Love one another as I have loved you

By Garold Anderson

Love one another as I have loved you. The world will know that we are Christians by the love that we show to one another. We have a hope and a future in Him.

Kent Hodge

It's been a very nice time. We are starting a school called Christian Faith Academy. It is for the preschool age. They interviewed yesterday and we have chosen two staff. It is great to be a part of what God is doing there.

Esther Hodge

Susie and I are medical students in London and as part of that year we spend a couple of months working in a hospital somewhere else in the world. So we decided to go to Jos. We went to a hospital called Faith Alive Foundation, which is in central Jos, pretty near to where the riots happened last November. It provides free services to Muslims and Christians. It was started by a Nigerian who trained in a prestigious hospital in America, but God told him to go back to Nigeria, and so He obeyed. He started a clinic and offered medicine and counselling for people with HIV. The main work they do there is fighting AIDS. Almost 10% of the population there have HIV. Only 3% of the people who have HIV actually get drugs to fight it and a lot of them are in Nigeria, because of this hospital. He treats people through the support of English churches and an American relief system set up by President Bush to provide AIDS relief for the people in Nigeria.

I used to think of AIDS as a bad disease because I thought it was their fault. But a lot of the people who came there were Muslim girls who were married at very young ages and had got AIDS either from their mothers or their husbands. So, it wasn't really their fault. This doctor is working so hard to help people. Every person he sees he treats as an individual and will pray for them regardless of whether they are a Christian or a Muslim. They treat them with medicine but also holistically.

Every morning at 8 o'clock they have a devotion and someone will preach to them for about half an hour from the Bible and then give a talk on how to stay healthy. One of the biggest problems out there is lack of education. Three ladies came up to me and told me that they couldn't sleep at night and they were really hot. Basically nobody had told them anything.

So first thing in the morning they preach to these people, Christians and Muslims alike. They tell them that God can heal them whether they are Christians or not. So they use the hospital to spread the Gospel as well as to treat people.

The second morning we were there I was sitting in the devotion, and Doctor Chris told me that I had to get up and preach, which I wasn't expecting at all. So I just had to get up and speak to them. I had to do that three times throughout the week. This has really taught me a lot and I am really grateful for the experience. What really struck me was the people because, regardless of what I 'd said, they'd all come up to me and encourage me. They are all so welcoming and friendly. English people I think sometimes tend to be quite judgemental, but the people there are so open and there is so much opportunity to grow there because you can get up and make a fool of yourself and they will still congratulate you afterwards.

Susie Liniker

The hospital started as a clincic. Basically it treats mostly HIV patients but there are also outpatient and pre-natal clinics. They also teach people how HIV is prevented. It was very interesting listening to the counselling sessions because the people don't know anything about their health. In one session I sat in with a lady who couldn't even read. She had the test done and it turned out negative, but the doctor had to explain what negative meant because she didn't understand it. There was another couple who had been tested a few months earlier, and it turned out that the husband was positive and she was negative. But she didn't believe it because there is period in which the virus for HIV cannot be detected. Anyway, the doctor reassured that she was negative, which was such a good thing for here because it meant that she would be able to have children free from HIV.

I haven't done anything with HIV in this country so it was good to see what they do over there. In the anti-natal sessions they encourage the husbands to get involved. They give the wife an invitation to bring the husband along because if you get the husband involved, he will be more interested in the children. The husband is very important over there because the wives actually have to ask their husbands if they can take the medicines given by the doctor. So having the doctors there means that the wives are more likely to take the medicine.

What really interested me was that this was a Christian hospital, but there were Christians there of all denominations, and they all worked together and prayed together. I think it was more a church than a hospital. They were Christians all with different backgrounds with a common goal: they wanted to reach out and help others. They come together, they have devotion and preaching in the morning, then Dr. Chris prays with his patients, then in the afternoon they pray together. So it is a church, they are group of Christians working together to help others.

We had the chance to go to other areas of the hospital, for example they have clinics outside the hospital. On the second week they had a conference for tribal leaders about preventing and treating HIV. This is very helpful because couples go to these leaders to ask if they should get married if the husband is possible, and they also ask them about using condoms. It was really interesting to see how the Christians discussed this issue.

Garold Anderson

Good morning. Well before I begin I would like to say again how wonderful it has been to be with and Laurie and I truly feel a part of this body of believer. So it's just exciting to be back again after so many years and then after our few visits with you in the last year or so.

I just want to make sure that the things I have said recently have been remembered. With the children at school, we looked at the story of the three little pigs and the building blocks of our lives. Because Jesus told a story that was like that with two people who built their houses on two different things.

I'm going to talk about a very strong building block of our lives, a strong foundation. With the Logos group we talked about a strong issue of foundation. I gave the challenge to think about these next months and take some time to pray. One of the ideas was, what is it that convinces us that God is real? And if not, what is standing in our way to be convinced? What is the foundation of our lives?

As I come to the end I will come into prayer. The building blocks of our lives is a part of what I want to talk about. I'm usually a creative person and I create many things. On Friday we did a play by someone else which was a modern day version of Adam and Eve and the breaking down of a relationship. It was a very painful story and it is at this point that I want to begin today.

The testimonies that we had from Nigeria were so fascinating and it's amazing how God really brings everything together for a Sunday service. We cannot do everything but our God can and we can work together with him.

A promise, a prayer and a command.

I want to begin with a simple prayer.

Ish and Isha, in the play that we did on Friday, it was the use of drama to convey the reality of what sin and brokeness really has done.We often read the story of Adam and Eve it often remains a story on the page. In this play, we really brought it painfully to life, with modern day people and circumstances. This is the beauty of knowing God and this is the beauty of Christianity that there is a way forward.

I want to begin with a promise.

I have been praying for this time with you and this is something God placed on my heart for us. And though this promise was spoken to the children of Israel many years agao but it can still play a part in our lives.

Jeremiah 29:11 (show/hide)

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

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Years ago when I was much more wise than I am now, I would think about the words in scripture that were powerful: oo FAITH! And another powerful word would be LOVE. It's a soft word of God but it's love that brought Jesus to the cross. I thought hope was a weak word. I hope I can...

Listen to this, the promise: I know the plans he has for you, not for disaster..to give you a hope.

I have learnt that it is one of the strongest words in scripture.

There are things in life that happen to people; there are times when people find they have a disease in their body called HIV, Aids. And when people face these things, they lose all hope. There are times in relationships that people see no way forward and they lose all hope. There are times even in churches that we face difficulties together and we begin to lose perspective and we lose hope.

Before we can really come to the place of FAITH we've got to have hope. Hope. Ok, I want to a little theatrical exercise with you. I want you to say the word hope with me. I want you to repeat it the way I say it.

We need to know that we have a future. When we find ourselves hitting a wall and in difficult places, how do we know that we have a hope and a future. Because God is our God. God has a plan for your church and for your life. Even if you find that this church is not where you want to stay, there is a hope for me and a hope for everyone here; here is a future. We're not talking about some kind of social club, we're talking about the living body of Crhist. Whether we are here or in Nigeria or in London; the living body of Chrsit. We have a hope and a future. God knows the plans for you, for your welfare and that are not for disaster.

Jeremiah 29:12 (show/hide)

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

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There are many things that are before you. There are many things. There are many decisions before you in the very close future of this church. Many important things that this church needs to decide and do. I think the cameras that you have...the facilities are amazing. That's a sideline. With your life, and with the relatiionshiops tha are here, things need to be accomplished.

You have to begin by asking why and what. God says, you will come and you will pray and I will listen.

Can you imagine if I came here to speak to you, and as I was speaking, my feet began to do what they wanted. You see it doesn't work if the body doesn't work together. Communiciation doesn't work if the body doesn't work together. Paul says such a powerful thing: 'How can the hand say to the foot, 'I don't need you'. Paul says, 'No, this is the beauty and the amazing thing about Christianity: it's a body.' Each part is needed. Each part has a very important thing to bring. You have a very important role and part to play within this body. You. But somehow within it, we've got to find a way to work together. So we begin with knowing that God says we have a future. God has plans for us to give us a hope and a future.

A command.

The thing that is on my heart to deposit here today is foundational. It's just solid rock. I really pray that we are able to take this seed because this is the heart of christinaty. I want you to imagine with me, from the gospel of john...

