19th June, 2011
Written By Rev Law Hui Seng
Posted By Teresa Han
Acts 6: 8-15
Main Idea: Be a man full of grace and power
Objective: To challenge the congregation to be full of grace and power for Christ.
A. Introduction
- Every time I preach from the book of Acts, I am so excited because what happened in the early church history with the apostles and disciples were so real and so powerful. What happened then set the agenda and mission for the church of Christ today. It sets the model for us how Christ’s church should behave in the world today.
- And I always believe in one conviction, that is, what happened then, can also happen today in the Church where Jesus is the head. It can also happen in the Methodist churches. It may not be an exact repetition in terms of the incidents that happened. I strongly believe that the ways and means that God worked through the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Jesus) in those days will also work today. Do you say Amen with me?
- The reason is very simple. If the Holy Spirit who worked in the early church history does not work today in His similar empowerment, how can Christ’s disciples like you and me, and any disciple of Christ out there in the world save the lost and make disciples of all nations in this age of increasing work of the devil and the increasing evil hearts of human beings.
- When you see top politicians in the middle east countries like Libya, Syria, and Yemen can be so evil in ordering of killing of civilians in protests; you see how these top politicians are so power hungry; you see civilians fight against civilians; you see how lots of politicians are so immoral in their relationships; you see the increasing percentage of people and even Christians who are practicing homosexual and how they fight to legalize it; you see the jihad bombing by extremists and terrorists; when you see the free practice of sex among teenagers and adults, Christians and non-Christians, you cannot help but believe if there is no empowerment of the Holy Spirit on the Christians and disciples of Jesus in our days, you cannot fight the powerful devil and the powerful sins at work in our society and in the world.
- No wonder, the bible describes a disciple of Jesus like Stephen, as a man full of God’s grace and power in Acts 6: 8. Let us see what was happening to him. Like I strongly preached in my earlier sermons and very much today, the Holy Spirit who worked in the early disciples of Jesus also work in us, as disciples of Jesus today.
- This is how significant today’s passage is to us. I pray that at the end of the day, we are ready to work towards being a man full of God’s grace and power.
B. Explanation on how Stephen became a man full of God’s grace and power
- I am very excited to tell you how an early disciple like Stephen was full of God’s grace and power. You will not know how if you do not refer to the context in chapter 6 verses 5 to 7 which told us how Stephen (a man full of faith and of Holy Spirit) and other 6 disciples who were presented to the apostles and they were prayed and laid hands on them. These 7 were chosen because the apostles could not cope with distribution of food to the needy Grecian Jewish widows. They overlooked their needs as a result of lack of manpower to minister to their needs.
- The early apostles believed that their main ministry should be the preaching of God’s word and so they set 2 criteria of full of Spirit and wisdom to choose the 7 disciples.
- You find that in verses 3 and 5, these 7 disciples were described as full of the Spirit and wisdom; and full of faith and the Holy Spirit. And now in the passage today, it says especially about Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power.
- I strongly believe that according to the context, the power that Stephen received was from the Holy Spirit mentioned in verses 3 and 5; and it has to do with the apostles’ prayer and laying of hands in verse 6. Therefore, all of us who are so called Methodists, being empowered by the Holy Spirit must take prayers and laying of hands seriously. Especially laying of hands is not commonly practiced in the Methodist churches in Sarawak and may be here in Sabah, we know, how much power we miss.
- Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying by simply laying of hands by anybody, the empowerment will come. I believe when pastors and church leaders take time to pray and lay hands (together), God empowers brothers and sisters to make disciples of all nations, to do our powerful ministry.
- Next, what is this whole idea of fullness? Full of God’s grace and power. Notice the grace and power are from God, not from the devil. So, it is definitely used to build up a person or the body of Christ. It is full because God has given the 100% empowerment for the purpose of serving the body of Christ or anybody out there, for the purpose of mission, for the purposes of whatever ministry that leads to salvation of the lost.
- Bishop Hwa Yung said, “When you are filled by the Holy Spirit, it is just like a cup that is full of water or it overflows. It is just like a sunken ship, the inside of the whole ship is full of water and the outside of the ship is also full of water. The ship is filled by water all over its body, inside and outside. So, it is the same when a disciple of Jesus is full of the Spirit”
- So, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for ministry has to be full of God’s power, only then, you can do the job. It has to be full of power to do the job, it cannot be half full of power. It cannot be alang-alang, not an absolute empowerment. Look at the early disciple like Stephen, how he was full of power given by the Holy Spirit to serve.
