What the Church is all about.

As I reflect on songs chosen by Teresa and Heather as they lead the Community Needs and Services awareness day today, I invite you to consider thoughtfully those words (No.575) “Let your heart be broken for a world in need.” My thoughts also go to the words of Hymn 581:

When the Church of Jesus shuts its outer door,

Lest the roar of traffic drown the voice of prayer,

May our prayers, Lord, make us ten times more aware,

That the world we banish is OUR Christian care!

Let me ask you today, I invite you to pause and ask yourself this question: “what are we all about?” Is the church all about coming together on Sabbath at 11 am for what we call worship?

For a moment think of a football team, what do you want to see the huddle before the game, or the game? Where does the action take place?

Of course – the game after the huddle! When the players get into the field. So, our Sabbath 11 am is the huddle. Our life from Sabbath sundown to Friday sundown is in the field, in the Game of Salvation.

Today, and every week we come to embrace each other, prepare for, and commit to unity, to teamwork, to a common goal, so when we go out there – we would execute the game plan of our Chief Captain Jesus. How was your Salvation game this week? Did you score a soul for Jesus? Did you at least make a move, or a pass, or some progress toward assisting someone coming closer to the Kingdom of God?

This week I met with pastor Kossovan of Windsor Adventist church who just returned from Chicago where he spent 3 weeks in his Doctor of Ministry program studying the Urban Evangelism. He interacted there with a Catholic pastor Mike Phleger, of the “while entitlement” speech fame during Obama’s election. So, I watched a few clips on his website about his ministry. He gave credit to Martin Luther King Jr. Who challenged the church in the 20^th century to be the Huddle Time, where we come to pray, to get the Word, to get directions, instructions, to lick our wounds, and then being sent out!

What gives us credibility, what makes us functional is what we do when we get out of these church doors. Recently I communicated with the Board, and will bring to you all – on Sabbath we come to celebrate. The work happens during the six days. So, if you’ve got issues to deal with, challenges to sort out – let’s do it on Monday, or Tuesday, or any other time. The Sabbath is our time for re-creation, for re-freshing, for re-shaping, re-fitting ourselves for the Kingdom game.

How we live our lives six days a week is what makes us Christians, not showing up in church on Sabbath.

Today as you come to this huddle, worship celebration, let God reveal to you what your calling is, and what His Game plan is for you for this next week!

On infilling of the Holy Spirit

As I reflected on the sermon for today, thinking about the Work of the Holy Spirit in producing Christ in us, I had this question in mind: how can we live like Christ every day?

Let me suggest three steps. (1) Take time and effort to give God His place. Remember, God is Spirit. He doesn’t just sit on the throne somewhere, He is present everywhere. He is revealed in all creation, and how much more in the hearts of believers! In the books of Acts Holy Spirit is equated with the Church, Jesus takes persecuting the church personally. God is in lives of believers! We should always be seeing our God. When the believer sees God everywhere, he begins to give God His rightful place. When you rise in the morning praising God, saying “God, You are glorious, in it in You that I live, and move and have my being!” We must allow God to take His place in our prayer meetings, in our Sabbath School, in our conversations, in our music, in everything we do, to give Him Glory. Ask yourself today “Where is God in this Church?” and give Him Place and Praise.

(2) Accept God’s Will in everything. Andrew Murray writing on the Absolute Surrender says “I have often heard people say with their Bible in hand, ‘I believe every word within these two covers has come from God, I believe every promise between these two covers...But I have seldom heard it said “I accept every commandment within these two covers.” Write in the front of your Bible “Every promise of God in this book I believe, and every command of God I purpose to obey.” Remember, God gives his Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32) Now, the second aspect to God’s Will outside of His Word is the providence. Are you ready to meet God in everything that happens to you, as God permitted it? Even if God brings you into any difficulty by an act of someone else, you can count upon it that God will give you the grace to be humble and patient and to be perfected through the suffering or consequence.

(3) Finally, Trust His Almighty Power! He says that he will work to do, as well as to will, if you will acknowledge Him in your life as ALL. (Philippians 2:13). Living God is engaged actively in the work of perfecting your life every moment, and God never works anything but wonders! Believe it! Live as you believe it!

If you wonder “why doesn’t He works more powerfully in my life?” the answer is maybe so simple – stop running, wait upon Him, yield to His power, give Him fully His place. Just imagine this simple metaphor: God is the Painter, you are the canvas. Are you on His easel, or are you moving on your own volition that the Artist cannot even touch the canvas?

Earnestly Desire God to be All in ALL. Let your heart truly hunger for Him, and wait for nothing but Him.

Humility or Humiliation: what’s your choice?

For the past month pastor Rudy Alvir has been sharing his study on the difference between humility and humiliation in the Bible. As we studied this together a number of interesting discoveries emerged. We talk frequently about humility. People can be proud about achieving humility, being humble (even if it sounds like an oxymoron). As I asked teens about how they see the difference, Shaq gave a deep answer: “humility is something you do, but humiliation is something that is done to you.” Another teen defined humiliation as an embarrassment. Think of it, it is OK for a Christian to say “I humble myself,” and still look good. Yet, to be humiliated is embarrassing, painful, shameful, dishonouring. Does any wish to be humiliated? What is our reaction when we are humiliated? Is it not to defend our honour, our reputation?

Let me shift gears here with this question: did Jesus humble himself or was he humiliated and permitted it? Note how Apostle Paul says it in his letter to Philippians 2:7 “[Christ] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a slave.” Think about details of Christ’s life – humiliating, mocked for questionable origins of his mother’s pregnancy, exposed naked on the cross, accused of demonic witchcraft as he healed people, betrayed, abused, and the list goes on. Think of Apostle Paul, was he just “humble” or was he “humiliated”? Somehow our Christianity become politically correct , we substitute word “slave” with “servant,” “humiliation” with “humility,” “sacrifice” with “service,” and through all that the “SELF” remains alive and in charge.

Today I invite you to consider radical Christianity, even if following Jesus will be humiliating, and our pride will be crushed.

Notice how Apostle Peter sums it up: “⁸Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. ⁹No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. ¹⁰ Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here's what you do: say nothing evil or hurtful; ¹¹Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. ¹² God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; but he turns his back on those who do evil things.

¹³If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? ¹⁴Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. ¹⁵Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. ¹⁶Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. ¹⁷It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. ¹⁸That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.” (quoting from Eugene Peterson “Message” paraphrase of 1^st Peter 3:8-18)

Live radical!