This takes place at the end of the ministry of Jesus. This is the end of his time with his disciples; those he has been mentorying. As he comes to the end, he's going to say, 'guys just remember brush your teeth everyday'. I think he would say something a bit more serious. 'Ok guys, always keep the other guys guessing.' No. What would you do if this was the last day with your family? You know this is the last moment, you would think real hard and say what is the most important seed thatI can plant into their life. And that's exactly what Jesus does.

We've been through a lot together and now it's coming to the end...

John 13:31-34 (show/hide)

31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.

33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

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'A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another'.That is a very powerful command and then He goes on and adds something else: 'That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.'

The Bible is really specific. We know love because love has been defined for us. While we were enemies of God, He extended his love through his Son to us. God proved his love in that way. This is how we know love; that Christ died for us. We don't just have some kind of idea of love. We have a real definition and that is the thing that transforms my life, is that I have a real solid definition of love in the one that I am following.

'Love one another, in the same way that I have loved you.' That brings us hopefully to a place that we heard in a song earlier. We can't love others without him. Remain in me and you can do this. Without him we cannot walk in that kind of love.

I want you to understand how important this was when he spoke these words to his disciples.

John 13:35 (show/hide)

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

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He didn't say, 'if you can stop all conflict...' No. Love one another. We are different. We have different parts to play and it is within us, that Jesus gives us the command to love one another, as he has loved us. It is an amazing command and he expects that we can do it.

This is how people will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.

I just want to accent this by looking at John 15.

John 15:9-10 (show/hide)

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

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John 15:12 (show/hide)

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

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John 15:17 (show/hide)

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

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It's a thing he keeps repeating to his disiples and something that needs to reverberate in the depths of our souls. Love one another as I have loved you. He says it again. Here's my command, love one another. And then he says it again.

Be so concenered about one another, even if you disagree. Because this is the power. God IS love. The power on this earth that created all things that are is love. God, the power that can stand against the fiery furnace, is love. Christ is about to go the cross, the absolute example of love, and he's talking to his disiples about love.

I want to leave us with a prayer. A promise that God has a future for us. God has spokem to use because God has plans for us. God loved the world so much that he sent his Son, and his own sons and daughters into the world. But this is how it's all going to happen: Love one another.

God gave his disciples a simple format of a prayer. He said 'Our father, who art in heaven, your name is holy. You are the name above all. You are the God who made all things. Holy is your name.' That's where Jesus begins in the prayer to focus on God. 'May your kingdom and your ways come on earth, just as they happened in heaven. May your ways come into my life, just as it happens in heaven. Jesus bring your love and your possibility of loving and giving into my life, just as your will is accomplished in heaven. Today, give me what I need, the depth of my soul and the strength to do what is before me today. And I ask in my own life, that your forgiveness would come. Forgive me. Have mercy on me. So I also say, forgive those who have done something against me. Give me the hope to be able to forgive. Help me to get past my weakness and to forgive those who have done things against me. And I would ask that you would lead us away from the paths of temptation and from the evil. Deliver us. And give us a hope and a future. For thine is the kingdom of love and forgiveness and hope a future. Thine is the power to accomplish these things in my life. And thine is the glory. And as we follow you, we proclaim that it is you who does these things. Amen.'

God first loved us

By Garold Anderson

God loved us so much that, while we were yet His enemies, He sent His son to die for us. This means that we can receive and live in amazing grace. some people think that, when they get saved, they will be perfect, but the reality of our lives is that we all make mistakes. We have to bring these mistakes before the throne of God and ask for His mercy.

The use of communication, of creative expression, is powerful. There are so many things to creatively communicate. When we come into a church building and we think about drama we often think about 'something happens...and then there is the telling of the Gospel that Jesus loves a person and they get saved, and that's it. But the Bible is filled with many other ideas. I want to challenge you to think beyond what you've experienced before.

Me and Thea are going to be performing a piece today that has four movements called 'Ish and Isha'. When I have finished the piece I want us to use it as meditation. I grew up in a small church in Oklahoma and when I first heard the word meditation, I thought that it was some new age idea. I want to talk today a little bit about Biblical meditation; to take a moment and to consider something. How often do you stop and consider something? How often to you stop and really think about the words of the songs we sing?

So, as we perform this piece I want you to drink it in and then we will listen to a piece of music by a friend of mine. The piece will be from a well-known composer named Bach. As we listen to the music I want you to think back on what you've seen. I want you to consider your response and respond in your heart to what you see to God, to people you know and to people you don't know.

The reality of our lives is that we face situations that hurt us. Meditation is about taking the memories and the thoughts before the throne of God. Jesus said that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That is the past, He is also the God of the present and the future. All things are not forgotten, but they are brought into the heart of God.

It is a different way to look at theatre, to place something before us that is very real. I often say to people that when we open the Bible and read the stories they are sometimes very nice but they all seem to far away from us. With this dramatization we have tried to make the story of the fall very close. The reality does not just affect Adam and Eve, it affects me.

What is the reality of the life that we face? Isn't this how it? What you need to do is go and bring people to Jesus because when you get to know Jesus everything is just going to be ok. I don't think that's really Biblical. Everything gets better when we come back into a relationship with God. But that doesn't mean that everything will go fine. You and I know in the reality of our lives that we face relationships, in our marriages and families, that we need something that is beyond a one moment experience with God. Jesus help me! And now I'm saved. But now what? This is the question that we face every day. Christianity is not a magic potion that, once you've taken it, means everything will be fine. What is this thing we've entered into?

Romans 5:2 (show/hide)

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

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Romans 5:6 (show/hide)

6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

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Romans 5:8-10 (show/hide)

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

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Paul paints such a different picture. When I first read this chapter with eyes that really saw this it was actually shocking to me. I don't want to say that it is wrong to use the word saved, but Paul uses such a different terminology, he uses the word 'reconciled'. That means to be brought back together with someone. He says that the amazing thing about God's love is that while we were His enemies He allowed His Son to die for us. There's a real salvation that is presented but what Paul is saying is that the first thing that God did was bring us back home. To look at you as the enemy and to say 'let me do this for you'. He has so much more for us that He wants to do for us day by day, but the first God wants to get clear is that we are His sons and daughters and we are coming home.

Romans 5:9-10 (show/hide)

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

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The Greek words are very strange words that we don't have in the English word. They are this ongoing idea of perpetual salvation, from faith to faith, from glory to glory. Why do need that? We prayed once, and now we're all perfect aren't we? Now all my problems are gone and every relationship I have is beautiful. No. There is a hope of that day of being with Him face to face, but now we face momentary difficulties and sometimes they are great difficulties. This is the truth. We are human beings and we are broken, we have come to know that our Father loves us. As much as we want to say by faith that we are righteous, we know that we make mistakes. We miss the mark of what we want to accomplish. We have relationships that we want to honour each in, but then something gets said and we start done a path of saying things that are so hurtful. And now we live in conflict and start thinking, am I not a child of God? I have missed the mark, and the Bible calls that sin. We know that we sin.

This is the mystery that there really is hope, strength, life and salvation for me on an ongoing basis. Here is another part of the mystery: the same applies for the others sitting next to you. We think our way is right because we sons of God, but grace is also in my wife's life. In the conflicts that we have there is also grace and hope for us because while we the enemy of God He gave His son for me. In that attitude I have to come back to my wife. In that attitude we can get past Ish and Isha. This is the amazing thing called Christianity. Not that Christ died for us and now we are all perfect, but that we now have the opportunity to extend the grace which we have received to others. We have the opportunity to reach up on high and ask God to have mercy on ourselves and others. We can be God's Kingdom in this earth, right in the midst of the brokenness of our lives.

This book I have in my hand is so fascinating; the imagery is just brilliant.

Proverbs 17:14 (show/hide)

14 The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

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Once you pour water out a cup you cannot get it back in. Sometimes we spill the water. At the beginning of a conflict, the releasing of our words is like the releasing of a great flood, so abandon a quarrel before it breaks out. Those are wise words but the reality of my life is that sometimes I let words out that I really wish I hadn't, and then I can't get them back. We know how to communicate well and often the communication is like the water poured out. We can't get it back but there is grace.

The reality of Christianity can go in two ways: it can be closing my eyes and saying everything is ok and ignoring the facts that I'm still filled with hurt and pain, or the reality is that I know my Redeemer lives and that in this day there is real amazing grace, and even though it hurts me very much to look at the mistakes in my own life, I am going to stop up to the plate and ask God to have mercy on me and to help me grow. I am going to ask God to help me receive the next part of the salvation you have given me, and help me to extend to my family and the people in my neighbourhood. Christianity is a day by day journey.

