‘Sermon’

Speaker: Matthew White
Date: July 25 2010

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• We are in a spiritual war
• Luke 21:16-17 – People will hate you because of Christ
• You may lose your friends
• You may lose your family
• Despite this Jesus commands us to rejoice

Matthew 5:10-12

The Paradox of the beautitudes

• What the world sees as weak and undesirable, Christ calls blessed.
  ie. blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, etc.
• Blessed are the persecuted is the most profound
  The Jews believed that persecution was caused by wickedness
  Jesus makes this personal – When YOU are persecuted

There are three different types of affronts on the Christian

• Reproach – to shame, heap insults
  Mk. 15:32 – The Roman soldiers heaped insults on Christ
• Slander
  Defcon advertisement in the NY Times falsely accused Dr. Dobson of supporting gambling
• Violent persecution
  Surabaya, ID June 9th 1996 – Black Sunday
  10 churches were destroyed and pastors faced opposition to continue meeting

Three different ways to respond

• Be glad.. exceedingly glad (Matt 5:12)
  This takes much faith
  You are in good company with the prophets
• Pray
  Pray for those that persecute you (Matt. 5:44)
• Support the persecuted church
  Matt 25:39-40 – You are supporting Christ
  Tertullian – the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

Speaker: Ps. Christopher Chan
Date: July 18 2010

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The Beatitudes according to our society:

• Blessed are the rich for they shall be envied.
• Blessed are the powerful for they shall be feared.
• Blessed are the talented for they shall be rewarded.
• Blessed are the beautiful for they shall admired.
• Blessed are the strong for they shall be respected.

People associate happiness with success, power, confidence, and conquest.

The Beatitudes according to our Lord Jesus:

• Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mat 5:3
• Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Mat 5:4
• Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Mat 5:5
• Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Mat 5:6

Progression in thought:

• One senses his own sinfulness (Matt. 5:3)
• Results in mourning (v. 4).
• Then he focuses on God’s holiness/ greatness, which makes him meek (v. 5).
• That in turn produces a hunger for righteousness (v. 6).

Definition of “Meekness”:

• It’s NOT weak, deficiency in spirit and courage, “Blessed are the cowardly.”
• It means “mild,” “gentle,” and “soft.”
• A meek person is gentle, tenderhearted, patient, and submissive.

The Greeks used the word to describe:

• a soothing medicine,
• a gentle breeze, or
• a domesticated colt.

True meekness is “POWER under CONTROL”

• Medicine taken in the proper dosage can be helpful, but an overdose may kill.
• A gentle breeze cools and soothes, but a hurricane kills.
• A domesticated horse is useful but an undomesticated one is wild and destructive.

Example of a MEEK person: Moses

Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. Num 12:3
Yet he was the man who killed an Egyptian to protect an Israelite slave.
On behalf of God he told Pharaoh, “Let my people go” (Ex. 5:1).

When Moses came down to the camp of Israel after receiving the 10 Commandments on Mt Sinai, he saw them worshiping a golden calf and doing immoral acts. “Moses’ anger burned, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it” (Ex. 32:19-20).

Now that doesn’t sound like a meek man according to our society’s standards. But the reason Moses was so angry was that the Israelites had violated one of God’s commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3). He was defending God. When God chose Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex. 3:7-10) Moses tried to decline. He thought himself inadequate and ineloquent. He would not defend himself before God, but he would defend the Lord before anyone. That’s what meekness is all about.

Moses demonstrated his meekness:
He was slandered, personally attacked, his authority challenged yet he did not retaliate. He interceded for Miriam after she was stricken with leprosy. Num 12

LESSON #1: we do not have justify or vindicate ourselves. God will do so for us.

Lesson #2: God gives grace to those who are humble.

• All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
• Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 1Pe 5:5-6

Lesson #3: A meek person does not seek revenge.

