26 July 2009
SPEAKER: Dr Tan Kang San
What is heaven? A place we go to after we die? Are Christians wrong in our thinking about heaven? In his book,"Surprised by Hope", N.T. Wright wrote that the Bible does not talk so much about going to heaven as the coming down of heaven to earth.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the phrase 'kingdom of heaven' is equivalent to 'kingdom of God' used by the other three Gospel writers, and indicates a situation when God reigns, not a territory. Luke 10:25, the phrase 'eternal life' also has to do with 'kingdom of God'. Jesus Himself talked about the kingdom of God being 'at hand' or 'near'.
Some say we are living in the 'in-between' times, between the already and the yet to come.
Peter wrote about "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4) and Paul said that "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20). During Roman times, the idea of Roman citizenship meant that wherever a Roman citizen was, Rome would come to protect him from his enemies.
In Romans 8, Paul wrote that "the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time," and that we "who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies". We, the church, are God's means to prepare for a new creation, hidden inside, unseen, like the presence of the Holy Spirit who also groans with the world and with the church: "the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express".
In 2 Kings 6, the story of Elisha and his servant is told:
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
The heavenly reality all around us is hidden from the eyes of most of us, like the servant. The fact is that heaven has come and is near, God is not far removed in His heaven, as in the teaching of Deism.
Thus for us, our Christian hope is not an individual thing, but an integrated view of future hope for the world, for the healing of creation, and for the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth.
Second, our view of mission is an integration of creation and heaven, the practising of heavenly values here on earth. Thus we pray and work for political justice and care about issues of poverty, environmental pollution and all social concerns, to build a world order in line with God's reality.
Our view of God: He is not just out there, but He is a good God who is actively involved in our world today.
This is our Christian hope, a hope that is both future and present, a hope for ourselves and for the whole world.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Servanthood
19 July 2009
SPEAKER: Chris Teoh
TEXT: John 13:1-17
Two days before His crucifixion, just before starting to eat His last Passover meal with the 12 disciples, Jesus "now showed them the full extent of his love", and He did this by getting up from the meal, and beginning to wash His disciples' feet one after another. The disciples must have been stunned into silence by this unexpected and startling act of servanthood and lowliness by One whom they called "Teacher" and "Lord". It was only Peter when it came to his turn who found voice to ask, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" and object, "No...you shall never wash my feet."
Then, "(w)hen he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."
Jesus could do this lowly act of a servant to His disciples because He was secure in His relationship with His Father: He knew the Father's love for Him and He knew who He was, and as such He was able to love all His disciples, even the one who was going to betray Him. "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal..."
If we are to follow Jesus' example,to serve others in humility, we need to have that same strong relationship with our Father God and to be secure and confident in His love and wisdom.
Jesus "took off his outer clothing" in order to bend down to wash the feet of His disciples: it is a picture of Jesus stripping of Himself and laying aside His royal garments and rights to become a man and a servant even to die a criminal's death. As Paul put it in Philippians 2:
Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
We too need to strip ourselves, putting aside our rights and wants, to die to self, in order to serve and bear fruit in our lives, for as Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24
"The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus." Jesus knew this, and yet He also washed Judas' feet. It is hard to serve those whom we know will hurt and betray us, but Jesus could do it because He is not only truth but grace: as John testified, "We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
After Judas left the room to betray Him, Jesus said to the remaining disciples:
"Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:31-35
So we need to be light, be salt and be the aroma, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16,
"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?"
As someone wise put it, we need to preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words. Too often, we use a lot of words, and don't preach Christ at all!
So let us preach the Gospel and glorify God by our acts of service to others done in love and humility and grace.
SPEAKER: Chris Teoh
TEXT: John 13:1-17
Two days before His crucifixion, just before starting to eat His last Passover meal with the 12 disciples, Jesus "now showed them the full extent of his love", and He did this by getting up from the meal, and beginning to wash His disciples' feet one after another. The disciples must have been stunned into silence by this unexpected and startling act of servanthood and lowliness by One whom they called "Teacher" and "Lord". It was only Peter when it came to his turn who found voice to ask, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" and object, "No...you shall never wash my feet."
Then, "(w)hen he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."