In a real quick way, through these dramatic pieces and through these verse, I've tried to bring us to the understanding of the reality of our lives and the journey we undertake with God. But I also believe that the words we speak can either bring life or death. We need to learn to go to the Bible and find blessings for one another. We have to meditated on God's power and ask Him to bring restoration in our lives as well as asking God that we might bless those in our lives.

I know that there are issues in life but we can speak blessings and curses; let us people who speak blessings. Let us live in the blessing of God.

The Father’s Heart: Love, not Law

By Pastor Kent Hodge

Over and over again, we see that Jesus put people above law and tradition. If we’re to have the heart of God, we need to do the same.

When you go through the epistles of Paul, one of his main topics is our love for one another. I love the scriptures where he uses “one another”. He talks about us as on body, one family, and supporting one another. We get stronger in our support when we see people not doing well in some respect. When we see people in need, our love and our support ought to grow all the more. We need to get behind one another and garrison each other around.

We shouldn’t use the law to count one another out. The law is to lead us to Christ, to show us our need of Christ and of salvation. It’s not there for us to meet together and draw differences between one another. When we see someone failing in respect of Christian things, our compassion needs to go out all the more – we shouldn’t dismiss them as people who just aren’t up to it.

The people we invite for lunch shouldn’t be the people who will invite us back again. The Bible says we are to invite the unrighteous. We should reach out – not in a legalistic way, but we should be prepared to invite people who are different.

We ought to reach out to one another as brothers and sisters in the Lord, and we are a family. The thing which makes us a family is the blood of Jesus – we’re not the same in any other respect, but our differences don’t matter. It’s the blood of Jesus which makes us a family.

Titus 2:11-14

He gave himself to change our hearts and our lifestyle. He wanted a people different from the world. There’s something different about the way we live. We’re not like the world in the way we react to one another. In the world, fellowship is based on sameness – people need to have the same opinions and likes, or else we don’t like them. There’s something above all of that, above these other things – the love of God, the bond of perfection. I need to fellowship with people in the body of Christ based on nothing else other than the love of God.

Titus 2:14-15

Paul told Titus to be very clear on these things. This is what it means to fight the fight of faith, to fulfil your duty as a pastor.

Titus 3:1-2

This is our Christian behaviour and conduct.

Titus 3:3

The people in the world have malice to one another, especially over things they have done in the past. They keep records. They split people up into camps. God doesn’t like to be put in a box. His salvation is for all people. Sometimes we can put God in a denominational box. But we can’t do that. God is for all people and His love is for everyone. In the church, the family of God, we have a different way of live, and we have an example for the world to see – the love of God is working un our lives through the love we have one to another.

Titus 3:4-9

Many years ago my family and I were in a small town in western NSW, in the back of beyond. Ruth’s parents live there. We were at one of the church meetings at the church my in-laws go to. At one meeting, one brother – a young, zealous believer – who was trying to draw distinctions over water baptism. He was making a stand over the age someone has to be when they are baptised. He said he’d had a revelation from the scriptures, and he was prepared to separate from the other spirit-filled believers who didn’t see things the same way. He thought he was doing it for God, but there are other things in the body of Christ which are more important – that we are one family. If people have love and faith in the Lord, and it’s working in their lives, and they are true brothers and sisters, then we should receive one another even if we have minor difference. The most important thing in our lives is people, and what God is doing in their lives.

This brother separated himself and started to have meetings over how old people should be baptised. People like this think they are serving God. But that’s not the issue. The issue is people, that we love one another, and that we see what God is doing in transforming our lives.

John 13:3

John 13:4

He dressed Himself like the lowest person in the house. He lowered Himself below His disciples in what He was about to do.

John 13:5-15

I love the challenge of fellowshipping with believers who are different from myself – and I do all the time. I went to an Anglican church once – a good place with a good pastor. I love variety. I love different traditions. And we ought to be able to handle them, because the substance is Christ, not the tradition. He’s the one who died for us. So let’s not get bogged down by minor issues.

This Anglican church had three queues for wine. I thought they might be for different groups of people. I asked why there were three queues. It turned out one was for wine, one for port, and one for grape juice.

Churches are different. I go to lots of different churches. It’s a challenge, but we begin to look at what fellowship about. What is the family of God about? And we come to see it’s about Jesus Christ and His love for us. He loved each one of us equally, and He died on the cross and gave Himself for us as His church.

John 13:34-35

When we speak of “all men”, we begin at Brentwood. We’re a witness. But what do we witness of? It’s not that I got baptised on the right day and in the right way. Our witness starts in Brentwood, not by ranting and raving and campaigns and good artwork. People will know we are disciples by our love for one another. The world has all these things, but the one thing it doesn’t have is unconditional agape love, family. We have family, and that family is shown by love.

John 15:10-14

We have a friend who has laid down his life for his friends. He was in a cinema when there was a fire. He came out with two friends, but one friend remained inside, and he went back to help, and died. Even in the church today, many would say that was a waste of his life, but not according to Jesus. He was a good friend to us.

I told Ruth these scriptures were too challenging – talking about the love of God and what He says about our lives. I don’t always feel I’m up to doing it. But this is what the scripture says.

Jesus would not allow anyone to put God in a box. He came for the Pharisees, for the publicans, for the sinners. He wouldn’t let people put expectations upon Him because of their traditions. He wouldn’t allow that to happen.

Mark 3:1-2

Here we have someone who needs to be healed. He has a withered hand All the Pharisees were concerned about was whether it was the sabbath day or not – they had their traditions.

One of or brothers is in Egypt currently, preaching at many different kinds of churches. We went there not knowing what to do, and God has opened doors. I believe the Gospel is the only answer. There must be a move of God in those nations.

This man preached at a widows meeting on Jesus from John 3, and there was a lady there who came out for prayer. He said he knew God was going to do something. He stuck his fingers in her ears, and she began to hear. When the meeting was finished, he went out and people began to rush to him. Sometimes they’ve been so enthusiastic, he’s been afraid they’d draw attention to him. The people took him to a house, and an impromptu house meeting began. Then he went to a pastors’ meeting and he spoke to 13 pastors. Then he was taken to a Presbyterian church – all on the same day. He said they wanted to start a five-day meeting immediately. And the only meeting actually arranged that day was the first meeting for the widows.

I tried to encourage him to go to the Coptic church too, but he said the Pentecostals were unsure about that, because you had to kiss the priest’s hand. But there are good Christians in Coptic churches too, and if you have to kiss the priest’s hand to get in there, then do it!

Take the woman who was a prostitute. What someone has done in the past doesn’t matter. What have I done in my past? I’d be counted out on that basis. The challenge for us as Christians is to love one another regardless, and leave room for God to move in their lives.

When we receive one another as Christians and love one another, that gives God’s love space to transform a life. The thing which gets me most is God’s unconditional love for us, that while we were sinners, He died for us. That’s why I serve God – His unconditional love has got my heart.

If others around us don’t seem to be serving the Lord as much as we think they should, we shouldn’t hit them with the Law. When the unconditional love of the Lord gets hold of them, it’ll make the difference.

What I want to draw from Mark 3 is that the person mattered more to Jesus than did the law, the tradition, the sabbath, the issue that the religion people were standing on. The person, the family, the fellowship ... that this person was a child of Abraham mattered more to Jesus than the tradition. Are we not children of God in one family, and isn’t that the issue amongst us a people, and as brothers and sisters in Christ.

In all of the Gospels, it was people that mattered to Jesus, not the law. The two commandments are that we love the Lord with all of our heart – not to check up on how someone else is doing in that respect; and to love my neighbour, people, people, as myself. People are brought to the top. It’s not our traditions and laws and our righteousness which matter. My stand isn’t my righteousness – the blood of Jesus is my righteousness.

In Ephesians 2, Paul is talking about division between Jew and Gentile, which was based on the law. “They don’t eat the food we eat, don’t worship on the same day, don’t have the same traditions.” And so Jew and Gentile were separated under the Old Covenant. But under the New Covenant, its’ not the tradition, but the blood of Jesus which matters.

Ephesians 2:1-10

We are His workmanship – the one who went away and the one who remained. In ancient church history, there was a persecution in Egypt. Some people stood and died in the persecution. Others didn’t. They confessed what they were told to confess, and they survived. After the persecution was over, those who compromised wanted to come back into the church, and those who had stood firm said no. That was a big issue in church history. I don’t have an answer, but we have to give place for God to work, and God can transform and save a life, because He’s done it with me. I’ve compromised, and He’s saved me, so I know He can do it. I have to let God have space to do it.