• Rom 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
• Rom 12:20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
• Rom 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Speaker: Ching Ming Lie
Date: July 11 2010

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Speaker: Ps. Irwan Ngadisastra
Date: July 11 2010

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Speaker: Ps. Christopher Chan
Date: July 4 2010

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The blessed life

Most people want to be blessed.
Many pray for blessings.
But what does it mean to be blessed?
Many see blessings are about health, wealth, and protection.
But blessed includes so much more.

Meaning of blessedness

It does not merely mean “HAPPY.”
(Happiness tends to be “me” oriented).
Blessed has to do with our soul – a sense of inner well being.
Greek usage, makarios came to refer to the elite class.
Received earthly, material things: a good wife, many children, abundant crops, riches, honor, wisdom, beauty, good health, etc. A blessed person had more things and better things than an ordinary person. To be blessed, you had to have big and beautiful things and lived above the normal cares, problems, and worries of normal people.

The world pronounces blessings on the rich and the powerful; the high and the mighty.
But Jesus pronounces God’s blessings on the lowly: the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the meek, the mourning.

The Beatitudes

• Sermon on the Mount – Matt 5:1-12
• Beatitudes (Latin-beatus, “blessed”) gives 8 pronouncements, each beginning with the phrase, “Blessed are …”
• They contradict logic and cultural values.
• They form a Road Map to a blessed life.

Beatitude #1 - Blessed are the poor in spirit

Contradicts the American philosophy –

• “Land of the Free; Home of the Brave: America.”
• “Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps.”
• “I Did It My Way.”
• Self-reliance, Self-confidence, Self-help.
• Three-Self Patriotic Movement - patriotic Christian org in the China:  self-governance, self-support and self-propagation.

Meaning of “poor in the Spirit”
The poor in spirit are those people who come to God out of a need for him to give them what they need for life.
Mat 5:3 (Msg) “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
What being “poor in the Spirit” is NOT:

• financial poverty
• biblical illiteracy. (Knowing the Bible does not necessary make one mature)
• thinking poorly of yourself.

What being “poor in the Spirit” is:

• A realization of spiritual bankrupt - we cannot save ourselves before God.  It requires that we die to self through brokenness, humility and total dependence upon God.
• Rom 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
• Example: Parable of the Prodigal Son-Luke 15:11-32
• Younger son – Came to his senses (15:17)
• Realization of being bankrupt before His father –
• I am no longer worthy to be called your son (15:19)
• Older son – was angry at His brother’s return; angry at His father’s generosity.
• Self-righteous – refused to go in (and join the feast) (15: 28).

Reward: Entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven

• The Kingdom of God is described in Matthew 13.
• The ability to understand and obey the Bible.
• Reservation for heaven and preservation from God’s wrath.
• Heavenly perspective of the world.
• Wisdom
• Discernment
• The power to transform a society.

People want the kingdom of God plus other stuff. It is the other stuff that gets preeminence. You aren’t going to experience the kingdom of heaven surrounded by worldly comforts and escapes. It takes a very disciplined person to be surrounded by toys and pleasures who can still take every problem to God in prayer. Stress and challenge should drive people to God, but if they have things to give comfort, they will turn to them - Gordon Fee.

Speaker: Ps. Irwan Ngadisastra
Date: June 27 2010

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1 Cor 9:24-27

1. Determine your goal

• Do you have the right goal to be a Christian?
• Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 1 Cor 9:26

2. Mental Steadfastness:

• Building mental stamina is essential. It’s one thing to be motivated to begin training. It’s another to stay motivated every day.
• But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 2 Cor 11:3-4
• You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3

3. Wear the right gear:

• in order to have a better chance in finishing the race of Christ, we will need to wear the proper outfit too.
• throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
• Heb 12:1

4. Nutrition:

• In a marathon training, part of that preparation is to have the right nutrition.
• For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
• Heb 5:13-14

5. Hydration:

• In a marathon race, being properly hydrated is life and death
• Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10

6. Training:

• Before you begin marathon training, you should be able to run for at least 30 minutes without stopping. Distance is not important right now. You just need to get your body used to running.