- In verses 9 and 10, the author said, Stephen performed great wonders and miraculous signs. Great learned Jewish religious persons from all over the places argued with Stephen and confronted him with the divinity of Christ, I believe. They could not defeat Stephen in their argument as it says; they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. Such was the amazing results of empowerment by the Holy Spirit for Stephen.
- They even resorted to dirty tactic of conspiracy and accusing Stephen of blasphemy against Moses and God, the unpardonable sin in verse 11; in verse 12, we see that they even stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the law to arrest Stephen and brought him to the Jewish authority, the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses to accuse Stephen of attacking the law and amending the law of Moses so that Stephen could be found guilty in verses 13 and 14.
- In the midst of the conspiracy and false accusations, and with all the tension and hostile atmosphere, even the Sanhedrin saw Stephen’s face was like the angel in verse 15. You cannot explain Stephen’s calmness, wisdom and courage in the midst of the conflict, unless you believe he was 100% full of the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
- Next, what is this grace in this context? It is a very general term in this context. Stephen was not only full of power but he was full of grace. I love this word grace so much so that I even name my daughter grace. It is also in my prayer most of the times. It really means/represents all the blessings you can imagine or you cannot imagine that God desires to bestow on the world, all the more, on His children or disciples who need it to do mission to save the lost! It is all freely given to those who need it to do God’s will on earth. You name it, what do you need in mission? Courage, wisdom, faith, forgiveness, material resources, strength and power in overcoming enemies, overcoming fear of death, etc, full grace of God will provide all that.
C. Relationships the passage with the church and your personal life
- Do you see the relevancy of Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, with Agape Methodist Church and your own personal life?
- Does the Methodist church in Sabah; the Agape Methodist Church brothers and sisters, disciples of Jesus here today believe strongly we must produce disciples who are full of God’s grace and power?
- If this kind of faith is not in the church and inside each one of us, no wonder you do not experience the reality of the almighty God.
- On the other hand, if you do not believe there is such a thing as you can be full of God’s grace and power, then, I may be giving you wrong teaching and according to the book James 3: 1, I will be judged more severely.
- I make sure it is a correct teaching, only then, I dare to challenge and inspire you and tell it has everything to do with your life.
- One sister who ministered with me on Friday shared a testimony with me in the process of home to a non-Christian family. She is truly a disciple of Jesus who is full of God’s grace and power. She is also an associate lay leader of a Methodist church. She testified that there was one time as she ministered to a new born baby who always cried non-stop after 12 at night and, as she prayed for the mother, the Holy Spirit told her that the mother had watched lots of violent and ghost movies before she delivered the baby. Upon her confession and prayers to bind the work of the devil, the baby was healed from crying! If she was not full of the Spirit she could not defeat the attack of the devil on the baby and the mother.
- You need to be full of God’s grace and power.
D. Applications and Responses
- Now, you must also not think that to be full of God’s grace and power is a matter of prayers and laying of hands by pastor and church leaders.
- You need to work towards being full of God’s grace and power.
- We as children of God are all entitled to be full of God’s grace and power. But how come not all of us have it. One of the simplest and most natural reasons is a lot of us do not even believe in the possibility of it and so, we do not work towards it.
- You know the purposes of God’s grace and power for you. It is not for your main-main, for fun; to show that you are powerful; to glorify yourself. Remember what spiritual gifts God bestowed upon you, it is very much for the purpose of building up the body of Christ which in turn empowers us to make disciples of all nations. It must always lead to the lost (people who are heading for hell) being saved and becoming disciples of Jesus.
- After you know the divine purpose of being full of God’s grace and power, the next step is you need to honestly tell God you believe in it and work towards it. In other words, as part of your response to the sermon today, you need to tell God, “I desire to be full of God’s grace and power.”
- In your preparation towards, one very important Christian character that Jesus expects you to develop is your willingness to make sacrifice for His kingdom’s sake.
- I agree with the German theologian, Bonhoeffer, who died of martyrdom, who wrote the famous book, the Cost of Disciple, that lots of Christians are going for cheap grace only, in his article “Costly Grace”. We have blown our understanding of God’s grace to such an understanding that grace of God has become so unconditional, so cheap, that it becomes grace without price, grace without cost. A lot of Christians have forgotten or neglected the great truth that Jesus had suffered so much for our sin. It takes Christ’s great suffering on the cross in order for Him to bless us with His grace of forgiveness.