Ephesians 2:11-12

The wall of the Jewish traditions has been removed out of the way because God wanted to make one family, making Jew and Gentile one.

Ephesians 2:13

He is our righteousness – not our stand on something. I’m not talking about abandoning our standards. I’m talking about the Gospel.

Ephesians 2:14

If God has broken down the wall, how dare we build it up again? How dare we behave as though that wasn’t done by Christ?

Ephesians 2:15

To bring that which was divided by the law ... by fulfilling the Old Testament law, and fulfilling the conditions, He removed those conditions, and His blood became the righteousness of those ordinances. So we now come to Him as one man, based on His body. It’s not our cultures which draw us together, but the blood of Christ.

The enmity was the stand, the divisions. His blood becomes our righteousness and therefore he can make one body based on peace, on agape, on His love for us.

Ephesians 2:16-17

“Far off” – the Gentile, the outsider, the one we reject; “nigh” – those within the church.

Ephesians 2:17-18

The spirit of God who comes to live in us. I don’t have access to God because I’ve done enough good things. If my access was based on that, I wouldn’t have access. But my access is based on grace.

Ephesians 2:19-22

Not through the law, but through the spirit.

Paul is an apostle to the Gentiles, and he’s talking about one body united. We have to forget the laws and traditions, but talk of the blood of Christ instead.

The publicans and sinners ... the publicans were the “church people” – those who were doing His will.

Luke 15:1-3

Jesus gives various parables. He speaks of the lost sheep, as an example of what God’s heart is. He speaks too of the woman who loses a coin, and had a heart for the lost one – and that needs to be our heart too.
v11 gives the parable of the prodigal son. Some people say the parable is concerned more with the prodigal’s brother, not the prodigal himself.

Luke 15:11-21

This must be our passion – to forget about the hundred and go for the one.

Luke 15:22

There’s been a real change of God in the heart. There was a complete turnaround, a change of heart, of nature. It was full and genuine, and the man was filled with God’s spirit.

Luke 15:23-29

The brother recounts the things which the prodigal has done in the past.

Luke 15:30-32

If the brother is really concerned for the Father’s heart, he’d know it was the Father’s heart for the two brothers to be one. It’s not pleasing the Father for us to insist on doing everything just so – what pleases Him is when people are brought together in His love.

In Hosea, it talks of the sins of Israel. Once I was about to exclude someone because of their immaturity and behaviour. And the Lord spoke to me from Hosea, and said “Don’t exclude them, but love them.” My love won’t change someone, but God’s love can work through us. We have all of us gone prostituting away from God.

Hosea 2:16-20

They have gone astray from Him totally, and His heart had been wounded deeply. And yet out of this comes the full love of God, speaking of the rejoicing and salvation to come. He would change their heart and make us lovers of God.

Hosea 3:1

God tells Hosea to take a harlot to wife. This is against the law, I think. But redemption fulfils the law – our guilt under the law. “People who have had problems in their past ... I will love them and change them.”

Ephesians 4:1-2

Forbearing one another in love. Yes, Christians have faults. They’re people. There are hypocrites in the church, but there are more outside.

Philipians 2:1

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

We’re all fellows on the same ship. You may say there’s something wrong with it. Well, fix it! Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Philipians 2:2

“Likeminded” doesn’t mean we agree on the same things. Some people have been taught that if we don’t agree exactly, we can’t have fellowship, but our fellowship lies in the love of Christ.

Philipians 2:3-4

The Matters which Matter

By Pastor Kent Hodge

So many people get caught up on minor points of doctrine which end up dividing us. But God called us to love and care for one another. We need to major on the major.

1 Timothy 1:1-4

There are things which are of major importance to Christians – and they are faith and love. They had people in Ephesus who were debating the peripheral things. You can make a big issue out of small things. People can get in a twist about things and put them ahead of their brethren. But the important thing is our brother and sister in Christ, not the way we worship or whatever. To put these things ahead of the brethren is totally against God’s will. He died that we might be one. His will is that we should be happy together in the Father’s household.

In Ephesus, people were making their righteousness of things which had nothing to do with righteousness. Our righteousness is in the blood of Christ, not in the way we do things.

1 Timothy 1:4

What builds the church up is faith. Godly building is faith. Faith that works through love – that was really Paul’s Gospel.

1 Timothy 1:5

The end of the whole thing is that we love one another. Anything which will hinder that is not according to God’s will and purpose for our life. The end of the matter is that we are brethren and love one another. Jesus said the most important commandment was that you love the Lord God with all of your heart and mind, with all of your strength, with all of your being ... and that you love your neighbour as yourself.

1 Timothy 1:5

“Pure” in the sense of there being just one thing in the heart, wanting to walk God’s way.

These are the main things.

I want to talk about the brother of the Prodigal Son. We’ll get to that later on. But there are many parables Jesus gave. When Jesus spoke about the Prodigal, He was with the publicans and sinners. The sinner was the prodigal son, and the publican was his brother. As far as the Father was concerned, both were His sons, and He accepts both according to His redemption.

The most wonderful thing we have from God is redemption. God’s ability to take someone like the prodigal and by His love alone change their life and heart and make them a new person in Christ. On Sunday we’ll look at Hosea, who was told to take a prostitute to wife. It was a picture of God redeeming Israel. I want to look at how there is power in the Gospel, in the love of Christ, to change someone. I’m not talking about lowering our standards in Christ, but I’m talking about the heart of God and His redemption. Somehow His love is able to work through us in a miraculous way and reach out to people who are living wrong or don’t know Him. There’s a love in us which reaches out to these people whereas others would reject them.

The way we sometimes deal with other people, and the things we say about other Christians, are wrong. We write people off. We speak things which ought not to be said. If God is working in us, the challenge is that there is a love which is able to reach through us and touch other people’s lives.

This thing about the publicans and sinners ... Jesus dealt with this issue many times, and it got Him into trouble, because it wasn’t what the religious people expected of Him.

Mark 3:1-2

I’ve heard people talk about how they baptise only according to specific principles. A man came to me and said he was getting baptised again because they hadn’t used the right words the first time. But you’ve been baptised into Christ when you are born again and repent and turn to Him.

I remember people making a big deal about how old you should be when you are baptised, and it caused a split with other brethren. They thought their doctrine was better than other people’s.

If God was ticking people off about things like this, He would have ticked me off years ago. When we tell people off, there are three fingers pointing back at us. There has to be a different way. And that is the way of love.

I’m not talking about lowering our Christian standards. Truth is truth, righteousness is righteousness. But we’re talking about people, and God changing them as He has changed us.

Mark 3:2-4

These people were taking the letter of the law. But the law furnished us with principles. In the law it talks about a woman who is taken by force. The law says if the woman screams, it’s by force, otherwise it’s by consent. That was a principle for judges to use in courts. But the law isn’t giving the letter there. Maybe the person was unable to scream – maybe their mouth was bound. The judge has to look for the principle of consent. The reason the law furnishes the principle is that God loves the lady. To take the law and kill with it is contrary to the purpose of the law, which was to protect. If we refuse to talk or eat with people, we’re like Peter when he was sent to Cornelius, and initially baulked against it.

Mark 3:4-5

What mattered to Jesus more was the person, not the sabbath. Not the law, but the person the law was made to protect. The Pharisees had turned this around and put the law above fellowship and love and restoration and healing of our inner man, not just our body.

Matthew 12:1-4

One of the reasons for this was that it wasn’t lawful for a king to presume to be a priest. So it was something to keep people out of this. People weren’t born again in the Old Testament and had to go by these strictures. And we also have the division of powers today where the legislature is separate from Parliament etc.

But David wasn’t going against the law here. He wasn’t presuming to be a priest; he was simply hungry. David loved the law, read the word. All the Psalms are about his respect for the law of God. He could see Christ in the law. He could see the shepherd heart in the law. Because of the Holy Spirit on his life, he was able to see this. He wasn’t bogged down in religiosity, but he loved the Lord.

Matthew 12:3-5

God says He wants mercy. Brethren are to be walking in love, not to be divided by doctrine etc. We’re one body redeemed by His blood. In my own life in Nigeria, the more direct I get in my preaching, the more I have to love people.

Matthew 12:6

The Pharisees didn’t like that. They had made a religion out of law, and the temple was the symbol of it.

