Daily Archives: May 30, 2014

Growing in Christ

Christian life

Strange as it may be, we all happen to be people of habit, but never the less there seems to be a drive within us to improve our self-image in the way we look, the way we dress, the way we conduct our affairs, and most important the way we think. All this involves change within us from nap-pies to a sense of responsibility and ac-countability which presently is a very rare commodity in the society in which we live today. Bearing in mind that change is not always easy, because it involves a lot of heart searching as we come to grips how we can improve our lifestyle, to be a better person that re-flects the image of Christ within our lives.

When I was a child I experienced growing pains, as Christians, we also experience growing pains. As if I want to grow in Christ, how do I go about it? The answer is simple to understand when turning to the Word of God. Romans 12 : 2 “AND DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANS-FORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, THAT YOU MAY PROVE WHAT IS THAT GOOD AND ACCEPTABLE AND PERFECT WILL OF GOD.” Meditating on the word of God brings transformation within our lives. Paul in writing to the church at Corinth had this to say in 1 Corinthians 13 : 11 “WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I SPOKE AS A CHILD, I UNDER-STOOD AS A CHILD, I THOUGHT AS A CHILD; BUT WHEN I BECAME A MAN I PUT AWAY CHILDISH THINGS.” This dear child of God brings us to where we are able to “GROW IN CHRIST” 2ND Peter 1 : 3 &4 verse 3 “AS HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN TO US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO LIFE AND GODLINESS, THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY GLORY AND VIRTUE. Verse 4 BY WHICH HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO US EXCEED-INGLY GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES, THAT THROUGH THESE YOU MAY BE PARTAKERS OF THE DEVINE NATURE, HAVING ES-CAPED THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD THROUGH LUST.” Furthermore this particular chapter con-tinues to reflect on Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, Self-control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly kindness, Love. When all these principles are active with-in our lives, then the Christ like nature of Jesus will be evident within us. “THEREFORE, BRETHEREN, BE EVEN MORE DILIGENT TO MAKE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE, FOR IF YOU DO THESE THINGS YOU WILL NEVER STUM-BLE.” 2 Peter 1: 10

Shalom, Colin.

The Great Commission

Pastor's Desk

Dear Family

The book of Matthews records the following words as being the last thing Jesus said before leaving:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Down through the ages this has come to be known as “The Great Commission”. And it most certainly appears to be! Consider for a moment: The Messiah breaks into human history to become one of us, fully God, fully human. After His supernatural conception and kitchen birth with the hoo haa of angels and the later visitation by some eastern mystics, He lives a relatively obscure life until he reappears at His baptism. He then goes on a flat out 3 odd years of ministry, gets falsely accused of crimes He did not commit, gets put to death, then rises again after 3 days. Around 40 days later He gives those gathered around Him this incredible, scary, seemingly impossible task – “go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them.” And then he floats into the air and gets hidden by a cloud. Poof! Gone!

Okay, so He did say He had “all authority” and that He would be with us “to the very end of the age” but all the other details are fairly sketchy to say the least. I mean “read between the lines” would be somewhat of an understatement indeed! The only good thing here is that He Himself did not name it “The Great Commission” so at least there’s some pressure off. Since he left the squeeze has been on to get to the “all nations” at any and all cost. Sweat! Sweat!

Except I do not believe the Saviour ever meant it to be a pressure thing. I think that’s our idea of what we have named “The Great Commission”. I think what He meant was that as we go about our lives, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we are to re-present Him to those around us. He has authorized us to, and He wants us to. Because He is with us, we rest in Him as we teach, baptize and obey. This is not just for a few missionaries or pastors or warmongers, but for everyone who has chosen to follow in His footsteps. Making the world a better place for individuals by demonstrating Jesus one person at a time as we move along through life.

Pressure off! Love Him, live Him, lead others to Him. You too can be a part of the “Great Commission”.

Paul

Pilate’s Resolve

Bible Study, ,

PILATE’S RESOLVE 

“Carrying His own cross, He went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified Him, and with Him two others — one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

“Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write, “The King of the Jews,” but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews. Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.'” John 19:17-22 NIV.

One short, bald statement! That’s all John had to say about the crucifixion of his Lord. Perhaps as he reminisced about that day, now an old man with many years of suffering under his own belt, he still felt the pain of the memory of the awful sight of his beloved Master suspended between heaven and earth on a Roman torture stake.

The other gospel writers had told the story. It was enough that he record the fact in as few words as possible. He chose rather to write of the Master’s love which shone forth in those terrible hours of suffering.

John also gave us a glimpse of an incident that salvaged some of Pilate’s resolve at a time like this. Pilate had given in to the howling mob when he should have stood firm. He had condemned an innocent man to death, shrugging off his responsibility by allowing men full of prejudice and hatred to pass sentence because he didn’t have the courage to stand up against them.

Yet he was convinced that Jesus was who He claimed to be, King of the Jews. In some mysterious way, Jesus was a king, but He was no threat to Caesar. Pilate knew nothing about spiritual things, but he sensed that Jesus was from and represented another dimension he could not understand. He had tried to defend Him and insisted on His innocence but the religious boffins, who should have known better, had prevailed.

Pilate had one more opportunity to press home his conviction, by stating in writing for the whole world to read — in Aramaic, Latin and Greek — his belief in Jesus as the King of the Jews. What he understood by that we do not know. We could coldly and callously ask, “Did Pilate go to hell?” without considering the intention of his heart. We could condemn him for not being true to his conviction. But in this one thing he refused to be moved.

The Jewish leaders thought they had Pilate in the bag. They had won in the battle over Jesus’ conviction. Now they were incensed at Pilate’s final dig at them. Did he write the sign to get back at them; to show the utter ludicrousness of the charge against Jesus or to bear witness to his conviction that Jesus was indeed King of the Jews? We will never know but we can at least admire Pilate for his stand against them at this point.

Of course it was too late to save Jesus. The religious leaders had their way but it left a bad taste in their mouths to think that Pilate had got the better of them here and made a bold statement for the world to read that Jesus was the King of the Jews. Whatever it meant to those who read it as they passed by, it was for Pilate a statement of the truth and of his own conviction.

How did this brief encounter with Jesus affect Pilate in the years that followed? We do not know. Perhaps he often mused on those terrifying moments when he was forced to make a choice and he had chosen to crucify the king. No amount of excusing himself by putting the blame on the religious leaders would ease his conscience. He had passed sentence by default and he must carry the guilt of that decision to the grave and yet…

Peter’s words never rang in Pilate’s ears but God knew what He was doing. “This man was handed over to you (the Jews) by God’s set plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.” Acts 2:23-24 NIV.

What did Pilate think about that? Did he ever yearn for another encounter with Jesus just to put right what he had done? Only God knows!

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.”