On Sunday the 21st of September 2008 we dedicated Isaac George Bartram to the Lord and on Sunday the 28th September 2008 we dedicated Paul Chidumaga Onyeukwu to the Lord.
Our first ever Micro Church will be at 7.30pm this Wednesday (1st October) upstairs in Pivo Bar. Pivo Bar is on Patrick Pool in the city centre (see map below). This is an exciting experiment, hope you can make it!
Notes are below. As usual the material is made available so that any may use it, adapt it and preach it. Our copyright is only so you do not sell it or make money from it.
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Sermon, 2 Corinthians 9
Intro
An email sent to me, dated 26 September 2008:
If you had purchased £1000 of Northern Rock shares one year ago it would now be worth £4.95. With HBOS, earlier last week your £1000 would have been worth £16.50. £1000 invested in XL Leisure would now be worth less than £5. But if you bought £1000 worth of beer one year ago, drank it all, then took the empty cans to an aluminium re-cycling plant, you would get £214. So based on the above statistics the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and re-cycle.
I was asked recently, “What would Jesus say about the “credit crunch”?” I do not speak for Jesus but I do declare his gospel.
1) Sowing and Reaping
Verse 6. Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
This scripture does not teach that we should give money in order to get more.
One scripture quoted to support the “give to get” view is Galatians 6:7-10
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
As always when seeking to understand scriptures, look at the context. I do not think these scriptures teach me to sow money so that I can get more money.
See Psalm 1:1-5
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
The emphasis there is about righteousness, for us that is Christian living and the life of faith.
See Luke 6:38. Again look at the context.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Compare with Matthew 7:2
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Verses 10 and 11 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Does this refer to money? Only if you think that to be rich refers to money. I believe Paul was more grown up in his faith than to think that.
What about the teaching of Jesus? See Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Do you think Paul was unaware of this teaching?
The gospel according to scripture, attested to by history, is not about money, it is about our salvation from sin and death - eternity
2) The Safest Bank
2 Corinthians 8 verses 16-19
This reminds me of an incident in the book of Ezra.
Ezra 8:22-30
I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers, and I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God. I weighed out to them 650 talents of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold, 20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics, and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold. I said to them, You as well as these articles are consecrated to the LORD. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel. Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
See Ezra’s strategy for transporting money. He first handed it over to God then expected God to look after his own money.
I am not suggesting we pour our money into the offering (giving to God) but that we retain our God-given stewardship. We make sure our lives and all we are, all we possess belongs to God. God is able to look after his own.
Matt Parkins preached this morning on the presence of God.
You can also download the presentation:
The_Presence_of_God.pdf (Portable Document Format)
The_Presence_of_God.odp (Open Office Presentation)
We have received an email from Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Some of had received the sort of text message mentioned. The fact is, if all those Christians living in fear for their lives in India at the moment sent us text messages the phone network would freeze up.
CSW recommend that we write you our members of parliament. The text of their message is below.
CSW is aware of a number of text messages circulating about threats to Christians in Orissa. The situation in Orissa remains extremely volatile, with threats and attacks continuing to take place. However, we do not consider such text messages to be an accurate indicator of the present situation. CSW is working on the ground with local partners in order to make detailed, accurate and authentic assessments of the situation and to determine the most appropriate path to take with regard to relief, taking into account the responsibilities of the government in the area.
We would encourage all:
to continue to pray for the restoration of peace,
to write to the Foreign Secretary to ask for a statement to be made,
to write to MPs to request that the UK government raise the situation with the Indian government and urge for the immediate restoration of order and the prosecution of the perpetrators of the violence.
You can find details of the outbreak of violence in Orissa by clicking here
The Next Alpha is to be held in the classiest restaurant in York, The Biltmore. Tuesdays from 14th October (not 7th due to a double booking), 7.30pm. We will be seated up in the gallery, there is room for 20 so if you know someone you’d like to bring, tell me (John Usher - john@REMOVEyorkelim.com - the “remove” is to stop spambots getting my email address, you’ll need to delete that before you send) quick. There will also be food served at no cost to the guests.