Matthew 12:7-8

The kingdom is faith that works through love, not a question of abstaining from certain kinds of food and so on. We have liberty, but we don’t use it in a way that might offend people. The main thing is to love our brother. The main thing in our own lives is not the meat, but to love one another. And that’s the will of God for us. We are all baptised into one body and all drink of one brook. That’s the issue. Cornelius and Peter didn’t eat the same meat, but they both drank from the same brook.

At our conference, I asked why, if we all drank together, we couldn’t have a communion. That brought a stunned response. But we were eating of Jesus together. I said I’d invite the Anglican Archbishop to do it. He has been persecuted and stood faithful and true to the Gospel. They have come through persecution. But he wasn’t available. So we didn’t do it.

What we want is one body with spirit-filled reformed theology. I love it. Let’s go on with the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation.

We are one body and eat of one bread. That’s what matters. Basically we need to exercise patience with one another, so God can move. Give God space to move in someone’s life.

Mark 2:23-28

Mark 2:27

This is one of the things in the parable of the prodigal son. When he came back, the other son recounted all the things that he had done. And that wasn’t what the father wanted. He wanted both sons. Some people have called this the parable of the prodigal’s brother. Jesus was peaking both to the publicans and to the sinners.

The sabbath was made for man and not man for the sabbath. The law was made to help and protect man, not to destroy him.

If we get someone who has messed up in the past, we don’t want to destroy them with the law. We want to think about how we can move on. When we take the Gospel out into the world, it’s not a perfect world. When I was first saved, I had an issue with restoration. You had to think about all the things you did before you were saved and sort them out. What God says about us is, “Let him who stole, steal no more.” God wants a changed heart and life. If I were to go back and restore everything, I’d have to leave my family. I don’t even know the people any more.

1 Timothy 1:7-9

The law testifies against sinners and protects us. But we know the law is good if it is used lawfully – and that means using it to help and protect, not to pull down.

Our God Reigns

By Garold Andersen

God has made us to be yeast to those around us. We need to be ready to take the message of His love to those we meet every day.

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Listen to the online sermon (Podcast) »

My heart is filled with so many thoughts from the Lord regarding this group of people, this portion of the body of Christ. I want us to take a few moments to consider the idea of this song. It was a song saying “We will work the fields together – one person does this, one that”. It’s the uniqueness of this relationship with God called Christianity, this following of the ways of Christ. The ways of Christ say each one of us is called individually and yet we fit together. Each of us is involved in very different aspects. I want you to consider where your involvement is – the place you work, the faces you meet. I’d like to pray:

“Father this is the field that you have given me, and I don’t know how to work in that field, but I give all of my heart to be your representative in that field. Where my talents and ability take me, I want to be your representative of your goodness, grace and compassion.”

Parable of the yeast: I don’t know if you can call this a parable. It’s a little piece of wisdom which Jesus throws out. I love the statement, “What can I compare the kingdom of God to?” From a theatrical point of view, this is very significant. Jesus often said this. What I see is Jesus, the son of God, who is doing everything He does by listening to the spirit of the Lord – “I'm only doing what my Father says.” He could have done everything Himself, but He’s trying to give us an example.

He asks “What can I use to give you a picture of the kingdom of God?” and God says, “This is what these people need to hear.”

He says it’s like yeast which a woman took and hid in 50 lbs of flour. She mixes it until it influences the entire mix. That’s the kingdom of heaven. Flour. Flour is wheat, life, bread. It’s life that is not alive. It’s crushed. There’s nutrients in it, but the grain has been picked crushed, and there it is. The possibility of something coming together and giving life is there. Yeast is something different. Yeast is a living organism. It’s life. This is what Jesus was saying. The kingdom of God is like that yeast. It’s small. It seems insignificant, but when it’s mixed into the loaf ... You can put flour together with water, and you have a dough. But you add yeast, and that little bit of dough you had has grown, because you’ve added to it something of life. The kingdom of God is about life.

What I want to leave us with is the simple idea, that you have a field of influence, but you also have this yeast, this life. I honestly believe that this is such an amazing time for this body. I think there has been a lot of transitioning, and I am filled with expectation for you. You have considered where God has brought you. The things you have learnt have been good things. They are good foundational ideas. And now you are open to say, “Where exactly do we go from here?” There is an expectation. And I want to plant a seed for what God has for you – an excitement.

The early church ... The church was in Rome, and in Rome, the early church was facing a great deal of persecution. The Roman government was based on using the worship of the gods to control its people, and now along comes a group of outsiders – Roman citizens, but blasphemers, because they believed in only one true God. The Christians faced persecution. They were sent at times to be fed to the lions, to be burnt. And something happens in Rome, because of bad water supply, bad sewage disposal. The plague enters Rome, and people begin to get sick. In the pagan religion, the idea was that the person who is sick is cursed of the gods – and if you leave that curse in your home, the curse will come on you. So people took their own sick children and threw them into the streets. The sick and the dying were lying everywhere in the streets, and you had to go other places to avoid them.

What is the need of the person lying in the street dying a horrible death? One of the leaders of the church in Rome gathered together the believers and said, “Though these people have hated and persecuted you, we have an inheritance of mercy and grace. Go into the streets and show those people love. Help them to die with compassion and mercy.”

And as they beginning to go an minister, pagan family members saw what they were doing, saw that they were taking care of their own family, and they asked, “What is this hope that you have in your lives? Who is this God that you serve?” It was one of the great moments of transformation in the Roman empire. At this point, the Christian faith entered into Caesar’s own household. Through the difficulty of the world they were in, the Christians rose to the occasion and showed compassion. And that changed the hearts of those around them. It was the beginning of the true Gospel of compassion penetrating into the world.

Isaiah 52:7

I really want us to grasp this. Isaiah is speaking truth. Within the world, the feet of the messenger who says, “I’m sorry to say you have to pay an extra $50,000 in taxes.” “I’m sorry you’re going to lose your job.” ... those are not lovely feet. The lovely feet belong to the messenger who comes and says, “Here’s a message for you – peace.” Good things. Good news. I like that message. Who in the world does not like that message? What is that message? Good news.

I want to go back to the idea of the pagan gods. We had gods for eating. We also had very strong gods who were the gods of war. And Isaiah is saying, “The news we have is that there is one God and He is not the God of war, but of peace, mercy and compassion.”

I was about ready to go on tour one year. I was performing in normal theatres. I would ask God, “What message would you give me to speak to the people?” As I would speak to people, God would give me a foundational idea of what to say. This time, God said, the message is “Our God reigns.” When God spoke that to me, it clicked. I know this message was to Zion, but through Christ it becomes the message to the entire human race. And it is not my God reigns, but our God reigns.

In the neighbourhood where you live, they may not know that. Maybe they think God is the god of war, or of religion. But the good news is that our God, the God of peace and good things is truly God, and our God reigns.” Our God reigns.

When I first began to speak to people about my beliefs, I would see them as someone distant from God. I would approach people thinking, how could I break through and reach them with the message? This thing changed my idea. It changed the position in my thinking. I was always viewing things in this way – “me and them”. But the transition God gave in my heart was this ... our God reigns. Even though you may not understand that, our God reigns. God wanted me to find a relationship with those people so I could speak to them that message – our God reigns.

That needs to be our understanding. But for many people we will meet, it’s not that easy. I want to end with a very quick concept, challenge, hope, encouragement ...

In Nigeria there are young people who are having visions and dreams – and those visions and dreams ... God is very specific. He works through humans. He said He looked through the world to see if He could find someone to stand in the gap. God made us kings and lords of this planet, and He’s asking if we’ll partner with Him. Ask Him for His power and mercy on your neighbourhood. Those visions and dreams are coming because of prayers – beyond a shadow of a doubt. These people are being discipled and are going back to the field from which God has called them, with a message – our God is not the harsh Allah, but the God of peace, grace and mercy.

Daniel faced a very interesting situation. He grew up at a time when the children of God were a mess. This is so significant. The church that Daniel was a part of – they were a mess. And yet, in the midst of this, some people were mentoring Daniel and his three friends. Those four young men had a foundation which was a rock. We need young people who have foundations in their lives which are rock solid. We need people like that who can be world leaders – leaders from this body. World leaders, who understand peace, good things, life.

Daniel and his friends were taken and were brought into the kingdom. In ancient cultures this was done for this reason. I conquer a tribe. But I don’t want to bring them all back to Babylon. So I look for the best young people and bring them as hostages. And now I infiltrate them with the yeast of my culture. So now your next generation of leaders will be from my cultural perspective.

