Union in Christ

a verse or two

So there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, between slaves and free people, between men and women; you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

Spiritual Walk and Musings: Come to Me and Rest. 

The words of Jesus when he says “come to me...and I will give you rest” tie in so much with placing faith in Christ and being in union with Him. As we spend time exploring Galatians, one thing pointed out is how the purpose of the law was to show what wrong is (Gal 3:19), yet the law was also burdensome creating divisions (some people could fulfil certain parts of the law and others not and so the law separated people). Those unable to fulfil the law ended up exasperated, weighed down and disenfranchised. But union in Christ changes everything—when coming to Jesus and placing faith in him the law is dealt to. Trying to fulfil the law is no longer required and the result is there is no longer difference between anyone – all who come to him are one in union with Christ Jesus and there is rest in him. 

Have you taken on Christ’s yoke? Have you found him gentle and not harsh? If harsh maybe you have not found the real Jesus. Jesus is humble in spirit and not lofty or religious. Jesus said... 

“My Father has given me all things. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest.30 For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light. (Matthew 11:27 – 30)

To Pray and Ponder: UNITY 

Always pray for us to love one another and live in unity. “Christians do not have permission to discriminate against other believers. The emphasis must always be, not on unity for unity's sake, but on unity in Christ. Where Christ is not recognized as Lord, all unity will be superficial, if present at all. But remarkably divergent people who recognize in Jesus their common life will find deep unity and fellowship. 

Those who seek unity as their only goal will find their objective elusive. Those who seek others who also name Jesus as Lord will find themselves yoked with any number of unusual characters. Unity flows out of being "in Christ," not the other way around. Where do you tend to discriminate (culture, background, gender, racial issues)?”  [from LABC-Galatians]

God Bless, Jon

The Need for labourers

a verse or two

"...then [Jesus] said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Matthew 9:35-38 (NRSV).

Spiritual Walk and Musings: The Need for labourers.

Sheep without a shepherd behave in a curious way. They follow a 'leader' from among themselves in what appears to be an orderly and purposeful way. The only snag is that their leader does not know which way to go and is as likely to lead them to disaster as to security. Do you ever think of Jesus' description of his society as 'harassed and helpless' when looking at our own. How did we get to a state where we take moral advice from a runner-up on Big Brother, or emotional advice from an astrologer on the back page of a TV guide? G K Chesterton, the 20th century novelist, wrote: 'When people stop believing in God, they do not come to believe in nothing; they start believing in anything.' 

Meanwhile intractable problems - injustice, illness, violence, pollution - continue to blight our world out of sight (or perhaps out of mind). No wonder Jesus urged us to pray for people who will approach this world with the priorities of God, the 'Lord of the harvest'. He was looking for people who would engage with the world's needs not with the attitude of a leader, but with the attitude of a labourer. That is what distinguishes the way a celebrity operates from the way a mission worker operates. And it applies whether you find yourself in a school, in an office, in the National Health Service, or in a developing world country. 

Can you see yourself as a 'labourer in the harvest'? Why not chat with other St. David’s folk and suss what kind of work can be done in the interests of Richmond’s (and beyond) poorest people. Why not consider the opportunities by visiting local volunteer organisations. Also, the PCANZ Global Mission Office help NZ church groups visit 3rd world churches to help and encourage them – why not bite the bullet and go? If you left Richmond at 6am you could be in a remote 3rd world village by 6pm that same day. [adapted from http://www.surefish.co.uk/faith/daily_readings/]

To Pray and Ponder: Pray for mission workers 

Send people who are passionate, O Lord, 
to right what is unjust, 
until your kingdom come; 
Send people who are compassionate, O Lord, 
to stand alongside those who are in pain, 
until your will is done; 
Send people who are humble, O Lord, 
to make known the Saviour, 
until the world is won. Amen.

The Good News

a verse or two

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” Gal 1: 6

Spiritual Walk and Musings:The Good News:

The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news because it gives us the true life-changing message of hope from God. The world today is flooded with different "gospels," each claiming to offer an easier, better, more meaningful, more effective plan than God's original version. Not only do these "gospels" abound in the world; sadly, they even invade the church. 

The fatal flaw in every different gospel lies in ignoring or trying to bypass grace. These gospels develop their "hope" from the wisdom of humans (technology, education, science). They assign divine value to ideas and principles limited to this present physical world (humanism, materialism, determinism, scientism), and they glorify self-effort (design-your-own-spirituality, moral progress, self-perfection through some program, or even reincarnation). 

We must analyze ourselves and our faith in light of biblical truth. Helpful questions include: Is my life squarely founded on Christ's gospel? Have I been taking grace for granted? Have I allowed other "requirements" to take their place alongside faith in Christ in my understanding of salvation? Am I living by "another gospel"? [from LABC—section on Galatians 1] 

To Pray and Ponder: To follow Truth 

Bonhoeffer wrote that “to deviate from the truth for the sake of some prospect of hope of our own can never be wise, however slight that deviation may be. It is not our judgement of the situation which can show us what is wise, but only the truth of the Word of God. Here alone lies the promise of God’s faithfulness and help. It will always be truth that the wisest course for the disciple is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity.” 

Pray we do not become so ’clever’ we think we know more about God than God does. 
Pray we stick to the truth 
Pray we have enough simple trust in God who loves us enough, 
enough to ensure His word is understandable and available and true. 

duh 

God would not be God if it were not so

God Bless, Jon

Refugee Sunday 2009

a verse or two

"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me " Matthew 25:40

Spiritual Walk and Musings: Refugee Sunday 2009:

We’ve all heard people around us take stock of the global suffering and ask: “Where is God in the midst of this pain?”Certainly many refugees would be asking this question. Perhaps God is speaking a direct response to that question in Matthew chapter twenty-five? God's plan for justice, mercy and compassion is “just us”. It is us who are called to help feed the poor. It is us who are called to help heal the sick, to make time for the lonely, to show hospitality to the stranger, to advocate for the downtrodden. None of these things are always easy, it can get messy, it can be inconvenient, it might never end – but in serving the least of these we are serving Christ. 

