Article - The Importance of Deadlines

Building Better Marriages

The Importance of Deadlines

It’s been a pretty busy couple of months in our house, and not much has been happening on the gardening front. Last week something happened to change that - Tidy Towns judging! Tuesday was T.T-Day, and we knew that as patriotic Narembeenites that we needed to have the place spruced up by then. Monday saw us finally get stuck into hoeing, raking, weeding, planting, pruning, mowing and sweeping in an effort to meet the deadline. Now we enjoy the fact that we’ve got the place looking a lot nicer than it was. We just needed a deadline to force us to make it a priority and get it done.

Have you ever wondered why it’s called a deadline? It become a popular term in the newspaper business in the 1920’s to mean the time that a story had to be in by in order to be printed. If it was not submitted on time, your story was dead. It probably originated though during the American Civil War as the name given to the line that prisoners in prison camps could not cross without being shot.

Sometimes in life there are very clear deadlines, but a lot of times we can let some important things slide because we don’t have a deadline that forces us into action.

What are some things that are important to you in your marriage? What are some things that haven’t been going so well that could use some attention? What are some things that would bring you closer together? What would help you be better parents/grandparents? What issues tend to come up repeatedly that haven’t been properly worked out?

I’ve got to admit, we worked pretty hard on Monday to meet our garden deadline, but we knew that it was worth the effort. Improving a marriage can be hard work – it can also be a lot of fun. Sometimes we put off things that are difficult, but then we never reap the rewards that come from doing them. As a result marriage does not provide us with the fulfilment that it should, conflicts can remain unresolved and bitterness, disappointment and apathy set it.

What sort of deadlines would most help your marriage? Some examples might be: “We will spend a romantic weekend away together before harvest starts”

“We’re going to sit down and talk about _____________ by the end of the month”

(It’s better to plan a definite time to talk about important things when you will both be ready to concentrate.)

Of course, the real challenge then is to actually make sure that you meet your own deadlines. Make a date and time and stick with it.

Don’t settle for a mediocre marriage. Don’t rip off your spouse by taking your relationship for granted. It takes work, so set your deadlines and make sure you get it done!

Mike Birch

Sermon, the Three Disciplines of Christian Growth

The Three Disciplines of Christian Growth

There's no manuscript for this one, so please have a listen to the audio by clicking on the link to the left. This table may be useful to you as you listen though:

Preparation (Looking Forward)	Awareness & Action (Looking Within & Without)	Reflection/Restoration (Looking Backward)
Spirit, Mind, Body, Emotions, Relationships, Habits, Environment	Listening and Doing	Reviewing
Jesus Growing up in Nazareth Baptism and Desert Journey Private times with the Father Garden of Gethsemane	John 5:19 19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.	Jesus with the Disciples Eg's: Mark 9:14-21 – failure to drive out a demon Matthew 16:13-20 – Peter’s confession of the Christ.

Article - The Lost Tomb of Christ?

The Lost Tomb of Christ?

This week “60 Minutes” featured a story from Tara Brown about the latest controversy surrounding an alleged discovery of the tomb of Jesus. Media hype has been fuelled by a documentary by film-maker James Cameron which argues that bones found in 10 ossuaries — small caskets used to store bones — may belong to Jesus Christ and a number of His associates.

Cameron’s documentary has been widely criticized by scholars world-wide, with even the experts who worked on the film expressing doubt that the tomb is the tomb of Jesus. Shimon Gibson, who was featured in the 60 Minutes report, has been quoted as saying "Personally, I'm skeptical that this is the tomb of Jesus and I made this point very clear to the filmmakers".[1] Just doing a basic search on the internet reveals the overwhelmingly critical response from archaeologists and scholars who specialise in Middle Eastern history.

Stephen Pfann, a scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem made an insightful comment when he said "I don't think that Christians are going to buy into this, but skeptics, in general, would like to see something that pokes holes into the story that so many people hold dear."

It has been widely asserted that throughout history religion has promoted an “unscientific” worldview which represses genuine scientific enquiry. Some people think that Science and Religion are like oil and water –they just don’t mix. Some go further and assume that there must be a tension between the two – that Science will one day overcome the ‘need’ for Religion or that Religion (that is, religious extremism) will plunge us back into another ‘dark age’ where freedom of expression, thought and enquiry are no longer tolerated. That might seem far-fetched, but there are some places in the world that operate like this even today.

However, many people have come to appreciate that Science and Religion can be greatly enriched by one another. Certainly, the bible contains many “scientific” observations and reflections which are in harmony with it’s teachings about things which cannot be dealt with in a scientific manner. For example, you can observe the incredible complexity of creation through scientific observation, and you can grow to understand the mechanisms of our physical Universe, but none of that answers the question of whether there is a Creator or not. That is a decision which you make on the basis of the evidence. The evidence does not make the decision for you, it merely informs you.

We need to recognise, though, that we are not purely rational beings. We do not make decisions based on evidence and reasoning alone. We each are impacted by our motives, emotions, personal histories, present environment and so on. The Bible goes one step further (warning - this might freak out people who have a purely “scientific” mindset) to say that there is are spiritual beings who seek to influence us. That’s a huge subject which I would be happy to answer questions about if you are interested!

If you look at modern advertising techniques, you will find that very rarely do advertisers attempt to get you to buy their product by providing evidence as to why that is a good choice. Rather, they try to hook in to your emotions to create a positive feeling that you associate with their product. They have discovered that this is far more persuasive than a rational approach.

