Christ is Risen!

Last night we walked through Jewish Passover Seder, explored once more the meaning of 4 promises Exodus 6:6-7 and the four cups based on that.  We looked at the roots of what we know as Lord’s Supper, set at the upper room as disciples were eating Passover meal. 

The Christian world pauses every year during this season to remember what Christ did to manifest God’s love for us.  Having fulfilled the first 4 symbols of the Temple Calendar, namely

Passover – Death of Christ, as the perfect Lamb of God

Unleavened Bread – sinless life of Christ, buried for us

First Fruits – the Resurrection and victory over death

Pentecost – receiving the Holy Spirit as the early rain

We are awaiting three more prophetic fulfillments:

Trumpets – end times warnings

Yom Kippur – the Day of Judgment and cleansing evil out

Tabernacles – Dwelling with God in the New Jerusalem

The first coming of Christ is a historic event toward the further development of God’s Plan of Salvation.  As we commemorate Risen Savior we ought to live in ongoing constant relationship with Him, and call others to Him. It’s not “easter” – it is the feast of the Lord. 

The tendency to commercialise it, just as Christmas is ever present.  Clothing is the item now, just as toys are for Christmas.  While most Americans describe Easter as a religious holiday, less than half of U.S. adults surveyed link it specifically to the Resurrection of Jesus, a Barna Group study shows.

The Resurrection was the most prominent feast in the early church.  Every apostolic letter contained the message of the risen Christ.  Don’t just use this weekend as another long weekend, a personal break from work – but celebrate risen Christ and witness to someone!  Seventh-day Adventists have never given the attention to Easter that other churches do, because there has been no biblical precedent for making it a special day of celebration.  The ordinance of Baptism was presented by apostles as the biblical rite of celebrating death and resurrection of Christ. 

As a disciple of Christ lead someone to Him, disciple someone, mentor a person into relationship with Christ.  That is the best way one can celebrate Risen Christ!  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age," said Jesus. (Matthew 28:19-20)

7 days of miracles

Mainstream Christian churches call this coming week the Passion Week, as it leads to the remembrance and celebration of Christ’s Life, Death and Resurrection. 

Do you believe in miracles? We believe in prayer, and if there’s one answer to prayer that God makes a priority, it’s a prayer to reach the people we know and love with the gospel. This week, we’re going to be deliberate about prayer, and we’re going to ask God to give us a simple opportunity to reach out to just one individual in a tangible way. We invite every believer to engage in connecting with a non-member, or a disconnected person for Christ over this week. What that outreach looks like is entirely up to you. You might just want to pray with someone who’s struggling, or even just let them know that you’re praying for them. Or maybe you know someone who’s ready for something more. Maybe you know someone you’d like to invite to your small-group Bible study, or to study a set of lessons with you one-on-one. Maybe you’d like to invite them to church. Maybe you’d like to give them a copy of Steps to Christ and tell them what a difference it’s made in your life. Or maybe offer to watch their kids so they can go out and take care of errands - and then you leave behind a card letting them know you think the world of their family and pray for them daily, telling them that God loves them, and so do you. Maybe you can call someone who used to attend our church gatherings.  Whatever it is - ask God for the opportunity and the right idea.

Whatever it is, this week, we’re going to ask God to open the door - to give us a chance to be intentional about making a difference in someone’s life. Write the name of just one individual on your bookmark and then make a point of asking God for an opportunity to touch his or her life. Of course, we’re going to pray for that individual all week long, but this is actually something more - we’re actually going to ask God to give us a chance - to make it possible to interact with that person.  Everybody can participate: almost anything that you do to be intentional about witnessing counts.

Today we are setting aside ten minutes for prayer in our church service during the time of our congregational prayer. You find in your bulletins a Seven Days of Miracles bookmark.  Write down just one name, and then this week, make it a point to look for God’s answer and act on it.  As we will go into groups for prayer, pay careful attention to who you’re praying WITH this morning, too - because that person, or those people, are going to become your prayer partners this week. Exchange phone numbers, and tomorrow, during the day some time, I want you to phone each other and pray for your names again.

Ask God for a chance to interact with your person on a social level on Monday or Tuesday. Maybe you’ll meet them for lunch, or go for a walk together, or hit the mall together, or just pick up the phone to see how they’re doing. Then on Wednesday, phone your prayer partner again and share with each other how God answered your prayer. Then pray together, over the phone, and thank God for what happened, and then ask Him for one more opportunity. Ask God, on Thursday for a chance to share something spiritual with that same person. Maybe you’ll pick up the phone and let that person know that since you talked earlier in the week, you’ve been praying for them, and you were wondering if they’d be open to prayer over the phone. Or swing by the house and do the same thing.

Then on Friday, as we come together for  the Seder Agape feast at 6 pm, we want to hear from you.  We’re going to take time to share what happened during the week. And then we’ll pray for God to make us this intentional about the people we love, all the time.

Fulfilling our purpose...one day at a time

This week has been full of interesting happenings.  The Church Council (Board) meeting had a lengthy discussion about outreach and evangelism.  It was agreed to organize a special rally to refocus the church family on Evangelism April 12-13.  Last week I invited you to consider mentoring as a method for disciple-making process.  The Great Commission of Christ is very explicit about “going to make disciples” (Matthew 28:19-20).  It is our main purpose and goal.  Are we doing it?  Believers mentoring other believers, and walking together in accountability is vital not only for the Kingdom of God but for our personal growth and development.

Last Sabbath I shared in the sermon that the difference between a Christian and a secular person is their attitude.  Christ follower has the spirit of “GIVE-GIVE.”  Satan’s spirit is all about “GET-GET” (quoted from E.G.White, 1886).  When we invest in others, when we share blessings to bless we grow in the process!