Jesus could do this lowly act of a servant to His disciples because He was secure in His relationship with His Father: He knew the Father's love for Him and He knew who He was, and as such He was able to love all His disciples, even the one who was going to betray Him. "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal..."
If we are to follow Jesus' example,to serve others in humility, we need to have that same strong relationship with our Father God and to be secure and confident in His love and wisdom.
Jesus "took off his outer clothing" in order to bend down to wash the feet of His disciples: it is a picture of Jesus stripping of Himself and laying aside His royal garments and rights to become a man and a servant even to die a criminal's death. As Paul put it in Philippians 2:
Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
We too need to strip ourselves, putting aside our rights and wants, to die to self, in order to serve and bear fruit in our lives, for as Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24
"The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus." Jesus knew this, and yet He also washed Judas' feet. It is hard to serve those whom we know will hurt and betray us, but Jesus could do it because He is not only truth but grace: as John testified, "We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14
After Judas left the room to betray Him, Jesus said to the remaining disciples:
"Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:31-35
So we need to be light, be salt and be the aroma, as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16,
"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?"
As someone wise put it, we need to preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words. Too often, we use a lot of words, and don't preach Christ at all!
So let us preach the Gospel and glorify God by our acts of service to others done in love and humility and grace.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Building Bridges
MESSAGE: Building Bridges
TEXT: Matthew 4:17-25
SPEAKER: Ps Barnabas Boon
Hope EFC is a church with a myriad of ministries. There are Burmese migrants among us and we have a thriving ministry among them. There is also ministry to the Orang Asli where much developmental work has been carried out through Pastor Chong Keng Sen. In all these ministries, we need to know how to build bridges so that we can strengthen relationships and when the time is right, to invite them to know who Jesus is
.
Building bridges for us is guided by three vital concepts.
First is the importance of location. We need to understand that God has placed us where we are. In Matthew 4:19, 21 and 23, we read of Jesus going on from where he was to another place to preach and to teach. The Lord went out of his comfort zone to reach the least, the last and the lost. Jesus took the gospel to people rather than wait for them. We are always waiting for people to come to church. Although this is not wrong, the right approach is that the church must go to where the people are. When we are with the people we will be able to grab opportunities to share the gospel. We need to ask our selves the question. Have we shared the gospel lately? If not, why? Are we keeping to our Christian friends only and not breaking out to meet others. Are we just occupying areas where we are comfortable? In the great Commission, Jesus rightly pointed out to his disciples that they must “go”. The word "go" here is a command and is in the tense which has a finality about it. You are not to turn back. The act of going and sharing the gospel is a command and if we turn back or rescind the command then we are disobedient.
The second concept important to bridge building is relationship building. Bridge building involves building relationships. Matthew 4:18 and 21 shows us that when the Lord called his disciples to himself, relationships played an important part. Andrew’s brother was Simon and the father of John was Zebedee. The spread of the gospel from the earliest days followed relational lines. An examination of the relationships between the disciples and in the family trees of Jesus and others like Simon and
On a practical level, there are five basic steps when we build relationships. These are first, we must be helpful. Doing a kindness is a good basis for a relationship to begin. Second, learn the art of conversation. Make the mundane interesting by indulging in creative chit chats. Third, listen patiently. When friends share their life issues with us, let us show genuine interest in what they are saying to us. Fourth, be ready to share a Christian perspective when asked. Learn to engage with the world through Christian values and always be ready to share that perspective. And finally, at an opportune time, share the gospel. Discipleship is not about the transmission of skills and information alone, but it is about deep, strong and lasting relationships. Gospel sharing is not just about sharing the gospel elements but it is sharing your life and making friends because you want to be friends and to love them for who they are. You make a friend not just to share the gospel but because you are interested in him or her.
The third important concept is the vital invitation for people to cross over the bridges we have built. In Matthew 4:17, 23 and 24, we have the sense of urgency in the preaching of Jesus as well as his personal touch of healing and love in the midst of his preaching the
In conclusion we must go to people, and to get out of our comfort zone if we are to share the gospel widely. We need also to strive to build long lasting and deep relationships with people. We must reach out and touch people through our lives and our witness to the word. Only then can we begin to share the gospel in an effective manner.
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