Daniel and his friends were given food to eat and did not know how it was prepared. They didn’t know if blood had been mixed into the wine, as it often was. The children of God had been told that life was in the blood and they should not eat.

Daniel asked permission from the chief official. God granted Daniel favour and compassion. But he said, “You’re asking me to put my neck on the chopping block. You want to eat only vegetables and water. But my captain will notice, and you’ll be skinny. And my captain will ask what is going on, and it will be my neck.” And Daniel says, “Just test your servants for ten days. Test our appearance. And deal with us afterwards based on what you see.”

After ten days they looked healthier than all of the others.

And God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of wisdom.

I want to look at a verse which tells us the heart of who Daniel was. When the king has a dream, and can’t remember it, Daniel is given the dream and the interpretation. He reveals it to the king, and the king says he’s amazing. But Daniel says God is amazing – but God gave you the dream.

Eventually Daniel becomes one of the main leaders in Babylon and influences Babylon with the yeast of God’s kingdom. But He did it by serving, bringing news of good things.

I pray with all my heart that I can leave you with this simple picture, and this challenge. There is truly a power of life which is the yeast of the kingdom of God. It is the power which brings people back from the dead. So many people have lives which, behind the busyness, are empty. And the yeast of God’s kingdom is real and is life. We must begin to be like the people I spoke of in Rome, who take out of the goodness of God’s blessing and life. This is what you already do, but I believe God is calling you to do even further. The yeast is not doctrinal ideas. It is the yeast of life, the yeast of heaven – heaven, life, goodness, compassion, mercy.

I believe in the world right now there are many changes happening. And we can either remain in a place of safety, of saying, “I’m a Christian, praise God, and I come together with nice people and we do nice things.” That’s good. But the challenge now is that we should rise to the occasion. It’s not something difficult, but it is something real. Believe you have the power of the yeast of the kingdom of God in your life. And take that yeast into your neighbourhood. And live the power of that yeast in the world. Have beautiful feet. And be people of good news of great joy.

The message is not that you get to go to church every week. The good news is life and peace. Daniel wasn’t removed from persecution and difficulty. But it is the good news of life.

Micah 6:8

Love mercy, love compassion, walk humbly with God. It was humility which opened the heart of the officials around Daniel. Serve your community with this yeast of power and life.

Leaders Serving God

It is vital that we are sensitive to the will of Christ, so that we in no way hinder what God is doing in the church. We need a leadership team that consists of people who are willing to wholeheartedly lay their lives down for the church. Certain characteristics are lay down by Paul, of the type of person that God wants in leadership; we must make sure that, as we prayerfully consider, we choose people whose lives are in line with those characteristics.

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Firstly I want to refer to the foundation we have in Christ. The one thing that was the foundation of Paul’s testimony was the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, it means that everything has become new. You have a different way of looking at things, a different reason for living.

If I’m a Christian it means that He is the Lord of my life; I am a new creation in Christ. The future is how God will work what He wants to do in His church. As time marches on the church will be added to. The church is people. There are a lot of people outside of the church worldwide who have a great need in their life. It’s true that for some people, when they meet you, it is as if they are meeting a representative of the Kingdom of God. You know what God has done in your life and through you He can meet other people who need help because they are without God.

2 Corinthians 5:17

God is building His church in His way and in His time. It is God that gives the increase, not he that plants or he that waters. We are labourers together with God. When we talk about sharing our faith, the sharing of our faith is to do with what God wants to do in meeting the needs of others. Anyone who is involved with leadership in a church is simply in line with what God wants to do in His church. This morning I’m going to refer to various aspects of church leadership. One thing which is apparent, as you read the New Testament, is that there is no set template. I can’t turn to a chapter in the Bible and say here are the verses, this is what we must do today. What there are though, in Scripture, are specific guidelines and principals, bearing in mind that this is all set in the context of what God wants to do.

I’ve explained before that when the apostles were alive, they could refer to what Jesus had told them. When they got older and the church grew, it went from Jerusalem, to Judea, to the uttermost parts of the earth. As the church grew buildings weren’t immediately built. There were just houses, people’s houses, in which people gathered. As the church grew, Paul and Peter, wrote various letters to ensure that there was an input to steer things the right way; to ensure that Jesus Christ was the one that was uplifted; that He was the focus. Obviously, as people were added to the church, there was a growing need for some sort of order. So various things needed to be done to ensure this happened. You find that in different letters Paul wrote, he wrote of specific situations to put right what had gone wrong. For example, in the problem of the widows:

1 Corinthians 7:8-9

1 Timothy 5:11-14

From Corinthians it would seem that it were better for widows to stay single, but in Timothy it shows that it is better for them to remarry. So, he spoke specifically according to the situation. Elsewhere it talks about whether women should have a head covering. In Corinthians Paul’s conclusion was that it was better that women should have a head covering in the church. That was just what Paul thought was appropriate in the religion and customs of that time, so that the Gospel could be furthered.

1 Timothy 2:8-15

That is all to do with a particular situation in the church that Paul wrote to Timothy about. Does that mean that, if you are woman here, you have sinned because you have opened your mouth? No it doesn’t. Some people lift that up out of context and consider it to be very important. The letter to Timothy was written for a specific reason:

1 Timothy 3:14-16

Paul wrote this because he was worried that he was not going to be able to see Timothy. There’s something about the church, which is the bride of Christ, which is of utmost importance to the future. The church is where it’s at as far as God displaying His glory. It’s the church, by God’s Holy Spirit, the love of God. ‘Behold how they love one another’, it was said of the early Christians. There was a common cause between them, and a willingness to lay down their lives for each other.

The second book of Timothy was written to address the issue of the false doctrine that had been brought into the church. Paul wanted Timothy to know how to deal with those people who had brought in the false doctrine.

In the way that Paul wanted Timothy to know how to organise things, it was the more the case that he wanted Timothy to appoint leaders. In similar vein, he wrote letters to Titus, to appoint leaders to all the churches in Crete. In Timothy, when Paul wrote to him, he outlined various pointers that he should note when choosing leaders. We want to get the right people to be part of a pastoral team. There are a few verses in Timothy which point what a pastor should be like:

1 Timothy 3:1-12

So there are certain characteristics of the type of person that God wants to be involved in leadership. Paul also wrote Titus, saying similar things:

Titus 1:5-10

This isn’t someone who is chosen at random, this is someone who has a heart for doing what God wants, someone who is prepared to lay down their lives for the church. We don’t want someone who is appointed, and then feels it isn’t really something that they want to do wholeheartedly. Jesus Christ lay down His life for the brethren. I want the leadership to become less of me, and more of others. The fact that there is a team means that there is an accountability built in there. The bottom line is that there needs to be the right people in leadership.

1 Peter 5:1-4

In the letter to Timothy Paul told him not to appoint a novice. He didn’t say that to Titus because that weren’t actually that many older people in the church at Crete. So you can seen that Paul was keen for it to be right in each place, according to the contextual situation of that place. I do not think that there is a set number of leaders per size of church; no, you want the right number of leaders. It is paramount that everyone is cared for in the church, so it is obvious that as the church increases in size, the leadership group will also increase in size.

The review group also discussed the role of women:

Romans 16:1-16

There are nineteen men and nine women mentioned there. They were probably not all in leadership, but it does show that women had a role to play in God’s church. If we are thinking about the leadership, must it always be male? There are particular things that Paul attributed to particular locations, but overall the ultimate authority in a church should be male. So, I think we should make sure we nominate people who have the right qualities, male or female. But I do think, that the males in the leadership will have the final word in a decision.

I don’t want for us to hinder God’s purposes in any way. I do not have a hidden agenda. The agenda is: to lift up Christ and share our faith with others, so that He may draw people to Himself through us. We may start with a small team and then that will be added to later, as God wants.

This is all set in the context of our desire to be sensitive to what God wants to do, so that He may fulfil His will.

Matthew 16:18

‘The gates of hell’ in those days referred to death. It doesn’t matter what voices are being sounded against it, God will build His church.

Ephesians 4:15-16

This applies to each one of us. We must not have any thoughts of scoring points off each other; we must love one another. That means being willing to lay down your lives for each other; it’s not about me, it’s about others.

Nehemiah (Part 4 of 9) - The Walls of Your Life

The book of Nehemiah has much to say about the building of the walls of Jerusalem and there is just as much need for walls in our lives. We look here at the walls of truth, obedience, love, joy, respect, and peace.