People who for whatever reason seek to undermine Christianity know that all they need to do is create an image of credibility to the impression that the key elements of Christianity have been ‘disproven’. Most people would prefer to believe that is the case, because if it’s true that Jesus really did rise from the dead, maybe His promise of returning is also true. Maybe that stuff about sin and judgement, the need for forgiveness and the promise of eternal life is also true - but that means we are no longer safe to ignore God. We need to be prepared to meet Him.

You are free to believe what you like, but does what you believe stack up with the evidence? Have you bothered to find out? I believe the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus – as well as the reliability of the Bible in general – is extremely compelling. Are you willing to check it out?

---

[1] “Jesus tomb film scholars backtrack”, Etgar Lefkovits, The Jerusalem Post Apr 11, 2007

Sermon - Church for Real Men

Church for Real Men

Father’s Day 2007

Introduction – A Real Man

Some of you may remember this story from last Christmas, but for the sake of those who weren’t there, I’m going to tell it again. It’s the story of a father, and what a father’s love has caused him to do.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedalled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars–all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. And what has Rick done for his father? Not much–except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

“He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'' Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. “Put him in an institution.''

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,'' Dick says he was told. “There's nothing going on in his brain.''

“Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? “Go Bruins!'' Rick was then enrolled in his local public school.

After a high school classmate was paralysed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, “Dad, I want to do that.'' Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described “porker'' who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. “Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. “I was sore for two weeks.''

That day changed Rick's life. “Dad,'' he typed, “when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!'' And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

“No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyt's weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?'' How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried. Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four gruelling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii.

Last year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 – only 35 minutes off the world record.

“No question about it,'' Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.''

Watch Team Hoyt video

Today we are talking about what it means to be a “Real Man”. When you think about the “Real Men” that you have known, what sort of qualities are you thinking about? What is it that makes a man a “real man”?

And where are you likely to find a real man? Do you find him sitting in a pew or out on a football field?

Yesterday I got to attend my first ever live AFL match. The West Coast Eagles v. Essendon at Subiaco Oval. Fantastic! I want to show you a video clip of one player in the AFL who is widely regarded as a real man – Brisbane’s Jonathan Brown. (The video quality isn’t great, but you’ll get the idea!)

Watch Jonathan Brown video

2 Timothy 1:7 says:

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

I’m going to ask you to do something that might seem a little strange, but it will be worth it. I want you to talk to the person next to you about how the men in the videos we have seen so far have shown qualities of power, love and self-discipline. You’ve got 1 minute!

.....

OK, now that you’ve identified those qualities in Dick Hoyt and in Jonathan Brown, let’s start thinking about our lives, and how this Scripture comments on the way we live.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Paul writes this sentence to a young man who has great gifts and a great heritage. He has what is needed in order to be a man of godly influence. He has been called and equipped by God to be a teacher and leader in the Church.

Yet Paul knows that having the ability is one thing, putting it into practice is quite another.

On Monday and Tuesday I was participating in a Ministry Life Skills course with a group of fellow Ministers. By the way, the term “life skills” is just another way of saying “wisdom”. The Hebrew word for wisdom literally means “skilled living”.

One of the things that we looked at during the course was the internal voices that we listen to. One holds us back, and the other gives us confidence to act.

We did a number of activities that required us to share ideas or to take leadership, but we saw that most of us tended to hold ourselves back. We might have had an idea of how to solve the problem, but we didn’t speak up because we didn’t want to seem bossy or arrogant, or we were afraid of being wrong and looking silly. So the confident ones did all the speaking while the quiet ones just let them take the lead. Timothy was probably one of these quiet ones, and Paul knew that he had the wisdom and the spiritual gifting to speak and to lead, but he lacked the confidence to actually step up and do it.

Timothy needed to start listening to the right voice. Not his voice of caution, hesitation and self doubt – he needed to listen to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of power.

When people are trapped by their own timidity, it is very easy for them to make excuses about that. They don’t speak up in a group because the loud ones never listen to them anyway. They don’t take the lead because that would be pushing yourself forward instead of being humble. They resent those people who are confident enough to do what they would like to do, but they tell themselves that they are more spiritual because they are being more submissive and quicker to listen and slower to speak and so on. In fact, because we so often speak on self-sacrifice and submission and humility and so on, we can sometimes give the impression that the ideal Christian man or woman is a timid one, instead of one filled with Spiritual power. We make it seem that to be a good Christian man you should be a wimp, but men were made to want to be powerful.

Men, I want to remind you today that you are called to be spiritually powerful.

Proverbs 28:1 says:

The wicked man flees though no one pursues,

but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

What is that going to look like in your life?

Let me start off by talking about what it looks like in my life…

I have certain things that I am good at doing and some things that I don’t feel that I do well. I have things that I like doing, and things that I do not enjoy doing. There are things about myself that I am comfortable about, and there are things about myself that I don’t feel so secure about. We are all like that.

When I am thinking about what I will do, am I going to choose the things I like doing or the things I don’t like doing? Will I choose the things that I enjoy of the things I don’t? Will I choose the things that make me feel confident or the things I am nervous about?

In 2 Corinthians 12: 8-10, the Apostle Paul tells some of his own story:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ^ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ^ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

How do these verses relate to my situation?

First of all, it tells me that I must not rely on my own strengths in order to fulfill the ministry that God has called me to. That principle is true for me and for you. How often do we stick to what we feel confident doing, and fail to step out in faith believing that God will work through us even in areas that we feel completely inadequate in? We need to be bold in our strengths and in our weaknesses. “It’s not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord” – Zech. 4:6

2 Timothy 4:5 says:

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

The duties of my ministry that I feel OK about doing are things like teaching groups of all ages, leading youth and children’s activities, writing articles and web pages and all the stuff that I can do by myself.