Conclusion

• I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Tim 4:7

Speaker: Ps. Christopher Chan
Date: June 20 2010

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Father’s Day

EX 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
“Honor” one’s parents involves:

1. prizing them highly (cf. Pro 4:8; i.e., wisdom, when sought above everything else and prized more highly than all else, will bring honor to its seekers);
2. caring, showing affection for them (Ps 91:15; and
3. showing respect or revering them (Lev 19:3).

Marks of a Warrior

1. He lives by convictions.
   He does not live by feelings, emotions, or philosophies of the world.
   He is decisive.
   His convictions are non negotiable and that keep him consistent.

   Avoid the Ephraim Spirit (Ps. 78:9-11)

   1. They were trained and armed as warriors.
   2. They were hesitant (cowards), ran away from responsibilities.
   3. They turned back in the day of war. Why?
   4. They did not keep the covenant with God.
   5. They rejected God’s Word (cf Josh 1:8).
   5. They forgot what God had done for them.

2. He fears God more than he fears man.
   Takut akan TUHAN adalah permulaan pengetahuan, tetapi orang bodoh menghina hikmat dan didikan. Ams 1:7
   Karena takut akan TUHAN orang menjauhi kejahatan. Ams 16:6
   Takut kepada orang mendatangkan jerat, tetapi siapa percaya kepada TUHAN, dilindungi. Ams 29:25
3. He walks in moral purity.
   He refuses any immoral acts. HEB 12:14 “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” also 1 Cor 6:15-20.
   He avoids questionable activites. 1 Thes 5: 22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
   He has self control. Prov 16:32 “Better a patient man than a warrior,a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.”

Review

The Marks of a Warrior are:

• He lives by Convictions.
• He fears God more than men.
• He walks in moral purity.
• Avoid the Spirit of Ephraim.

Speaker: Ps.Christopher Chan
Date: June 20 2010

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Fathers – Rare Commodity
Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (1Co 4:15)
Rarity of the role of a father: ratio of 10,000:1.

1.  Positive Role Model

• Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.  (Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ). 1Cor. 11:1
• You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men (2 Cor. 3:2)
• “Children identify their parents with God, whether the parent wants that role or not. Most children “see” God the way that they perceive their earthly fathers.

Fathers must lead, by example:

• In faithful church attendance,
• In family worship,
• In affirming their children,
• In consistent Christian living!

2. Provide Discipline

• There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. (Msg. 1 Cor. 4:15)
• I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. (1Co 4:14)

Scriptural Admonishment on Discipline

• “Discipline your children while there is hope. If you don’t, you will ruin their lives. Proverbs 19:18 (NLT)
• He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him. Proverbs 13:24 (NIV)
• “Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart.”Proverbs 20:13 (NLT)
• “Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.“ Proverbs 22:6
• In “Don’t fail to correct your children. They won’t die if you spank them.”Proverbs 23:13 (NLT)

Provide discipline is to set “boundaries” in the lives of our children and to rid them of:

• Lack of respect for authorities (prideful)
• Lack of control of emotions (anger)
• Lack of control of desires (lust)
• Lack of sensitivity to the needs of others (selfish)
• Lack of ability to relate to others (competitive)
• Lack of contentment (greed)

Examples of Fathers who failed to adequately disciplined their children:

• Eli, the high priest. (I Sam. 12-17; 22-25)
• David, the king after God’s own heart. (2 Sam 13)

Speaker: Ps. Christopher Chan
Date: June 13 2010

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When the “Fasten Seat Belt” sign is on in a plane it means:

• You are taking off,
• Landing, or
• Experiencing turbulence.

All 3 are critical times during a flight. Why?
Because all 3 are transitions.
In the case of taking off, we know what to expect. Landing, we know what to expect.