- Therefore, you see Christians who can afford to sin again and again have believed in so called cheap grace and continue to live in sin. Bonhoeffer said, “Grace without the cross, grace without discipleship, grace without Jesus Christ.”
- Brothers and sisters, if we are to be full of God’s grace, we need to keep to costly grace. On the one hand, it is free grace of Jesus for us, but the channel for us to be full of God’s grace is sacrifice.
- This sacrifice on our part is not a condition to deserve grace; not a merit for grace; not use it to exchange for grace; not it to earn grace.
- This willing sacrifice on our part is model after Jesus self-sacrifice on the cross, whereby we are willing to submit our lives to Jesus to do the right thing (teachings as commanded by Jesus); we willingly give up all our wrongs, sins, trespasses, bad habits, etc. You need to give up your selfishness, greed, self-centeredness, hatred, lusts, etc, to Jesus, not in exchange for grace (full), but, make yourself or you get ready to become a channel for God’s grace to flow to you.
- As I let go of my complaints of my wife of not submissive and overlook her mistakes and I try to do as much housework for my wife as she requested, I experience more of God’s grace both in my life and my wife! It is simply amazing. May I elaborate and I pray that you will experience it also. I do not mean I do not have problems with my wife anymore. As I learn not to condemn her for mistakes of nurturing our children, we now have found solid answers of how to educate our children. We are now united in one heart to educate them. This is God’s grace for us. You can imagine the frustrations and anxiety we experienced when disagree on how to educate our children.
- When I do not complain that my wife is not submissive, my must have felt the space and freedom to be herself. She appreciates more for the freedom I give her and observes her own boundaries in spending. We experience God’s grace more in the sense of greater closeness and unity as family.
- As I give up my worries for Pujut Primary School Girls’ Brigade 100 girls (opposite Grace Methodist Church, Miri) who need manpower to help, I just entrusted it to Jesus, God raised 4 Pujut Primary School teachers to step forward to do the job.
- So, you see as you give up your control, your sins, you submit your life to Jesus, He will fill you with His grace. What more to say the power you need to do ministry.
- Can you pay the price of sacrifice, humble yourself at the feet of Jesus, then, you become a channel of God’s grace and power?
E. Conclusion
- If not, as you want to be in control of your life, as you use your life to sin against yourself, others and God, rather than you become a channel of God’s grace and power, you block it altogether.
- I pray that, right now, you realize what go wrong with your life. You repent and be full of God’s grace and power like the disciple, Stephen.
F. Questions for discussion
1. Discuss how you prepare yourself to become a channel of God’s grace and power.
2. Share (if there is) how you experience God’s grace and power. You may not be full of God’s grace and power but you did experience His grace and power. It is a very good start and I pray that you will eventually experience fullness of God’s grace and power.
Can your life testifies for Christ?
29th May, 2011
Written By Rev Law Hui Seng
Posted By Teresa Han
John 5: 31-47
Main Idea: Your life needs to testify for Christ.
Objectives: a. Need to challenge the congregation on the necessity to testify for Christ. b. Need to challenge the congregation to stop practicing corruption and stand up against it.
A. Introduction
- Do you still remember my last sermon preached on 26th December, 2010? It was based on John 5: 16-30. Do you still remember the title of my sermon? (Jesus is equal to God) Let me give you a clue. It is something to do with my trademark sermons. (Okay, it is about building a personal relationship with Jesus; your Christian identity; make disciples of all nations, missions) You always get to hear them in my sermons.
- Today, I am going to proceed from my last sermon. I continue from there. I hope that each time I come back to GMC I preach from there for the gospel of John has a lot to offer to GMC. This is my only chance to I choose to preach to you this year and yet I decide to continue with the gospel of John. I pray that this continuity will impact your lives for Christ.
- I pray that after a break of 5 months plus, though I may not preach new things, with my 5 months plus learning, I pray that with a few new insights which I learnt from my learned lecturers and books, you will be greatly challenged to testify for Christ. The title of my sermon to you.
- The passage today is all about Jesus’ word. It is still very much in the context of His conflict with the Jewish religious authorities, where His divinity was challenged. He claimed to be God but He was rejected as God. You see how He dealt with them.