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We’ve been looking at the book of Nehemiah.

The book was written by Nehemiah. Chapter 1 shows him becoming aware that the rebuilding of Jerusalem, which he thought was in hand, was not happening; and he was led to call out to God. Chapter 1 records his prayer. It’s good to pray, and God hears your prayers. Maybe you’ve prayed of late and have been wondering. God hears your heart-felt prayers. Nehemiah’s prayer was answered.

In Chapter 2, the king observed that Nehemiah was concerned about something, and asked what it was. Nehemiah asked permission to go, and the king let him go to oversee the rebuilding. Not only that, but Nehemiah was emboldened to ask for material assistance.

Chapter 3 has Nehemiah at Jerusalem, surveying the state of the city. And he explains to the people how God had prospered his way. Enemies of the city tried to undermine the work, but Nehemiah said God would prosper them.

Chapter 3 lists 72 people who joined together to do the work. There is reference to one group who got involved, but whose nobles refused. But in other cases, everyone joined in. For example there is mention of one man and his daughters who got involved. I believe they respected their father, respected what he stood for, and they got on with it.

As the work progressed, it was obvious that Sanballat and the other enemies were even more anxious about what was going on, and the opposition went up a gear. We’ll look today at this opposition and the way Nehemiah and everyone else responded.

It’s possible to think about the walls of Jerusalem as the walls of the church. I don’t want to dwell on that today. Today we will cover the walls of your life, as an individual. What is the foundation of your life? What is the foundation of you as an individual? And those of you who are fathers, what are the walls you are creating for your family? Married men, what walls are you creating for your wife? And for everyone, the walls need to be right in your life.

It’s possible to look at the gates in chapter 3 as the walls of a Christian life. The first gate mentioned is the Sheep Gate, where the priests were involved. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” Wonderful that God sent His son to be the way that we come back into life away from the paths of sin through the Sheep Gate, the entry point, Jesus Christ.

In Chapter 4 it was obvious that Nehemiah was organising things. He gave out responsibilities :-

Nehemiah 3:10

Nehemiah 3:23

Nehemiah 4:1

Sanballat thought in his arrogance that he could knock down the work which was being done. His first two questions were a direct hit – the Jews were weaklings; would they fortify themselves? It’s possible that the enemy of your soul through opposition makes a direct attack on you – “Call yourself a Christian? You don’t believe that, do you? Do you really believe in God?” There’s a chipping away.

Sanballat thought he was so clever. Would the Jews return to their religious observances, given the state in which Jerusalem found itself? And then there was a prod on the timescale – will they make an end in a day? What was the timescale supposed to be? Will they revive the stones? “Look at your life. You messed up. God isn’t blessing you. He hasn’t answered your prayer? How on earth is something going to be made out of that?”

Let’s just confirm here – we believe in the God who answers by fire and who makes the impossible, possible. You may be staring at an impossibility. You may be unable to think of a scheme to sort things out, and the enemy has come and said, “Are you going to make something out of that mess?”

Nehemiah 4:3

Nehemiah 4:4

Nehemiah 4:6

It’s how you think, your attitude to things, you as an individual stating, “OK – the foundation of my life is Jesus Christ, the foundation of my future is what He wants me to do. I want to please Him.”

I will look shortly at what the walls might consist of in a Christian’s life.
It would have take time to set up the walls. It wasn’t a day’s work.

Nehemiah 4:7

There was a conspiracy. The opposition was growing, and the opposition made loud noises. The conspiracy was real. But ...

Nehemiah 4:9

The watch was there twenty four hours a day. There was constant supervision. There was an urgency in sorting things out for the family. The enemy is real, and our vigilance needs to be there. Nehemiah was wise is setting a watch.

I was given an article about a teenage suicide as a result of a person being isolated from her friends on FaceBook. The article is all to do with how an innocent-looking thing like a social networking site can become a vehicle not only for gossip, but for isolating people.

If I want to share news with someone overseas, the technology is brilliant. But at the same time this can be a channel for the enemy’s work. I’m not against the internet and hi-tech. But be careful that this doesn’t become an addiction for you, so your time is spent on catching up with gossip and on pulling people down. Be careful. Be vigilant.

We need to look at the walls in our lives.

The walls were half way up, and the opposition were angry and conspired together.

Nehemiah 4:9

They weren’t bitter when they said this – it was just that people were tired. There was a lot to sort out and they couldn’t build.

Nehemiah 4:11

Judah pointed out that people were tired and there was a lot to do. Then the enemies started piling on the threats. And the people who were near the enemies, camped around the cities, and could hear what was being said, came with reports. Opposition can come like that – “What’s the point? It’s not going to last. It’s not real.” Ten times it came from the people who lived near the enemy.

Nehemiah 4:13

“You’re right – I’m not denying what people is saying.” So he organised the people, and set the foundation of their heart as they grouped in families. There was no equivocation. They knew, with their weapons in their hands, that there was no way they were giving up, no way they would give in to the opposition, no way they would give in to tiredness.

Nehemiah 4:14

Those of you who are fathers here ... are you fighting for your family? Are you bringing your family in prayer to God? Are you setting the example for your family of respect and love? What are the walls of our lives that God wants to strengthen and develop? I want to look at six walls ...

1. The wall of truth - Ephesians 4:14

“Speaking the truth in love”. “In love” – those words are important. What will be our common denominator when we speak to one another? “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Jesus said the spirit of truth would come. You’re a Christian, so you speak the truth. “Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.” “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” So when I speak about anyone or address anyone, I speak the truth in love. I don’t speak things to pull down and destroy. I speak in love to build up. Lying will be the one thing which will not happen in your family. No lying. I don’t dwell in grey half-truths. I don’t cash in on another comment which may or may not be true. “Speaking the truth in love.”

2. The wall of obedience to God - Acts 5:29

This was in response to them being imprisoned. To obey is better than sacrifice. Obedience to God is key. So a wall of your existence is to be obedient to God, to what He says for you and what He wants for your life.

Jesus had just ascended, and Peter was clear that they should obey God rather than men.

Obedience is crucial, because if I have a disciplined home – not tyrannical, but disciplined – where the norm is that every time there is obedience, it engenders an attitude of doing what we’re told. And when the Holy Spirit opens up the way for that youngster, the same attitude applies. There comes a shaft of light, and there’s a track-record of obedience. The heavenly father talks to that youngster and draws them in love. Obedience. And there’s been no lying, so there’s truth – “I know I’m a sinner. I know that power of sin has to be broken in my life.” There’s a track record of truth and obedience.

3. The wall of love - John 15:11

That’s the commandment – that you love one another as I have loved you. It’s a wall in your life – to see people as God sees them, to have His love expressed through you, not to write people off. There’s a love which goes the extra mile, which lays down his life for his friends, with Jesus as the foremost example.Truth, obedience, love. And in these same verses is another one ...

4. The wall of joy - John 15:11, Hebrews 12:2

That joy was a people for Himself – the Bride of Christ. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, because the Bride of Christ is being established. There is a strength in joy for each of us. That means there is a joy in knowing we are seated with Him in heavenly places. There is a security. It is His life inside by His Holy Spirit. There is a joy in us.

When things happen in your life, what’s it like for the people around you? Pressures are real. Do we smile when something terrible happens? No. But it means that the wall of your life is joy, the joy that you are seated in Christ in heavenly places. There’s a joy and security. It’s something you want to share with others, not something to make you arrogant. And it cuts out the sulking, the reaching for the violin at a moment’s notice.

Stand – and having done all, stand. The wall of your life ... joy. Maybe so far there’s been a murky world of half truth rather than clarity. You’ve known what to say, but you know it doesn’t ring true. What’s it going to be? What’s the wall of your life? Truth, obedience, love, joy?

5. The wall of respect - Romans 12:10

Respect is important as a wall in your life – respect for God; respect for the older generation; respect for God when you come into a meeting chewing gum; respect in turning up to meetings on time. If I were to tell you that we were all invited to Buckingham Palace next week at 10 am, you’d be up at 6 am to make sure you were there.

Truth, obedience, love, joy, respect.

6. The wall of peace - Colossians 3:12

There’s something you have to let happen – let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Let it rule you.

