:00 +0000

Three's a Crowd - audio

The Glorious Doctrine of the Trinity

The Doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery that is beyond our understanding, yet it is something that God desires us to know about Himself. In this message we discover some of the Biblical evidence for the fact that there is only one God, yet He exists simultaneously in three persons - Father, Son and Spirit. This perfect state of relationship is a picture for us of what we will enjoy for all eternity - a love relationship of complete unity, unbroken by sin.

Are You Robbing God?

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:12:00 +0000

Are You Robbing God? - audio
Malachi 3:6-18
Matthew 6:19-34

"Will a man rob God?"

That's the question God Himself asks the people of Israel through the prophet Malachi. We allow God to ask us the same question centuries later as we read it in His Word. We discover that just like the Israelites of Malachi's day, we can have a low view of God which causes us to neglect to worship Him as He deserves.

We can lose sight of the fact that everything belongs to Him, we can forget our own dependence upon Him and we can doubt our accountability to Him. However as Malachi identifies their disobedience in terms of the bringing of tithes and offerings to the Temple, we discover that the expectations God has of believers today are different. The Church does not operate by the same systems as the nation of Israel prior to Christ's arrival.

We explore Jesus' own teaching recorded in Matthew 6 as a guide for making appropriate decisions in how we worship God through giving. We discover that we must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us into making decisions about giving that reflect: 1)our reverence for God; 2)our gratitude for His provision; 3)our trust in Him to meet our needs; and 4)the priority of His eternal kingdom over temporary things.

Prayer pt 2 - What Should We Pray?

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:15:00 +0000

Prayer Pt 2 - What Should We Pray? - click for audio
Matthew 6:9-15
James 5:13-18

In this message we explore the Lord's Prayer as a guide for the content of our own prayer. Jesus' example of prayer for His disciples is rich in meaning and helps us to develop our own prayer life in a healthy and effective way. We also take time to explore James 5:13-18 - a passage that speaks beautifully of the power of prayer, but is often sadly misused and misunderstood to reinforce an attitude and expectation in prayer which only fosters self-centredness and ultimately leads to disillusionment. We take a closer look at the text itself as well as the wider counsel of Scripture to better understand how prayer for healing is taught in God's Word and was practiced in both Old and New Testaments.

Prayer pt 1 - How Should We Pray?

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:01:00 +0000

Prayer pt 1:

How Should We Pray? - Audio

Using Jesus' teaching on prayer from Matthew 6, we look at some fundamental issues concerning prayer - what is prayer and how should we pray? We discover that prayer is a much bigger concept than many people realise. It goes beyond the literal meaning of simply asking God for what we want or need, to become a lifestyle of intimate and appropriate communication with God.