B. Explanation of Text
- Jesus knew the Jewish religious authorities would not accept Him as the son of God. Then, Jesus argued with the Jewish religious authorities that John the Baptist had testified (verses 32 to 34) for Him. He even sacrificed his life in testifying for Jesus but they did not grip the truth that Jesus was God (verse 35).
- Jesus still wanted to quote the weightier testimony of what God the Father had done through Him in all the miracles and mission when He referred to the very work that the Father had given Him in verse 36.
- Jesus further emphasized that His Father had sent Him to testify about Him but they had never heard His father or heard His Father’s voice in the written scripture like the Old Testament and also His Father’s voice of approval at Jesus’ baptism at Jordan River; and also they did not see His form. This may refer to their lack of spiritual perception about Jesus being God. (verses 37 -38)
- Jesus further accused them of studying the Scripture, but they did not recognize the one to whom the Scripture bears supreme testimony. They read the scripture that revealed the promised Messiah who was in the person of Jesus, whom Jesus Himself claimed but they could not recognize. God the Father Himself revealed and testified through the scripture but they could not agree that Jesus was sent by God the Father. (verses 40 -41)
- The revelation God gave to Moses was inseparable from the revelation God gave through Jesus. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus told by Jesus, the rich man who was in torment in seoul (hell), he appealed to father Abraham to send Lazarus who also died to preach to his 5 brothers on earth so that they would not come to the place of torment like him. Father Abraham replied in Luke 16: 31, “… If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
- The Scriptures that Jesus referred to were most probably the Mosaic Laws and they bore testimonies and yet the Jewish religious authorities could not accept them. Jesus really confronted them in their faces they accepted men’s praise and made no effort to obtain God’s praise. How could they not accepted the testimonies of Moses and then, Jesus even went to the extent of telling them on behalf of Moses that he was accusing them of their mistake of not recognizing Jesus as God. (verses 42 -45)
- Therefore, now, Jesus was very frustrated with them, Jesus laid everything on the table and told them the simple logical conclusion which they need to get it right in verses 46 and 47, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
- I see this passage of the personal word from Jesus is all talking about John the Baptist, God the Father, the Scriptures and even Moses testifying God in the person of Jesus, the divinity of Jesus.
- Most of the Jews in Jesus’ time could not accept the most powerful testimonies about Jesus. Today, it is still a great challenge for people to accept the divinity of Jesus. Why?
C. Applications and Actions
- Why people of all nations, especially those who are most educated, cannot accept the divinity of Jesus? One reason is definitely because most scientific minds cannot accept illogical things like resurrection of the dead and eternal life. Another more important reason could be if take Jesus as God, savior and the master of their lives, then, they feel like they cannot be free to live their self-centered life.
- What about we Christians? Yes, we accept the divinity of Christ. But, most of us do not go all the way out to testify the divinity of Jesus. To show people in our family, in our office and in our society that Jesus is almighty God; Jesus is living. For our life to testify Christ, we need to show Jesus is living in our lives.
- Is your life testifying for Christ?
- This is where I want to share a new insight with you. Evangelicals like Methodists who emphasize on the importance of preaching the gospel of salvation. We desire people to be saved from their sins like hatred, greed, self-centeredness, jealousy, self-pity, pride, etc. We show people how to overcome sins of pride, greed etc. We desire their souls to be saved for eternal life.
- Brothers and sisters that is only the salvation of individuals. The spiritual aspect of salvation. We normally testify for Jesus in terms of spiritual salvation of the lost. This is actually a narrow understanding of the gospel. This is the so called trademark of the church.
- There is another aspect of the gospel which the society needs very much. It is the social aspect of the gospel. It is an aspect of the gospel which Jesus emphasizes very much but we always tend to neglect and not do much because it requires us to dirty our hands; it requires us to go the extra mile.
- It is very much about salvation of people from poverty, injustice, marginalization, oppression, corruption, etc. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ does not only save people from their individual sins and eternal punishment in hell, it also very saves them from poverty, injustice, marginalization, oppression, corruption, etc. You see my point?
- Jesus Christ our Lord has highlighted the social salvation aspect of the gospel when He said in Luke 4: 18, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor…”
- Please do not misunderstand Jesus, let us do not think that what Jesus means is only preaching the gospel of salvation from individual sins only. What Jesus also very much means is this: we need to help people to come out of their poverty.
- I want to concentrate on the poverty. Can our church, Methodist church and all other churches, your life testify for Christ in bringing about social changes to the issues of poverty?