Nehemiah 4:14

Who is your brother? He’s sitting next to you. Some of you have sons, daughters, wives. All of us have brethren. We have a place to live, thankfully. We’re to fight? Why? Because there are matters the enemy would seek to destroy, and there are elements in your life that God is putting His finger on this morning. You know that God is speaking to you. There are walls in your life which must be there. And the reason you’re hearing this this morning is that God wants them to be there and will help you. He is the answer, the one who provides a way forward, the one who is the source of love itself.

So when we’re asked to love one another, it’s an expression of God Himself. God is the source of love. For any individual, my prayer is that you would know more and more of the love of God. What would be the result of that? It will be a coming together, of fighting for your brethren, not cashing in on rumour.

Nehemiah 4:14

The walls of your life are on the foundation of Jesus Christ. What a foundation! The walls wouldn’t be there but for Him. He is our foundation.

Romans 13:12

Our Situation and God’s Solution

Just as Moses raised up the serpent in the wilderness, and those who looked upon it were healed, so there is a solution today for man’s sin condition. That solution lies in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

For quite a few of you, it’s true that you are thankful for the change in your life. Others would like it to be so, but it’s been some time since you’ve had the opportunity to respond what God has to say to you. Today, God is going to speak to you by His Holy Spirit.

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I was recently talking about the global problems we find ourselves in, something which has been forced on all of us – the financial problems of the whole world, the inter-relationship of money. The whole world is looking on. How can we solve this problem? On Friday we looked at the global problem in Noah’s time, and how God provided the Ark for the continuation of mankind. In Romans 5:12 we see the global problem again:

Romans 5:12–14

From Adam, the global problem has been sin. And the reason you can’t align yourself in your heart and be thankful for the change in your life is because there is sin. God isn’t condemning you for that; He’s saying He has the solution for that. And in the same way that toxic debt can be moved out of the world and everyone is happy, there’s a wide issue of toxicity in the world – sin. And in Adam, sin entered into the world, and with sin, death.

Ezekiel 18:19–20

In sin terms, we are on our own. Each of us individually needs to be involved and come to terms with the fact that sin is inside us and we need that sin to be dealt with. That’s why you try and you can’t succeed. You keep trying and it doesn’t work. Why? Because sin has not been dealt with in your heart. The power of it has not been broken. You try, and things go wrong again and you try again. I’m not saying don’t try – but there’s a reason why it isn’t working. It doesn’t matter what anyone else has done – you are what you are.

Ezekiel 18:21

But if the people then were born in sin, they were sinners, so how could they keep His statutes? Well, they knew that there were procedures laid down, a lamb could be sacrificed, and its blood would save them.

Ezekiel 18:22-23

Numbers 21:4–5

God had just brought them out of the land of Egypt, and their complaint was that things were not what they wanted, and they spoke against Moses.

Numbers 21:6–7

Circumstances were such that they ended up admitting that they had sinned. “We’re ungrateful. We’ve forgotten what has happened. We’ve been complaining about everything”. Over recent months, you’ve got to the point where you don’t know who you can trust, or whether you believe in church any more. And the enemy of your soul has emboldened you in your thinking, and you’ve wondered what the point is.

I want to convey to you, via your intelligence, that the problem is inside, and the reason you ask what the point is, is that deep down you know there is something which needs to be sorted. You know it. We can all put on a brave face with one another, but you know it.

Numbers 21:8–9

There was a solution

There was a solution. Don’t say God brought the serpents so He had to bring a solution. No – the soul that sinneth shall die. He hadn’t misled them. It is the same now. The soul that sinneth shall die. That is where we are at. You had to get into a situation where you saw the serpent on the pole.

What if my only child was bitten by one of these serpents. I know that as a result of that bite, they will die. Others have been dying. What I have to do is to get my child to see the serpent on the pole. I tell him he has to look at me because he has to see the pole. Don’t close your eyes. You have to see it. I take him and tell him to open his eyes and look. He does so, and sees, and he is all right; he lives.

There came a point in time when Jesus came to this earth.

John 1:10

John 1:29

That is the comment you need on the strap line in the financial world. Not a new fund for toxic debt: “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world”.

John 3:1–13

We are talking about Jesus Christ, who was physically speaking to Nicodemus. He was talking to someone who had come to earth for a reason – for Nicodemus and for you. Why do we have to keep talking about Jesus? Why did it kick off in Bethlehem? Well, Jesus Christ came to this world to save sinners. John the Baptist acknowledged Him – “Behold the Lamb of God”.

John 3:13–15

When Moses was told to create the serpent and anyone who sees it would live, Jesus was involved with that. And now He recounts these same things to Nicodemus – “Even so must the son of man be lifted up”.

What was the mechanism in Moses’s time for them to live? They just had to look. The moment they saw the serpent, they would live. “Nicodemus – the son of man must be lifted up in the same way”. And we have here the emblem of the Cross.

And now we have the global solution again...

John 3:16–17

Does that mean the whole world will be saved? We have just read “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him...” Now we come down to it. If there was a pole here at the front, and if I could get you to look at that pole, you would change and live; that would be the way we would do it.

At this point, we’re looking back to the time when Jesus was lifted up on the Cross. He broke the power of sin in your life when He was lifted up like that. He was buried, rose from the grave, and conqurered death. The soul that sins, it shall die. Life in Jesus Christ is eternal, it is a life where the power of sin is broken. Your intellect is not ignored, but the message is quite simple – “Come as a little child”. If the son of man is lifted up, just believe. “Will that deal with the doubts in my heart?” Of course! Sin may grip you, but this will deal with it.

John 3:18–21

“He that doeth truth”. Are you going to be true to yourself today? Are you going to face the facts that you know are true? Are you going to admit that inside yourself you can’t do it, and that inside you have a sinful nature which needs to change. You know what you need to say to appear to be right, but inside you know it’s not true. You are the one God is speaking to you this morning. I know it, because He loves you. “Nicodemus, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...Me”.

John 9:5

He’s still in the world by His Spirit.

John 12:28-30

What you are hearing is for you.

John 12:31

Jesus knew why He came to the earth, and He knew that the global sin problem which affects every individual problem had to be dealt with. There had to be a solution because God loved the world.

What did Jesus mean? That as a result of Him being on the Cross, of giving His life to take into Himself the power of sin, He rose from dead and conquered it, and the prince of the earth was cast out, and could not cause death any more.

That’s why in your thought life at times, one thing leads to another, to another, and it’s as though you can’t help it. But Jesus says, “Now is the prince of this world cast out”.

John 12:32

Whoever believes on Him… As a result of what happened on the Cross as He was lifted, now the work has been done and the judgment has been dealt with. What about the judgment on you? Where are we this morning with the judgment on you? Deep down you have been longing to get yourself cleaned out. God has been drawing you by His Spirit.

Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born from above. He’d started off in the wrong way and “You need to believe what I could be doing for you”.

In our situation we believe by God’s Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ came to break the power of sin in my life, and cause me to go right, not wrong. And in the simple matter of belief, it is as if you start again. Not kidding yourself. But it is His life on the inside. “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me”.

In Numbers, they just had to look. And here you look, and by God’s Holy Spirit you know that He has every right just to let you die, through what you’ve been thinking and doing, and you’re ashamed of it. He’s not here to expose you, but because He loves you He has provided a solution. Jesus spoke about Himself and the fact that He submitted Himself and gave His life for you.

What is your future to be? Where are we at? Is your future going to be hoping it will be all right because you know the right things to say and do, but you’re not sure? Or will it be a realisation that the power of sin needs to be broken, and it’s a case of you determining that you need to get this sorted out? Now is the time! “I was thinking about this yesterday. I knew I would come to this point in time. What do I do?” What I need to do is to encourage you now, not to think about anyone else. I want you to think about you. And if just one person responds, that’s brilliant. The global problem, the toxic debt, the problem of sin actually comes down to the individual. God loved the world, person by person by person, that He gave His only Son that whosever believed on Him should not perish.

It is not an insurance policy; it’s a different life, a life where you can be yourself and not play-act, where you can rejoice in what God has done for you – He’s broken the power of sin in your life and given you His life. That’s what He’s saying to you this morning.

I am going to ask a question of you on behalf of God. I want you to be honest, and I want you to realise we are not messing around. We are talking about why Jesus Christ came to this earth, and He is here for you. By His Holy Spirit, there are people for who today is the day and you know it is. I don’t know who it is, but I know what I was meant to say.

Are you going to believe in Jesus Christ and all He has done for you? Are you going to ask Him to change you on the inside? What does that change mean? It means the breaking of the power of sin in your life. It means you taking life and walking away from sin and death.