Graham continued the 2 Corinthian series this morning from 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verses 1 to 15
Sermon 2 Corinthians 8:1-15
Using Faith to Handle Money
Intro
Joke - Bathtub Test
During a visit to a hospital for people with mental health problems, a visitor asked the Director how do you determine whether or not a patient should be admitted.
‘Well,’ said the Director, ‘we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.’
‘Oh, I understand,’ said the visitor. ‘A well person would use the bucket because the bucket is bigger than the spoon or the teacup.’
‘No.’ said the Director, ‘A well person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?’
And the point is? When we look at this letter of 2 Corinthians let us not jump onto topics only as though they are the only story, look at the bigger picture too. Ask yourself, “What is this letter about?”
For example, so far I have focussed mainly on topics as I have preached on this letter from week to week. When Matt preached on Chapter 6, he focused on topics. I really liked his point that Paul’s endurance of hardships and setbacks show us that for him, the work of God did not see steady, linear advancement. We too will go through times which we may call desert experiences. These “Deserts” are important to our development and godliness. There are times for us all when we will not feel God as near as usual.
Matt mentioned the call to open our hearts, in verses 11 and 12. Last week John picked up that theme in his coverage of chapter 7. He invited us to open our hearts or “make room” in our hearts, as in chapter 7 verse 2. That chapter calls us to make room in our hearts for God, for other believers, for sorrow which leads to authentic repentance and to the comfort of the Holy Spirit - the topic which opens this letter.
Before I go on to the theme of today I will cover from chapter 8, I want us to notice the great theme of the letter - the life of faith. This letter deals with gritty stuff, what the life of faith is all about.
I want this church to biblically literate, and intelligent church, a people of the Truth, people of the word, of revelation. We want to be a church that wins the lost, that displays Christ in the way we serve our community, and a church that has discovered what it is to “be” in a way that pleases God. I want us to be people that live the life of faith.
The theme we come to now is the handling of money. Let us look at this aspect of the life of faith, our financial participation in the work of the Kingdom of God. This theme of chapter 8 is a difficult one but a vital one.
It is not just a matter of opening our hearts, but opening our wallets too. We are not to be chasing the spectacular or short-lived special blessing, this walk of faith is a marathon and not a sprint.
1) Money is not evil
In the scriptures God has a lot to say about money. Money itself is not evil, it is the love of money that is a root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10).
Jesus said that the way a person handles their money is an indication of whether they can be trusted with true spiritual riches.
See Luke 16:10-11. Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
It is evident that in the kingdom of God money is important. Church leaders (God’s servants) need to be released from spending all their time in secular employment so that they can devote themselves fully to the work of the ministry. Needs amongst the people of God are to be met. The poor are to be cared for, church buildings need to be paid for, heated, maintained etc. God’s way of meeting these needs is through the giving of His people - it has been so in both Old and New Testament periods.
2) Money can be handled with faith
Some New Testament principles can be seen in:
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
Clearly God intends our giving to be:
- In proportion to our means.
- Systematic.
- With a willing cheerfulness.
Rooting about in pockets and purses when an offering is announced betrays a lack of prayerful preparation. On the other hand, the attitude of “I’ll just empty my wallet into the offering and trust the Lord to see me through the week” is, though it seems to show a spontaneous generosity, displays a careless, unplanned approach to giving.
The giving of a believer should never be a matter of compulsion. I have heard many bullying methods used as desperate leaders have attempted to extract finances from God’s people.
Example Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
I have heard that passage used to assert that if I give (or invest!) financially in God’s kingdom I will receive more back. Read the context! Luke 6:38 is about the giving of mercy and not being judgemental.
3) Money and the Macedonians
We see in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 that the Macedonians gave in a way that has become an example to believers down the ages.
- Sacrificially - beyond their means.
- Willingly - of own free will.
- Eagerly - they loved to give.
- Spiritually - they gave themselves to the Lord.
Lord God, teach me more about this feature of the life of faith. Please help me to grow in it.