- Can our church address the issue of poverty in our society? The poor are everywhere in the town. Many of them are indigenous people, though some of them are also Chinese. They are at our doorstep, near our homes, church, even in your office. Can your life testify to them that Jesus loves them?
- One faithful disciple of Jesus, a Christian lawyer in Hong Kong, wrote a article called sins against. It is a new term he created to draw Christian attention to the poor people and make disciples of them. Who are the sins against? These are the poor in the society whom we left them to suffer in hunger, thirst, lack of shelter, education, etc. Spiritually, we sin against them because we see their needs we do not anything to help them. In other words, owing to our selfishness and self-centeredness, our sins caused us not to help them. One of these days, these sins against will stand up and accuse Christians of not helping them. When they are so desperate, they may even threaten the living of all of us who are having a descent living.
- How can we help them to overcome their poverty? It is definitely not a matter of feeding them; giving them money; not a matter of taking temporary measures.
- I strongly feel that the church must put in collective effort to help them to come out of poverty by looking into the great area of education of their children. The Chinese in Sarawak have prospered because our ancestors have worked hard on our education. We need to work on this same vision for the poor people in Miri here.
- With higher education, not only the poor will have a better job, but, they are well trained to think about how to live a proper life; how to overcome superstitions; how to overcome poverty; how to manage their money; how to educate their next generation, etc.
- Can the social concerns committee and missions committee and the whole LCEC do it at the district level a tuition centre for the poor in Tudan and Permyjaya? Mobilizing manpower from all Methodist Churches and all those in Miri who are keen to help. A few of us in GMC are doing it minor scale like learning English for fun and doing reading bus. I am willing to come in to advise if you are keen about it.
- We must challenge ourselves to help the poor through education so much so our GMC church trademark or Methodist Church trademark is helping
- the poor to overcome poverty. By the way, as a result of Tudan Methodist church effort in nurturing Ibans at Tudan and Permyjaya. One Iban student scored 3A 1B in his STPM and he is now applying to go for local university. This is a vision which I am always giving them.
- Those of you who are professionals, businessmen or women, or if you are in leadership position, can you influence your company to every year set aside some budget to help the poor in anyway, especially, for example to pay for their miscellaneous fees, tuition fees for their week subjects, etc.
- The best is to do something along the line of social concerns for the poor.
- Any brave souls who are willing to do it? Can you speak out for the poor? Can you invest your life in doing mission among the poor? Can you enjoy a little less and give 2 hours to give tuition to the poor in English, Maths, Science? Jesus today says, “ I am on the side of the poor, I am with the poor, I am living with them, come and visit Me?” Will you visit the poor today after the church service and do something for them? If you are touched by the Holy Spirit to do something for the poor and you believe God has given a vision, you must commit it to prayer, and let the church know so that we commit it to prayer also so that GMC or the district can plan to make it happen.
D. Conclusion
- Can your life be a little bit less selfish and share with others, especially the poor? Remember, in whatever you can. When you do that, you testify for Jesus.
- Some of you who are always worried and depressed, anxious about yourself, your children, your husbands, your wives, your work, etc, in the name of Jesus, I preach to you, go and spend sometime with the poor people out, then, you see for yourself, whether, you are still as worried, anxious, and depressed.
- As you are willing to testify for Christ among the poor, Jesus bless you with joy and good health.
- Come and test Jesus, if you help the poor, whether Jesus will give joy or not.
E. Questions for Small Group Discussion
1. Discuss the various aspects of poverty of the poor. Try to explain why they end up in poverty.
2. Then (related to question 1), discover for yourself, what are the opportunities available for you to do mission as an individual; as small group; as a family; as a church.
Written By Rev Law Hui Seng
Posted By Teresa Han
John 5: 31-47
Main Idea: Your life needs to testify for Christ.
Objectives: a. Need to challenge the congregation on the necessity to testify for Christ. b. Need to challenge the congregation to stop practicing corruption and stand up against it.
A. Introduction
- Do you still remember my last sermon preached on 26th December, 2010? It was based on John 5: 16-30. Do you still remember the title of my sermon? (Jesus is equal to God) Let me give you a clue. It is something to do with my trademark sermons. (Okay, it is about building a personal relationship with Jesus; your Christian identity; make disciples of all nations, missions) You always get to hear them in my sermons.