What I struggle most to do is to relate to adults in certain situations. In a meeting where I don’t have a specific role, I am one of the people who think a lot about what they should say but don’t actually speak up and say it. If I try once and someone speaks over me, then that’s it for the rest of the meeting! You guys don’t see that side of me so much, because as your Pastor I have a definite role to play, but in other situations it’s very different.

I’m not confident in making friends, and I think more in terms of tasks than in terms of people. I’m not someone who others feel a natural liking for or loyalty toward. People often feel like it’s hard to really get to know me. That can be a handicap in my role.

Ephesians 4:11-12 says:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ^to prepare God’s people for works of service

Given my natural strengths, what part of preparing you guys for works of service will I emphasize and what will I neglect?

I will emphasis the teaching side, but I will tend to neglect the coming alongside, challenging and encouraging part of it. I will work hard in ministry and wonder why some people do not feel the same sense of enthusiasm or responsibility, but I will often not ask them personally why this is the case.

How about for you? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are the duties that God has called you to? What parts of that are you neglecting and what parts are you doing well?

I have a couple of suggestions for you as you think about this:

First of all you will need to remember that you are in a spiritual battle, and therefore you need to be spiritually prepared. You need the self-discipline to make sure that your lifestyle is fitting for someone who is a warrior. You need to keep spiritually strong. You need to keep spiritually focussed. We talked last week about not getting distracted by civilian affairs. You need to put that teaching into practice.

Secondly, you need to stop listening to your own voice or to other people’s voices that hold you back from being and doing what God has called you to be and do. Don’t give in to fear. Stand firm for what you believe in and are committed to.

What are some examples of this?

How are you exercising spiritual leadership in your home? It’s not as though you need to be the one who drives every “spiritual” activity, but are you taking the initiative to have healthy disciplines in your home? Do you show an eagerness to discuss spiritual matters? Do you pray with your family?

How are you using the spiritual gifts that God has given you? Are you confident in the area of service that God has called you to? How are you growing in skill in your service?

What happens when your sporting club or social circle schedules activities on Sunday mornings? Do you tell them that you are unavailable at those times, or do you stay silent? Do you act embarrassed of church, or do people sense that you are deeply committed to your faith and your church family? I am certainly not saying that we should not be flexible so we are free to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but have we gone past flexible so that pretty much anything qualifies as a reason to miss church? Do you see our Sunday services as essential team training for the battle that we are in?

Do not wimp out of the Christian life. Do not wimp out of the role that God has called you to play in this church family. We need you. The next generation of Christians needs a healthy church to inherit. This community needs a healthy church to witness to it, even though it will always make it tough for you to stay committed.

Are you up to the challenge, men? There are plenty of reasons for you to opt out, or is this church going to be a church for real men?

Article - Feel the Rhythm

Feel the Rhythm!

For the last few months I’ve been learning to play the drums. Tapping toes or clapping hands to the beat is pretty easy, but just you try to get two hands and two feet working together in a good rhythm! It’s a lot harder than it looks. After a while, you get a basic 4/4 beat down pat, so you think it’s time to jazz it up a bit. As soon as you do that, you stuff up your rhythm and have to start all over again! (a one and two and three and four and one and two and……)

Tim loves to come over and have a whack on the drums, and his philosophy of drumming is LOUD AND FAST ! I was trying to teach him to listen to the rhythm of the song and drum along to that, but it just wasn’t happening. Well, he is only 4 after all! But he did remind me of the way that many of us – me included – live life.

Life was meant to work with some natural rhythms. There are seasons of work and rest and play. There are seasons of struggle and seasons of peace. Seasons of happiness and seasons of sadness.

God Himself demonstrated that in the story of Creation. He worked for 6 days and rested on the 7^th. God doesn’t get worn out, He doesn’t get weary. He was demonstrating how to live with rhythm – work and rest.

Another important rhythm is found in our patterns of sleep. An article published in Nature Magazine in 2005 entitled “The rhythm of rest and excess” stated: “Our immune defence, cognitive performance and mental health are all affected by sleep and our circadian rhythms. Disruption of the sleep–wake axis results in a broad range of interconnected pathologies, including poor vigilance and memory, reduced mental and physical reaction times, reduced motivation, depression, insomnia, metabolic abnormalities, obesity, immune impairment and even a greater risk of cancer.”[1]

Drumming without rhythm is just painful noise – and so is living without rhythm. When we tune in to the rhythm of life and live in harmony with how we have been created, that’s when the music works. Those rhythms include things like regular sleep, balance of work and leisure, time spent with people and so on.

As a Christian, I believe that the best rhythm of life must include time for getting in tune with God. When I am too busy or stressed to make time for God, I find that life just isn’t as sweet and I’m not as effective as I could be. When I’m taking the time to listen to God’s beat, the rest of life works out much better.

Mike Birch

---

[1] Foster, R. & Wulff, K; “The rhythm of rest and excess”; Nature vol. 6 May 2005 p407

Sermon - I'm in the Lord's Army

I’m in the Lord’s Army!