While the world is looking for “signs” of the end in pope’s election, or political situations, the Bible invites us to consider the sign of character development, filling with the Holy Spirit, having Character of Christ produced in us, as the sign of soon Coming of Christ.  The only way we may hasten the Coming of our Lord Jesus is by submitting to the Holy Spirit.  When our lives are transformed by the Holy Spirit, when we are filled up to completion, then we show how sincere our faith is. 

Recently I read an old book (1979 J) by Herb Douglass, entitled “The End: Unique Voice of Adventists about the Return of Jesus.”  One paragraph at p.107made me stop and pull a highlighter.  Talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit the author sets a high challenge:  “The nurse or physician who does not to his homework well, who memorizes only to pass the next test, who doesn’t reach out for the latest research – will rarely be the cool, adept human solution to desperate medical emergencies.  Self-development is the route to genuine service.  Self-development is the only habit pattern that truly loves.” Then he gives a few examples, one of them is on parenting: “no parent learns how to be a caring parent overnight...Self-development for the parent means that he or she learns everything possible about child development and about basic problems...a prepared parent is the truly loving parent, a parent that young people can trust and respect.”   

Some people learn by reacting to things that happen, after the fact.  The best learning is being prepared for whatever may come.  When Jesus mentored the twelve he taught them for all possible situations, so that when things happened their faith was strengthened (John 14:29).  They were taught in advance!  They were developed!  Believers of all ages are promised that the Holy Spirit will instruct us.  Are you growing in Christ?  Are you being developed by the Holy Spirit for the task that may come in the future?

I am inviting you to reflect that evangelism is not an event we do once in a while, but a life of growing in Christ, developing self and people around us in the process, and letting God to demonstrate his power in our lives.

Who Discipled You? Who are you Discipling?

Pose this question in a room full of believers, and the place will look confused.  Have you been discipled?  Have you discipled someone?

Discipleship – the Method of Jesus, is a part of two-fold legacy Jesus left to build the Kingdom of God: Message + Method.  One does not work without the other.  Yet, Christianity claims the Message without the Method......and then people wonder why it does not work.

Leonard Sweet shares results of an extensive study of major denominations, which points out that “the journey from milk to meat didn’t come from superb preaching, compelling worship, well-organized small groups, or even church benevolent service of needs – but from intentional disciple making.

The Sabbath School original intent, (as it was in the Sunday School which preceded it J), was intentional disciple making through adult Christian education.  The current “nod-to-God” model of showing up for an hour to hear religious performance does not school people into being followers of Jesus.  Discipleship is about becoming a follower of Christ, and it is not taught, but modeled.

So, have you been disciple?  Has anyone invested time and modeled Christ to you? If not, you may be wondering where to begin, and how can you become a follower of Jesus.  The answer is simple – be with Jesus in your own daily life, and be “Jesus” in lives of others.

There is no substitute to the “follow-me-as-I-follow-Christ” mentoring lifestyle (1^st Corinthians 11:1).  It is time consuming, tedious, frustrating, painful, scary! But, it’s not about making money – it’s about making people for God’s Kingdom.  Time and relationships are the main investment.

If you are not discipling you are not following Jesus!  Jesus’ disciples/followers do what Jesus did – they disciple others.  Church growth, the Kingdom of God growth is not a matter of money, business strategies, tricks, complicated plans – it is a matter of individual following Jesus and in the process discipling others.

Consider where You stand in this journey of following Jesus, discipling people.  Chose today to be a discipling disciple.

Serving Community in Need

Last Sabbath we were blessed and challenged by a message from Gil Clelland, the pastor of Sanctuary London, community of faith that offers friendship to the homeless. The message of Jesus, calling us “friends” is urgent today, in a world lacking relationships.

When we see people we serve as “clients” we put a distance between us.  When we see people in need as friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, it opens new possibilities of connecting.  The “one-another” principle of serving, so repeatedly stated in the New Testament, is about mutual giving and receiving.  Gospel leads to mutual relationships, where service is coming and going in both directions, to and from.  As believers who “got things together,”  “got things under control,” in our zeal to offer a service we often fall short of admitting that we ourselves need to be served, and we do not have all things together.  It is OK to receive a service.  Evangelism without relationships is not efficient, as it becomes only about teaching and making points.  How often do we get the point and miss the person?

Number of our church folks attended the training session at the Sanctuary London.  One principle that stands out is the process, not an event.  The ministry to people in need is not about making a splash with a one-time big event, and then disappearing, but about continuously, consistently being present and involved with people.

For those who would like to visit and see if this ministry is for you, following are the days and times open at 513 Talbot Street Church:

Monday – 11-2 pm lunch, followed by 2-3 pm Bible Study.

Wednesday – 3-7 pm supper;  7-9 pm art and writing class.

Sunday – 6 – 9 pm – worship, bible discussion, fellowship.

This is not about “switching church.”  You are a member of a particular church body, and you remain where you grow spiritually.  This is an opportunity to serve as a part of church universal, joining another community of faith in service that has already opened doors and built trust.

It is not about recruiting people to come to “our church” either.  It is about being the Body of Christ, God’s hands and feet, God’s face smiling and blessing people, incarnate in 2013 London, Ontario.

We cannot give what we do not have.  The Relationships is the greatest need today, both in churches and in the community we see as godless.  I believe serving in this way would improve our own relationships, teach us to appreciate bonds we already have, a stop taking for granted opportunities we have to know and be know in a Christian Community we call church.