- Today, I am going to proceed from my last sermon. I continue from there. I hope that each time I come back to GMC I preach from there for the gospel of John has a lot to offer to GMC. This is my only chance to I choose to preach to you this year and yet I decide to continue with the gospel of John. I pray that this continuity will impact your lives for Christ.
- I pray that after a break of 5 months plus, though I may not preach new things, with my 5 months plus learning, I pray that with a few new insights which I learnt from my learned lecturers and books, you will be greatly challenged to testify for Christ. The title of my sermon to you.
- The passage today is all about Jesus’ word. It is still very much in the context of His conflict with the Jewish religious authorities, where His divinity was challenged. He claimed to be God but He was rejected as God. You see how He dealt with them.
B. Explanation of Text
- Jesus knew the Jewish religious authorities would not accept Him as the son of God. Then, Jesus argued with the Jewish religious authorities that John the Baptist had testified (verses 32 to 34) for Him. He even sacrificed his life in testifying for Jesus but they did not grip the truth that Jesus was God (verse 35).
- Jesus still wanted to quote the weightier testimony of what God the Father had done through Him in all the miracles and mission when He referred to the very work that the Father had given Him in verse 36.
- Jesus further emphasized that His Father had sent Him to testify about Him but they had never heard His father or heard His Father’s voice in the written scripture like the Old Testament and also His Father’s voice of approval at Jesus’ baptism at Jordan River; and also they did not see His form. This may refer to their lack of spiritual perception about Jesus being God. (verses 37 -38)
- Jesus further accused them of studying the Scripture, but they did not recognize the one to whom the Scripture bears supreme testimony. They read the scripture that revealed the promised Messiah who was in the person of Jesus, whom Jesus Himself claimed but they could not recognize. God the Father Himself revealed and testified through the scripture but they could not agree that Jesus was sent by God the Father. (verses 40 -41)
- The revelation God gave to Moses was inseparable from the revelation God gave through Jesus. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus told by Jesus, the rich man who was in torment in seoul (hell), he appealed to father Abraham to send Lazarus who also died to preach to his 5 brothers on earth so that they would not come to the place of torment like him. Father Abraham replied in Luke 16: 31, “… If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
- The Scriptures that Jesus referred to were most probably the Mosaic Laws and they bore testimonies and yet the Jewish religious authorities could not accept them. Jesus really confronted them in their faces they accepted men’s praise and made no effort to obtain God’s praise. How could they not accepted the testimonies of Moses and then, Jesus even went to the extent of telling them on behalf of Moses that he was accusing them of their mistake of not recognizing Jesus as God. (verses 42 -45)
- Therefore, now, Jesus was very frustrated with them, Jesus laid everything on the table and told them the simple logical conclusion which they need to get it right in verses 46 and 47, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”
- I see this passage of the personal word from Jesus is all talking about John the Baptist, God the Father, the Scriptures and even Moses testifying God in the person of Jesus, the divinity of Jesus.
- Most of the Jews in Jesus’ time could not accept the most powerful testimonies about Jesus. Today, it is still a great challenge for people to accept the divinity of Jesus. Why?
C. Applications and Actions
- Why people of all nations, especially those who are most educated, cannot accept the divinity of Jesus? One reason is definitely because most scientific minds cannot accept illogical things like resurrection of the dead and eternal life. Another more important reason could be if take Jesus as God, savior and the master of their lives, then, they feel like they cannot be free to live their self-centered life.
- What about we Christians? Yes, we accept the divinity of Christ. But, most of us do not go all the way out to testify the divinity of Jesus. To show people in our family, in our office and in our society that Jesus is almighty God; Jesus is living. For our life to testify Christ, we need to show Jesus is living in our lives.
- Is your life testifying for Christ?
- This is where I want to share a new insight with you. Evangelicals like Methodists who emphasize on the importance of preaching the gospel of salvation. We desire people to be saved from their sins like hatred, greed, self-centeredness, jealousy, self-pity, pride, etc. We show people how to overcome sins of pride, greed etc. We desire their souls to be saved for eternal life.
- Brothers and sisters that is only the salvation of individuals. The spiritual aspect of salvation. We normally testify for Jesus in terms of spiritual salvation of the lost. This is actually a narrow understanding of the gospel. This is the so called trademark of the church.
- There is another aspect of the gospel which the society needs very much. It is the social aspect of the gospel. It is an aspect of the gospel which Jesus emphasizes very much but we always tend to neglect and not do much because it requires us to dirty our hands; it requires us to go the extra mile.