26/08/07

When I was young we used to sing a song in Sunday School called “I’m in the Lord’s Army”. The version we sang was a little different to the original –here’s how we used to do it…

I’m in the Lord’s Army

I’m too young to march in the infantry, Ride in the cavalry, Shoot the artillery.
I’m too young to fly o'er the enemy, But I'm in the Lord's army. (yes, sir!)
I'm in the Lord's army, (yes, sir!) I'm in the Lord's army, (yes, sir!)
I’m too young to march in the infantry, Ride in the Calvary, Shoot the artillery.
I’m too young to fly o'er the enemy, But I'm in the Lord's army. (yes, sir!)

We used to really love singing that song! I’m not sure how much I understood about what it means to be in the Lord’s army, but whatever it was, armies mean battles and weapons and armour and all that sort of stuff that little boys love!

It reminds me of another song that I sing sometimes called “I was only 19”. One of the lines in it goes like this:

“And the ANZAC legends didn’t mention mud and blood and tears. And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.”

The ideas that children have about things like armies and war and battles as children are usually to do with adventure and heroism. They usually don’t involve the pain and fear and futility that real war brings.

But the song I sang as a child was not talking about real war. It was talking about being in a spiritual battle. And the concept of being in this battle, which once seemed so exciting, often seems to lose it’s appeal as we get older, and we become more aware of what it costs.

Matthew 6:24

^24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

There is a general principle here, followed by a specific application. Jesus is saying that you cannot serve 2 masters. You cannot have divided loyalties. You will either be devoted to one or the other. Whatever you are not devoted to, you will despise in comparison.

Jesus talks about God and Money. There’s nothing wrong with money. There’s nothing wrong with making a lot of money. But if you are devoted to money, you will despise God in comparison. If you are devoted to God, you will despise money in comparison.

What would the people closest to you say that you most care about? Would people say that you care most about money? Would they say that you care most about having a good time? Perhaps it’s your devotion to your family? Maybe it’s your reputation or some cause that you are involved with.

What would you say of yourself? What do you most care about? Who do you most care about?

This week I watched the last half of a movie called “The Devil Wears Prada”. A young lady works for a tyrannical boss, but is also lured by the glamour of her job and the “success” she is experiencing. At a key moment she is trying to work things through with her boyfriend and her mobile phone rings – it’s her boss. The boyfriend says “You know, in case you were wondering - the person whose calls you always take? That's the relationship you're in. I hope you two are very happy together.”

That young lady had not realised that when you are fully devoted to something, you despise anything that gets in the way of your devotion. Her boyfriend and her other friends had come to realise that even though she genuinely cared for them, they always came second to the job and to the demands of the boss. Every time a decision had to be made, the job won. Every time someone had to be disappointed or let down, it was them. They began to resent that.

I wonder if God feels like that with us sometimes. I wonder if God gets sick of having His appointments with us cancelled because of work demands or leisure activities or social commitments. I wonder if God wishes that we would put some more effort into our relationship with Him and our work for His kingdom, instead of being pulled away by other masters?

Jesus says in Matthew 10:37-34…

“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ^38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ^39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We can only have one Master!

Paul writes on the same theme to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3-4…

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ^4 No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.

We are faced with decisions about what we get involved with all the time. We are always being pulled in one direction or another. Do you take the time to consider what will please your commanding officer? Do you remember that you are in the Lord’s Army? Do you remember that we are in a spiritual battle, not a pleasure cruise or a working holiday?

What does it mean for us to not get involved in civilian affairs? Does that mean that we can join a Bible study group but not the Tennis club?

Nope - it means that whatever we do, we do it for Christ.

I had a discussion about this during the week with Carolyn. We were talking about the book club that I’m in, and my reasons for joining it. I want to share those reasons with you as an illustration of what we’re talking about today.

I am in a book club because I am a Christian. I am a Christian who enjoys reading, and thinking about what I read. I am a Christian who wants to be involved with people who don’t yet know Christ. I am a Christian who wants opportunities to talk with people about meaningful and interesting subjects, in the hope that as we do so there will be something that shines out of me that reflects the character of Jesus. I want to build relationships with people that provide opportunities to share the gospel appropriately. I am not there for fun, even though I enjoy it. I am not there to gain friends, even though I really enjoy and respect the other members and want to grow in friendship with them. I find some of these things a bit frightening, but I am there because I am in the Lord’s army. Otherwise I would be at home playing computer games or watching T.V.!

However, despite my motives for joining book club it would still be quite easy for me to lose sight of those motives. Plenty of people have joined clubs and groups or gotten into the habit of going to certain places for good reasons, only to lose sight of those reasons and get pulled into a “civilian” (what we often call “secular”) agenda. Instead of being a godly influence on others, we allow the “world” to influence us. We need to keep in step with the Spirit. We need to be keeping our attention on Christ in everything that we do. We need to be asking for His help to do the things that He has called us to do. If we go into battle without our spiritual armour on, we are walking into danger.

When you think about your work life, family life, community life, church life and so on; are you able to say that you are doing what your commanding officer wants you to do? Or are you involved in civilian affairs? Have you forgotten that being a Christian means coming under the Lordship of Christ, and have you wandered off doing what you think is best or what you feel pressured into?

No-one can serve 2 masters. Whom do you serve?

article - Integrity in Politics?

Integrity in Politics?

In the lead-up to a Federal election, we are becoming more and more focussed on the people who represent us - or aspire to represent us – in federal government. As electors, many of us have a responsibility to carefully evaluate the various candidates, their parties and policies and come to a decision about who we most trust to represent us and our interests well.

What do we base that decision on? Do we just look at the policies put forward? Do we look at a track record of accomplishment? Does character and integrity play a part?