In the case of:

• Taking off, we know what to expect.
• Landing, we know what to expect.
• But in mid-flight, when the fasten seatbelt sign comes on, you just don’t know.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt Sign, and we are in for a bumpy ride.

Facing Uncertain Times
The doctor called; your job is at risk; your marriage is at risk or

• You have just graduated. Prospects of jobs are not very bright! Job outlook for 2010 grads: Still stinks - Hiring for graduates will remain near its lowest level in decades after 40% plunge last year, new survey says (CNN Money.com)

Whatever the case . . . as is the situation in a jet . . . we are out of control.

Scriptures were written in an environment of uncertainty.

• Joseph found himself in a pit while his brothers debated whether to sell him or kill him . . . and we discover that God was with him.
• King David was awakened one morning to the rumor that his own son was conspiring against him, but he had no proof —many of the Psalms reflect the uncertainty of those days.
• The apostle Paul thought God had called him, but found himself bound and dragged to prison—and with the future a blur. He writes to us about what to do when God’s promises don’t seem to be coming true.

The Bible is about how very much God is in control and how very much we are not.

• We don’t like the answer.
• God seems to be much too passive. We become venerable and dependent.
• I don’t want to fasten my seatbelt. I want the turbulence to go away.
• I don’t want to be guided through it. I want to be led around it.
• I want to find something in here that will guarantee my safety, well being and financial security.

Scripture: Genesis 37-47

Idea: The proper response to uncertainty is to FOCUS on him - accept it as from him, look for his hand, and live as people who are confident that God is with us.
Uncertainty leaves us confused as to how to approach God. He’s so quiet. He’s so still. He seems so distant.
God does his greatest, his most significant, and his deepening works individually and corporately during times of uncertainty.

The Story of Joseph…[ "The Lord was with Joseph..."]
A. He was faithful as a slave.

1. Far from home.
2. God didn’t seem to care.
3. Verse 9 “. . . and sin against God.”

The God who abandoned you to your brothers? That God? His reward? Framed for rape.

B. He was faithful as a convicted criminal (20-21).

1. He followed God in that uncertainty.
2. He assumed God’s care and presence.
3. Verse 40:8 “. . . belong to God.” The God that let you be framed?
4. His reward? Forgotten (23).

Two more years go by. For all he knows, he is in prison forever. God is not answering his prayers. No answers appear. No signs. No miracles. No voices. Nothing.

[Read 41:1; then skip to 15]
C. He was faithful as a servant to Pharaoh.

Verses 16, 25, 28 . . . “God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

D. He was faithful as a wounded brother (45:1-9).

• What does a wounded brother do when he is confident God is with him?
• He saw God in the midst of the uncertainty and responded accordingly.
• Verses 50:15-20.
  What Joseph did throughout his 13 years of uncertainty?
  He conducted himself as someone who was confident that God was with him.
  He assumed God’s hand in the uncertainty.
  He accepted the uncertainty as coming from God.

A. Joseph saw God in the transition and so, God was able to work through this transition that lasted over ten years.

• Joseph didn’t see himself as a victim.
• He saw himself as a player.
• He didn’t know it, but he had a leading role.
• He was the point man for a very significant work of God.

B. You don’t have to respond negatively.

• You can get mad at God-”You messed up my life!”
• You can resist and take control.
• And you can miss what he would have done and could have done if you had only surrendered to his unknown purposes and plans.

C. FOCUS on GOD’s Word

• Gen 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
• Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Conclusions:

• Uncertainty is a fact of life. It is not evidence of God’s inactivity.
• This is not the time to doubt. This is the time to follow closer than ever.
• Good news. Your heavenly Father is the master of uncertainty. He is in control. And he has something in mind for you, your family, and his kingdom.
• You can trust him. Live as a person who is confident that God is with you. FOCUS on him rather circumstances.

Speaker: Franky Lumingkewas
Date: June 6 2010

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