To Pray and Ponder: The Refugee Prayer [by Faith Asylum Refuge] 

O Lord, 
  we, people of faith and people from various walks of life, 
  have known you through your various channels
as the One who provides 
  food for the hungry, clothes for the naked, 
  shelter for the unsheltered, home for the homeless, 
  freedom for the oppressed, respect for the unrespected 
  and dignity for the downtrodden.

We pray to you to give us the courage 
  to employ ourselves to be of help and support 
  to all refugees and asylum seekers who are suffering 
  because of terror and turmoil in various parts of the world

O Lord, 
  we pray to you that through your grace 
  we are encouraged to honour this commitment 
  which we share for the world.

Amen. 

God Bless, Jon

How deep the Father’s love for us

a verse or two

How deep the Father’s love for us 
How vast beyond all measure 
That He should give His only Son 
To make a wretch His treasure 

[verse one of the hymn by Stuart Townend]

Spiritual Walk and Musings: How Deep the Fathers Love for us.

The following quote by David G Benner articulates the profound depth of the Father’s love for us; it is from the book “Surrender to Love”.

“The Christian God is unlike any god humans could ever imagine. In fact, the Christian God operates in a manner so often unlike what we even want or are ready to receive that it is obvious that such a God is no mere projection of human imagination or desire. The great distinctive of the love of the Christian God is that there are no strings attached to it. God simply loves humans. He created us for a love relationship with himself, and nothing that we can do—or not do—changes the love he bears us.

The notion of God's loving us unconditionally is absolutely radical. As Philip Yancey has written, "The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional." The God Christians worship loves sinners, redeems failures, delights in second chances and fresh starts, and never tires of pursuing lost sheep, waiting for prodigal children, or rescuing those damaged by life and left on the sides of its paths.

The Christian God of grace stands in stark contrast to the vindictive, whimsical, threatening and often capricious gods of other religions. Only the Lord God unconditionally cherishes human beings....”

To Pray and Ponder: Praise to the Father for sending the Son.

David G. Benner makes the comment that “the good news of Christianity is something that we would have never discovered if Jesus had not come and shown us the character of God.” Never would we have gained understanding of God’s deep love for us if not for the sending of the Son. When on your own, perhaps walking along a beach or wherever—why not ponder the what-if if the Father had not sent the Son and then spend time thanking and praising the Father for sending the Son.

God Bless, Jon

Lord's Supper Prep

a verse or two

"¹Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord." 1Cor 11:27

Spiritual Walk and Musings: Partaking of the Supper Unworthily.

Next week we gather and partake in Holy Communion. Today we ponder at the betrayal of Christ with encouragement that even with our own individual or collective acts of betrayal of Christ (sin in our lives), we are nevertheless fully accepted by him. Christ still called Judas “friend” when he was being betrayed – the same applies to us. Christ calls each of us “friend”. Therefore it seems to me that we can partake in an act of reciprocal friendship with Christ if we spiritually prepare ourselves for Holy Communion next Sunday. 

As he calls us his friend, let us do as St. Paul said, “Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup…..if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.” (1Cor 11:28-31). Knowing you are a friend of Christ, talk to him this week about your soul, making peace with him and with those others whom the still, small voice of the Spirit hints we ought to make peace with.

To Pray and Ponder: May the peace of Christ be with you.

The more I learn about Jesus, the more I marvel – even when I betray, his hands are extended and the words “friend” are on his lips and his peace flows through my being. The following prayer was written by Augustine (354 - 430).

“You called, you cried, you shattered my deafness. 
You sparkled, you blazed, you drove away my blindness. 
You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath, 
and I pant for you. I tasted and now I hunger and thirst. 
You touched me, and now I burn with longing for your peace.” Amen

God Bless, Jon

By Murray

a verse or two:

¹When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Acts 2:1-2

Spiritual Walk and Musings:

Tuhoe Isaac was once a notorious Mongrel Mob gang boss. In his book ‘True Red’, he tells of his journey from the brutal world of the gang to a meeting with and commitment to the living Christ. The person who counselled him then encouraged him to find a church where he could be nurtured in this new and very different life. Tuhoe confesses that he lasted but a short time in what now knows was a great church with really caring people. However, at the time, church (and church people) was such a foreign territory that he longed for and soon returned to the gang scene. How his story ends I leave unsaid. 

Tuhoe’s difficulty illustrates an important dilemma—that many who find the person of Jesus, and therefore his call, to be truly attractive find this same difficulty doing church with us. 

Last week Jon posed the question ‘Why is it that the so called “riff-raff "sought Jesus’ company and the so-called “respectable” shunned him, whereas today the opposite appears to be the case?’ Some good responses came from the congregation, but look at it this way: Tuhoe Isaac's story does tell us that Jesus’ appeal to the less- than - respectable is as real today as 2000 years ago, if only that appeal can be presented by us in clear and winning ways. Church may not be appealing, but Jesus remains so, which reminds me, he is never recorded as saying “come to the synagogue”, but he did often say “follow me”. 

Jon has earlier said that sitting in the mall with a coffee brings us in close proximity to untold numbers of passers by. To each a whispered blessing can be imparted “God loves you”, to which we can now add “and Jesus says ‘follow me’”. 

To Pray and Ponder: A prayer A prayer from Sri Lanka.

“Even as the water falls on dry tea leaves 
and brings out their flavour, 
so may your Spirit fall on us and renew us 
so that we may bring refreshment and joy to others.”
Amen