In his article in the West Australian last Saturday, Hugh Mackay raised the issue in his usual thought-provoking way. After describing the recent controversy about comments made (or not made) by the Treasurer about the Prime Minister, Mr Mackay writes:

“Have we reached the situation… where the voters no longer care whether a Federal minister lies or not, as long as their own wellbeing is secure? Is the question of politicians’ personal integrity no longer an issue for us, as long as we’re fed, clothed and housed comfortably?”

It’s a question which is up to us to answer. Certainly, if popular response to the latest scandal involving Kevin Rudd is anything to go by, the answer is “yes”. I am not in any way attacking Mr Rudd for his mistake – if anything, I am commenting on the fact that Mr Rudd is one of the few people who apparently considers that visiting a strip club was a mistake! Comments aired on the Nine Network’s “A Current Affair” programme indicated that most people thought it was nothing to worry about. One interviewee even commented that his only mistake was to admit it to his wife the next day!

It would seem that our society’s traditional Christian values which defined personal integrity have largely been forgotten. We are apparently more concerned with who can deliver the strongest economy with the most personal financial benefits for ourselves. It seems that as a society we value material success more highly than moral or spiritual excellence.

I am reminded of when Jesus appeared to the Apostle John in a vision and gave him a message for a church which was very wealthy, but had lost it’s way morally and spiritually:

^ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ^ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

^ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. ^ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. ^[1]

From God’s point of view, success is not measured in economic terms. In fact, material success can be dangerous, because it can lead us to believe that we don’t need God. To pursue material success alone is to settle for less than the abundant life that God promises us.

If we want to experience God’s blessing on us personally and nationally, it requires us to repent, which means to stop heading in one direction and start moving in another one. Jesus is trying to get our attention, will we hear Him and invite Him in to our personal and national life, or will we carry on the way we are going?

Mike Birch

---

^[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Re 3:17-20). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Sermon - The Fire of the Spirit

The Fire of the Spirit

1 Thessalonians 5:19-28
19/08/07

audio

On Friday night I asked the young people at youth group to name the ways that following Jesus changes the way people live. What difference does being a Christian make? Most of these kids come from homes that do not have much of a Christian influence, but they have been to Kids Club and Scripture classes and youth group, so they should have a reasonable idea. However they weren’t all that confident with their answers. Eventually we got a bit of a list made. Christians go to Church, they pray, they read the Bible and they try to please God in what they do. Those aren’t bad observations.

Well it’s the last sermon in our series in 1 Thessalonians, and I can’t think of a better topic to close on than what Paul chooses as his closing exhortation to the Christians at Thessalonica. After talking very specifically on a number of aspects of the Christian life, Paul now zooms out and gives a summary of what it’s all about.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-28

¹⁹ Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; ²⁰ do not treat prophecies with contempt. ²¹ Test everything. Hold on to the good. ²² Avoid every kind of evil.

²³ May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

²⁵ Brothers, pray for us. ²⁶ Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. ²⁷ I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.

²⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

To live as a Christian is to follow in the steps of Jesus. We only know how to do that because God has put His Spirit within us to show us the way. We only have the ability to do that because the Holy Spirit helps us. Without the work of the Holy Spirit there is no such thing as Christianity, there is only futile religious effort. You cannot follow someone you can’t see. Without the Holy Spirit there would be no Scriptures, and without the Holy Spirit we cannot truly understand them and apply them anyway. Without the Holy Spirit there is no Church, there is only groupings of like-minded people.

Verse 19 gives us a summary of what it means to live as a Christian – it is to not put out the Spirit’s fire. The Holy Spirit has been given to each Christian as the living link between us and the triune God. We are connected to the God the Father and the God the Son through God the Spirit. This wonderful mystery is described by Jesus as recorded in the gospel of John chapters 14 to 16. I’d encourage you to read that passage in your own study time.

It is possible for us as Christians to quench the fire of the Spirit within us. In Ephesians 4:30 this is described as grieving the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is working within you to do exactly what verses 23 to 24 describes:

^23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. (That is the work of the Holy Spirit) May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ^24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

God is faithful and He will keep us blameless until Jesus returns. He will use us for His exclusive purposes (that is what it means to be sanctified – to be holy). Those purposes include witnessing to the lost and building up those who are saved. Those purposes include reflecting the glory of His character. God will do that work in you. He has promised and He will do it. The fire of the Holy Spirit is at work within you refining you and stirring you up to do good things. But that fire can be quenched. The Spirit can be grieved. It is possible for us to stifle the work that God is doing within us.

Those who were here last week will remember that the secret to a joy-filled life is to get the focus off ourselves and onto God. That can be really, really hard to do when we are stressed out or sick or sad. Today we are learning that the Christian life as a whole is not about us and what we do or don’t do, it’s what God does in us that counts.

Now that doesn’t seem to make sense. Just look back through chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians. There’s heaps of do’s and don’ts there. Look at the 10 commandments. Look at the Sermon on the Mount. Look within every book of the Bible and you will find specific commands about what we should do and shouldn’t do.

This tension is explained very well in the book of Romans chapters 6 to 8. Again, read through that in your study time to get a fuller picture of this subject. Better still, start reading from chapter 1 verse 16!

But let me give you the gist of it using an example:

I am not a patient man. I know that I should be patient, and I have learned over the years to control or hide my impatience in most circumstances, but I can’t do that all the time. I have learnt to respond quickly to flares of anger or frustration so that they are not free to cause damage. But none of that makes me a patient man, no matter how calm I might appear to others. I know, and God knows, that I am not a patient man. That will not change in this life.

