Lost

The scripture reading is from Philippians 1:20-21

This week’s sermon blog starts with a story =)

A computer “dude” (CD) won a holiday. To get to his destination he had to travel by boat. He got on the boat and it was a beautiful day, but little did he know that there were pirates on board. Half way through the journey the pirates took over the ship and threw CD off.

As he got up, all he could see was yellow and sunlight…

“Am I dead?” he asked himself.

He got up and realised he was on a deserted island. With nothing to do, eat or drink he decided to look for food. For many years he survived by eating wild food and drinking wild juice. Everyday he refused to give up and would always spend the brightest part of the day on the beach, looking for a boat.

One day, to his surprise, he saw a rowboat!

“Over here! Over here!” he yelled. The people heard him and rowed over. To his astonishment he found that they had a well constructed boat. As they spoke to each other he learnt that the family on the boat had also been thrown off by pirates and the father had made the boat.

“Tools?” he asked

“I used sharp rocks” the father replied.

They spent the rest of the day speaking about each others experiences and slept on the beach. The next day they used the boat and took CD to the other side of the island. They asked him “Would you like a drink?”

“No thanks, another drink of coconut juice and I’ll puke!” he replied.

“Pina colada?” the mother asked.

CD’s jaw dropped and looked at her with amazement. “Yeah sure”

The mother then asked him “Is there anything else you need? shaver? Clean clothes? Food?”

“No thanks, do you have a PC? I’m dying to check my email” he replied.

Now what do we learn from this story besides my bad writing skills?
Well to be honest the first thing I thought of was “Lost”.

But the main point of the story was to show us that sometimes we are so focused on something that our sense of priority goes out of the window. I know I am guilty of that.

We hear about many examples of this in the media through news etc.

A few examples are:

Athletes so focused on winning that they would be willing to take drugs.

Video gamers so focused on playing that they do not do any work whatsoever.

People so focused on their work that they do not spend time with their family.

But what if the focus was Jesus?

A true story which demonstrates this is about a woman who was told “If you do not deny Jesus, we will kill you”. The woman would not deny Jesus, even if it meant she would have to die. When the men heard this, they decided to take her son in and tell him the same thing. The son hesitated and asked his mother, “What do I do?” She told him

“If you deny Jesus, you are no son of mine.”

This resulted in the mother and son dying for their will not to deny Jesus.

Does the story sadden you? Or encourage you?... Or does it do both?

Paul was a great example of someone who was totally focused on Jesus. He did and said thing for Jesus, just as we should. However, dying for Christ, that’s a scary thought! But from Philippians it says “To live is Christ, to die is gain”.

Whether by life or by low marks
Whether by life or by losing mates
Whether by life or by losing a match, through not cheating.

These things, if we think about it, aren’t actually a lot to ask. Do we live a life that counts for something? We can get invited to something that is bigger than us.

Live with purpose.

Ady

Hope

Checkmate

Two men were in a museum and were looking at a painting of a chess game. In the painting, one character looks like the devil and the other looks like an ordinary man who is down to his last chess piece – the king. The title of the painting is ‘Checkmate’. One of the men looking at the painting is an international chess champion and something about the painting intrigues him. He becomes engrossed and transfixed by what he sees. All of a sudden he looks at his friend and says, “We must find the person who painted the picture and tell him that he must change the picture of change the title. I’ve studied the board and I realise this, that it is not checkmate, but the king still has one more move.”

Whatever we face there is hope, for the King always has one more move. God is in control.

Christians should always have hope: hope in God’s forgiveness, God’s Word, God’s love and God’s promise of eternal life. If we lose hope it is easy to become desperate, as it is vital and a reason to continue living. Let’s do our best to let this hope shine through our daily actions and attitudes, so the world can see the importance of it. God understands our hurts and we can have hope that he will help us carry them.

The next time life seems to say “checkmate,” don’t forget that the King always has another move.

Psalm 71:14
¹⁴ But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.

Partnership

Philippians 1:3-6
We are all part of a huge puzzle.

I actually never thought of our church in that way. The image I always have had is like how Paul described it, we are all parts of the body . However, you can always train your body to do something else, e.g some people can write with their feet because they don't have hands. But being a part of the puzzle you cannot replace one another (unless you purchase another box!). You are unique. Without you, the picture is incomplete. GOD sees the whole picture and we are only very small part of it, but nevertheless important. Being partners in gospel we complete the picture with our very own role. We cannot fake our roles, nor we can pretend to be someone else because ultimately-the puzzles won't fit.

As a church, we are only a very small piece of the big picture-the kingdom of God. It changes my prospective on my role as a leader in the EM. The question I should be asking myself is are we playing our role in the bigger picture, not just in the piece that we see. With other fellowships and churches we are working together in the harvest field. Live knowing God has made you perfect for your job, so come join us in the harvest field. The picture is incomplete without you.

Be a farmer!

Bonkie :)

What is Love?

Philippians 1:9-11

Love, it's a word which is thrown about all over the place nowadays, it seems to have lost its true meaning and value. Perhaps the most profound views of love come from the examples Brad used at the beginning of his message, from the young children. The little things that make up love, the little sacrifices we make for those who love.

In the passage, Paul talks about our love abounding more in knowledge and insight. I've often asked how this can be, how can our love abound more, how can our love grow? I have found that the key to love is to first understand what it is and what it truly means. Many will say love just happens, it's that feeling you get that you love someone, the warmth, the feeling, it just feels right. When I hear the word love I am reminded of William Blake's poem, the clod and the pebble:

Love seeketh not Itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair.

So sang a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattle's feet:
But a pebble of the brook,
Warbled out these metres meet.

Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to Its delight:
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite.

Here we have two very different views of love, a selfish one and a selfless one. It is true, often we might opt for the latter version, to seek gain for ourselves, to love others to reap the benefits of it. We can see from the poem that the pebble is hard, it is stubborn and does not change itself. whilst the clod is soft, it is forgiving, it is able to change and give things up for love.

For me, I still struggle between the two, but I know that God's love is perfect love. That love is a choice, love is to give something up. When you love, you open up, you become vulnerable. You see, God gave up His life for us, God made himself vulnerable, made His heart vulnerable. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. " If we are to learn to love, this is the point where we must begin.

This is love.

~Sck