- It is very much about salvation of people from poverty, injustice, marginalization, oppression, corruption, etc. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ does not only save people from their individual sins and eternal punishment in hell, it also very saves them from poverty, injustice, marginalization, oppression, corruption, etc. You see my point?
- Jesus Christ our Lord has highlighted the social salvation aspect of the gospel when He said in Luke 4: 18, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor…”
- Please do not misunderstand Jesus, let us do not think that what Jesus means is only preaching the gospel of salvation from individual sins only. What Jesus also very much means is this: we need to help people to come out of their poverty.
- I want to concentrate on the poverty. Can our church, Methodist church and all other churches, your life testify for Christ in bringing about social changes to the issues of poverty?
- Can our church address the issue of poverty in our society? The poor are everywhere in the town. Many of them are indigenous people, though some of them are also Chinese. They are at our doorstep, near our homes, church, even in your office. Can your life testify to them that Jesus loves them?
- One faithful disciple of Jesus, a Christian lawyer in Hong Kong, wrote a article called sins against. It is a new term he created to draw Christian attention to the poor people and make disciples of them. Who are the sins against? These are the poor in the society whom we left them to suffer in hunger, thirst, lack of shelter, education, etc. Spiritually, we sin against them because we see their needs we do not anything to help them. In other words, owing to our selfishness and self-centeredness, our sins caused us not to help them. One of these days, these sins against will stand up and accuse Christians of not helping them. When they are so desperate, they may even threaten the living of all of us who are having a descent living.
- How can we help them to overcome their poverty? It is definitely not a matter of feeding them; giving them money; not a matter of taking temporary measures.
- I strongly feel that the church must put in collective effort to help them to come out of poverty by looking into the great area of education of their children. The Chinese in Sarawak have prospered because our ancestors have worked hard on our education. We need to work on this same vision for the poor people in Miri here.
- With higher education, not only the poor will have a better job, but, they are well trained to think about how to live a proper life; how to overcome superstitions; how to overcome poverty; how to manage their money; how to educate their next generation, etc.
- Can the social concerns committee and missions committee and the whole LCEC do it at the district level a tuition centre for the poor in Tudan and Permyjaya? Mobilizing manpower from all Methodist Churches and all those in Miri who are keen to help. A few of us in GMC are doing it minor scale like learning English for fun and doing reading bus. I am willing to come in to advise if you are keen about it.
- We must challenge ourselves to help the poor through education so much so our GMC church trademark or Methodist Church trademark is helping
- the poor to overcome poverty. By the way, as a result of Tudan Methodist church effort in nurturing Ibans at Tudan and Permyjaya. One Iban student scored 3A 1B in his STPM and he is now applying to go for local university. This is a vision which I am always giving them.
- Those of you who are professionals, businessmen or women, or if you are in leadership position, can you influence your company to every year set aside some budget to help the poor in anyway, especially, for example to pay for their miscellaneous fees, tuition fees for their week subjects, etc.
- The best is to do something along the line of social concerns for the poor.
- Any brave souls who are willing to do it? Can you speak out for the poor? Can you invest your life in doing mission among the poor? Can you enjoy a little less and give 2 hours to give tuition to the poor in English, Maths, Science? Jesus today says, “ I am on the side of the poor, I am with the poor, I am living with them, come and visit Me?” Will you visit the poor today after the church service and do something for them? If you are touched by the Holy Spirit to do something for the poor and you believe God has given a vision, you must commit it to prayer, and let the church know so that we commit it to prayer also so that GMC or the district can plan to make it happen.
D. Conclusion
- Can your life be a little bit less selfish and share with others, especially the poor? Remember, in whatever you can. When you do that, you testify for Jesus.
- Some of you who are always worried and depressed, anxious about yourself, your children, your husbands, your wives, your work, etc, in the name of Jesus, I preach to you, go and spend sometime with the poor people out, then, you see for yourself, whether, you are still as worried, anxious, and depressed.
- As you are willing to testify for Christ among the poor, Jesus bless you with joy and good health.
- Come and test Jesus, if you help the poor, whether Jesus will give joy or not.
E. Questions for Small Group Discussion
1. Discuss the various aspects of poverty of the poor. Try to explain why they end up in poverty.
2. Then (related to question 1), discover for yourself, what are the opportunities available for you to do mission as an individual; as small group; as a family; as a church.
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