But God is patient. He is the ultimate example of patience. His Spirit produces patience in me. When I am living by the help of the Holy Spirit, when I am keeping in step with the Spirit, then my life demonstrates God’s patience. His quality of patience is what shines through me, not my quality of impatience. When I am not keeping in step with the Spirit, more of me shines through and less of God. This is also described in Galatians chapter 5.

How is it possible to quench the Holy Spirit?

Using this example, one way would be to carry on being impatient. To not feel His convicting voice when I am impatient. To not feel godly sorrow that moves me to repentance after being impatient. To not pay attention to the words of Scripture that address this issue. To not love people and care about my impact on them. All of this shows a quenching of the work of the Holy Spirit within me.

On the other hand, to try by my own strength to be a patient man would also quench the Holy Spirit. Paul is very clear on many occasions that we cannot achieve righteousness on our own by trying to live up to the requirements of the law. It is an insult to God to think that we are good enough to live by His standards. Only He is perfectly good. Only He can make His goodness shine from us. We need to come to Him humbly and ask for His help. We need to recognise our dependence on Him.

Verse 22 simply says “Avoid every kind of evil”. To accept or ignore sin is one kind of evil. Self-righteousness is another. We need to avoid both. Verses 20&21 give some other examples of how we can avoid quenching the Holy Spirit.

Verses 20-21 state: “ do not treat prophecies with contempt. ^21 Test everything. Hold on to the good”.

We can grieve the Holy Spirit by not accepting the work He does in and through others for the building up of the Church. The example given here is that of prophecy. Now, there are many different views on how the gift of prophecy operates and the place it should have in the Church today. I have heard people speak prophecies on a number of occasions. I must confess that early on in my life I did treat these with a large dose of skepticism, because of my views in this area. I have also heard prophecies uttered that I knew to be false. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to assume that the Holy Spirit is not speaking through someone. We could miss out on God’s direction and encouragement for us if we did so.

On the other hand, to accept everything that people claim comes from God would be disastrous. As I mentioned earlier, I have heard things said that I knew to be false. It would have been silly for me to believe that these things came from God. I have heard things said from those who claim to have been given the words to say from the Holy Spirit which have been dangerously opposed to what the Bible says. The Spirit who inspired the words of Scripture is also the God who does not change. He is not about to contradict Himself deliberately or accidentally. To accept these false prophecies would be to grieve the One who has already shown us the truth.

So what should we do? We should test everything.

In the case of prophecy, we should match it to Scripture. It should also match up with what can be observed to be true. Finally there should be a peace in our Spirit that what we are hearing is from God. After all, the same Spirit lives in us, and will be speaking from within as well as from without. I have experienced this myself, where someone was praying for me and prophesied some things which matched exactly what I felt God had been saying to me over a period of months. It gave me the confidence to know my convictions were from God and that I needed to act on them. It would have grieved the Holy Spirit for me to ignore that as coincidence or whatever else, and fail to do what God wanted me to do in that situation. So in the case of prophesy I hold on to that good experience but I avoid the other ungodly stuff that goes on.

But notice that we are not just to test prophesies. We are to test everything. If we do not want to quench the Holy Spirit, we must constantly be testing what we take in, what we do, what we say and so on. We need to be submitting all these things to His control.

Have you ever paused through a movie or book or TV show or song and asked God if He is happy for you to watch or listen to it? Do you think about what a program contains and whether it matches up with God’s standards for you? Do you test conversations you are a part of to see whether you need to change what is being said or remove yourself? Have you ever been part of a group that is doing something wrong but don’t want to upset anyone by causing a fuss? Who would you rather offend, those people or God? We can grieve the Holy Spirit by what we do or don’t do.

If you were sitting in the pub and the Holy Spirit said “Leave this place, this is not good for you” would you listen? Would you be more afraid of looking like a prude or losing friends? On the other hand, if the Spirit said “Go into the pub, there is someone I want to touch through you” would you do that? Would you be afraid of tarnishing your reputation or being in an uncomfortable environment?

It’s not what you do or don’t do that matters, it’s what you do or don’t allow the Spirit to do in and through you. It might seem like a crazy distinction, but it’s absolutely essential to understand if you want to be a mature Christian who is kept blameless until the coming of our Saviour.

Article - Truth is Relative, Pick One that Works

“Truth is Relative – Pick One That Works.”

That was one of the many great lines uttered by lawyer Sebastian Shark on Monday night in the new series “Shark”. Faced with 2 pieces of evidence that contradict each other, Shark is instructing his team to run with the one that will win their case, and pretend the other one never existed.

Most people are probably fairly cynical about those who claim to tell the truth these days. We have found out that most people only present the truth that works for them. Politicians will report truths that provide an electoral advantage, and dispute or minimise truths that don’t. They will emphasise certain things to certain groups because that’s what will work for them on polling day. Lawyers do the same thing to win cases. Advertisers do the same thing to sell products or services.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we have all been guilty of being selective with the truth at times – even of telling outright lies. Parents sometimes do it with their kids in order to avoid difficult topics or to produce certain behaviour. Kids do it with parents to keep them of their backs or to shift blame. Employees do it with employers to get time off or to justify some delay or mistake.

In fact, I have seen on many occasions that people not only deceive others, but also themselves. It is easier to believe our own lies than to face things that are difficult to acknowledge or deal with. It works for us to believe others are guilty and we are innocent. Others are ignorant and we are wise. Others have hidden agendas but we are fair-minded. We reinterpret events to come up with a “truth” that works for us.

But have we lost sight of what truth really is? Have we lost the value of honesty, and the confidence that it gives us in our relationships with each other?

If we know that we bend the truth sometimes, when situations are awkward or not to our advantage – then we must also be aware that others are doing the same thing. When we lie to our children – even about trivial things - we must realise that we are training them to lie to us one day.

One of the things that most of us value most in a relationship is trust. It doesn’t matter what type of relationship – work, family, friendship and so on - we need to be able to trust those people for the relationship to work.

Trustworthiness is a character attribute – it is not selective. If you are prepared to lie to your boss or the ATO you will also be prepared to lie to your wife or husband or whoever you are closest to. In the same way a personal commitment to honesty and truth is reflected in every part of life.

When Jesus was choosing the 12 men who He would invest the majority of His time and energy into, He said that one of them (Nathanael) was a guy “in whom there is nothing false.” ^[1]. That’s the sort of person that I want to be. I want people to be confident that even if they don’t like what I say or do, they can be sure I am being truthful. I want people to know that even if I don’t like what I have to say or do, I will stick with what is true and not with what I wish was true.

That’s one reason I invest time studying each week before I preach or teach. I want to be sure that I am not saying stuff that I want people to hear. I need to know thoroughly what the Bible has to say, and I need to give God the opportunity to teach and prepare me before I can pass that on to others. I have become convinced over the years in the trustworthiness of the Bible in being able to teach us all we need in order to know God and live as His children. The Bible reveals Jesus, who never minced words or was false in any way. Rather He is “the way and the truth and the life.”^[2]. Real truth, real direction and real life are only found in relationship with Him. Anyone will tell you what they want you to hear. Lots of people will tell you what you want to hear. Wouldn’t you rather have the truth?

---

^[1]John 1:47 ^[2]Jn 14:6

Sermon - The Secret of a Joy-Filled Life

The Secret of a Joy-Filled Life

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

12/08/07

audio

Who would you rather be like – Eeyore or Tigger?

On the one hand you have Eeyore – Eeyore sees the worst in any circumstance. He can find a problem or a threat in any situation. He lives in a constant state of self-indulgent misery.

On the other hand you have Tigger, who is almost annoyingly joyful. He has energy and enthusiasm to burn, because he almost never sees problems or dangers or limitations. He sees adventure and possibility and fun in everything.

Most people would say that they would rather be a Tigger than an Eeyore, but the reality is that most people live a lot closer to Eeyore than Tigger.

Most of us remember criticisms more than complements. Many of us are more concerned about what we want instead of what we have. Sometimes we see peoples faults and past sins more than we see their strengths and their victories. We often complain about the effort required by our work instead of being satisfied by a job well done.

We want to be happy. We want to live lives full of joy, but somehow we can’t seem to find enough reasons to be joyful.

Self-help experts sell us the message of positive thinking - and it can be a good message – but it’s not enough by itself. No matter how positive we are, as human beings we are limited. Our own resources are not enough to achieve the life that we want, the life that we were created for. We actually need something more than what we’ve got.

It’s not a better job or a lusty affair or a winning lotto ticket or nicer friends. What we need is much bigger than that.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

^16 Be joyful always; ^17 pray continually; ^18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

^

What is the secret of a Joy-Filled Life? Verse 16 tells us we should be living this sort of life. The fact that we are told to do it means that we must have a choice in the matter – it doesn’t just happen by itself. The next 2 phrases describe the how: we are to pray continually, giving thanks in all circumstances. How can you be thankful in all circumstances? These verses are describing a lifestyle of constant communication with God. A life which is focussed on God. A life which doesn’t motor along independently. A life which doesn’t become fixed around temporary pleasures, selfish desires or ambitions. A life which is in communion with God. When a person is in communion with God, they have cause to be thankful in all circumstances.

Ephesians 1:3-10 explains why…

Ephesians 1:3-10

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. ⁹ And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Here are just a few things that I have to be thankful about:

Ø Because He loves me, God has chosen me to be a part of His family.

Ø God has made me holy and blameless in His sight – He does not hold my sins against me.

Ø God has paid the price to set me free from sin and the penalty that I deserve for my sin. He has done this through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ø God has shown me the sort of life that He wants me to live on this Earth, and He has put His Spirit within me to help me live it.

Ø When the time is just right, God is going to finally destroy all that is evil, and bring everything under the Lordship of Jesus. We will then enjoy an eternity which is free from everything which falls short of God’s goodness.

Positive thinking is a great way to approach life, but it is not enough on it’s own. It still leaves us to our own resources when it comes to navigating our way through life’s challenges, pitfalls and hurts. It restricts our vision and limits our hope. It becomes a god in itself because we think that by changing our thinking we will be able to control our life and get what we want out of it. That’s a lie.

But when we shift our thinking from ourselves or other people, and focus our minds and our hearts on God, then we find the secret of a joy-filled life. We find something that is rock-solid – a sure foundation for us to base our whole lives on. God’s goodness cannot be eroded. His love for us can not wear out. His plans for us cannot be changed. His kingdom will not be defeated. His promises cannot be thwarted.

When you discover who God is, then you have reason to live a joy-filled life. But there is a condition attached. You must be in right relationship with Him. You need to confess your sin, and accept His forgiveness. You need to acknowledge Him as Lord of your life and live accordingly.

Just knowing about God is not enough, we need to know Him. We need to be in right relationship with Him.

Now I want to read you a story from the Old Testament that shows very practically what this can look like. It’s a story from the book of Nehemiah, and I’ll fill you in a bit about the background before we get started. The Israelites have recently returned from exile in Babylon, and they have begun rebuilding their towns and the capital city of Jerusalem. There has been a lot of opposition from surrounding peoples, but they have succeeded in rebuilding the Temple (although not to the same scale as the original Temple area), and have just finished rebuilding of the city walls. Let’s take up reading from the end of Nehemiah chapter 7.

When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, ^1 all the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

8 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. ^3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

^4 Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

^5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. ^6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

^7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. ^8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear ^a and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

^9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

Why were they weeping? They had realized their personal and national guilt. As God’s Law was read they became conscious of how far they had fallen short of obeying it. We will learn more about this later in the story.

^10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

^11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve.”

^12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

^13 On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to give attention to the words of the Law. ^14 They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month ^15 and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make booths”—as it is written. ^b

^16 So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. ^17 The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

^18 Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly.

After initially responding with sadness, the people then moved on to a celebration with great joy. They had to be helped to do this – they naturally had focused on themselves and their own sin and guilt – their own failure and limitations. They needed to be directed to place their attention on the goodness of God and of being back in right relationship with Him. As they did the things that God had told them to do they were full of joy. Even during the time of David and Solomon there had not been such a great celebration. Their circumstances were still not flash – they were still surrounded by enemies and had the task of rebuilding a ruined nation – yet they found joy in the Lord and in being restored to right relationship with Him.

The Israelites Confess Their Sins

9 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. ^2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. ^3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. ^4 Standing on the stairs were the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani—who called with loud voices to the Lord their God. ^5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God, who is from everlasting to everlasting. ^a”

“Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. ^6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

^7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham. ^8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites. You have kept your promise because you are righteous.

^9 “You saw the suffering of our forefathers in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. ^{b 10} You sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. ^11 You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters. ^12 By day you led them with a pillar of cloud, and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.

^13 “You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good. ^14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. ^15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

^16 “But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. ^17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, ^18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

^19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ^20 You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst. ^21 For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

^22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon ^c king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan. ^23 You made their sons as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their fathers to enter and possess. ^24 Their sons went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you handed the Canaanites over to them, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. ^25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land; they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished; they reveled in your great goodness.

^26 “But they were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had admonished them in order to turn them back to you; they committed awful blasphemies. ^27 So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.

^28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

^29 “You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. ^30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples. ^31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

^32 “Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. ^33 In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong. ^34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our fathers did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the warnings you gave them. ^35 Even while they were in their kingdom, enjoying your great goodness to them in the spacious and fertile land you gave them, they did not serve you or turn from their evil ways.

^36 “But see, we are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers so they could eat its fruit and the other good things it produces. ^37 Because of our sins, its abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us. They rule over our bodies and our cattle as they please. We are in great distress.

The Agreement of the People

^38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.”

^[1]

You could read this story in 2 ways. If you read it as a story about people, it is a very sad story indeed. A story of unfaithfulness, stubbornness, sinfulness, arrogance, selfishness and spiritual blindness.

If you read it as a story about God, it suddenly becomes an inspiring story. A story about God’s power, His protection, His provision, His patience, His generosity, His compassion, His faithfulness, His mercy, His kindness, His discipline, His justice, His love, His deliverance, His instruction, His forgiveness. You can read this story and say “This is what our God is like. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He is our God today. And while many of our forefathers rejected Him and strayed from Him, we can choose to follow Him and enjoy the blessings of being His people.”

The story continues with the people agreeing together to live in obedience to God, and making practical decisions and promises about how they would carry that out. They had recognised that God is always good, and that all their distress as a nation had come about because they had turned away from God.

In chapter 8 verse 10, Nehemiah says to the people “they joy of the Lord is your strength”. They had just finished rebuilding the city walls. Because of Jerusalem’s location, when the walls were up, it was nearly impregnable. That is why the surrounding peoples did not want the rebuilding of the walls to succeed. The mightiest empires throughout history all had trouble conquering Jerusalem when its walls were intact. Now the people are standing within sight of those walls, but they recognise that their strength is not in their walls or their weapons, but in the joyful experience of being in right relationship with God.

The same is true for us. Our safety, our security, is not found in what we have in the bank, how good our relationships are, how healthy our bodies are nor is it wrapped up in our self-esteem. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Do you have the joy of the Lord? Are you living in right relationship with Him? Do you know that you have received all the spiritual blessings that we talked about earlier? Are you confident of your future in Jesus?

Like the Israelites, sometimes we are at risk of getting stuck on focussing on ourselves. So often we are wrapped up in guilt or fear of failure. So often we focus on the failings of others. So often we are daunted or discouraged by our circumstances.

Put your attention on God. Talk to Him. Listen to Him. Thank Him. Entrust yourself to Him. Share your concerns with Him. Trust Him.

Living in right relationship with God is the secret of a joy-filled life.

This week I have an assignment for you. Anytime during this week if you are feeling anxious, guilty, angry, depressed or confused; I want to you stop what you are doing, take the time to think about God and talk to God about what you are feeling. What do you need to be thankful for? What do you need God’s help with? What do you believe God wants you to do right now? Not only do I want you to do this, but once you have done it I want you to share your experience with someone else, so that they may be encouraged by your example.

---

^a Or God, translating it

^b See Lev. 23:37-40.

^a Or God for ever and ever

^b Hebrew Yam Suph; that is, Sea of Reeds

^c One Hebrew manuscript and Septuagint; most Hebrew manuscripts Sihon, that is, the country of the

^[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ne 8:1). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.