Synopsis
It’s been several years since Professor Ransom visited Mars and he’s still in contact with the spiritual forces he encountered there. By some supernatural means, not made entirely clear to us, he learns that his next mission will be to Perelandra (Venus) and he is promptly transported there in an alien vehicle. On arrival, he finds Perelandra consists entirely of sea and moving islands. The islands are made mostly of vegetation and trees that is except for one small island the “Fixed Land”. Ransom is alone for two Perelandra days (46 earth hours) until he eventually encounters a beautiful women, Tinidril, who is naked. Incidentally, Ransom is also naked (a strange requirement of traveling in the alien vehicle) but despite these circumstances he feels no lust or sexual desires for Tinidril, nor she for him. Ransom realises that Tinidril is a new a kind of Eve and Perelandra a new kind of Eden. The purpose of his mission is to stop Weston (evil scientist from the first book), who arrives on the planet a little later, from tempting Tinidril to sleep on the “Fixed Land” something she has been forbidden to do by Maledil (God basically). Ransom soon finds himself competing for the soul of Tinidril with Weston, possessed by the Devil himself.
Comment
Perelandra, the second book of Lewis’ Space Trilogy, is a little better than the first. Lewis’ descriptions of the alien planet are still difficult to visualise but much easier to grasp than those he gave of Mars in his first book. Ransom’s arrival on Perelandra is exciting, described in terms of a roller coaster ride on strange alien waves the size of Sky scrapers. Tinidril, the Eve of Venus, is endearing enough but her apparent ignorance of just about everything is a little frustrating. She doesn’t make for great dialogue with Ransom. The story picks up when Weston arrives though. Lewis’ descriptions of Weston’s demon possession and ultimate Devil possession are truly chilling. The book dips a little towards the end again, when the Adam of Perelandra finally shows up. Lewis attempts to describe some kind of cosmic romantic reunion, he writes it like he’s having a vision and it’s a bit hard to follow what’s going on.
Worth it?
If you’re a C.S.Lewis fan and you’ve read the first installment then definitely worth it.
Useful for preaching?
I think there’s about a 10% chance of me ever referring to this book in a preach.
What Others Say?
Amazon: 4.5/5 (89 customer reviews)
Christianity Today: “In a harrowing scene from his science fiction novel Perelandra, the protagonist, Prof. Elwin Ransom, battles a mad scientist horribly disfigured by his lust for power. Lewis writes: “What was before him appeared no longer a creature of corrupted will. It was corruption itself to which will was attached only as an instrument.” It was the tragedy of human nature to have the free will to choose, and to choose evil.”
Notes are below. As usual the material is made available so that any may use it, adapt it and preach it.
Sources:
Talbert, C. H. Reading Corinthians, A New Commentary for Preachers.
Watson, N. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
The Billy Graham book I referred to: Thoughts and Reflections on Billy Graham’s Life Principles.
 2 Corinthians 7
Make Room in Your Heart
In 2 Corinthians 7:2Â Paul seems to be responding to some accusations against him and against his apostolic authority.
“Make room for us in your heart” Paul asks. I would like to ask you this morning, what are you making room for in your heart? Because no one has an empty heart, not even non Christians. If I could be frank, non Christians are just spiritually dead. They are not in relationship with the One True Living God, through Jesus His son and so any spirituality they do have if you don’t mind me saying is so weak that it’s dead. But none of us have empty hearts.
The Greek word for “heart” here is Psuche (Psoo - Khay) meaning: the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.), (For audio pronunciation of the Greek).
This is different from your spirit. The word spirit refers to that invisible part of us which gives a person the ability to have an intimate relationship with God. The soul is our horizontal view of the world, the spirit is our vertical view of God. Yet the two are very closely related and one affects the other.
We are not simply flesh and bone. There are times when we will be in situations and feel certain movements in our spirits. These will not simply be the products of chemicals being released in our brain. The spirit will be telling you something, He will be communicating with you and you may very well escape a situation which would otherwise have been big trouble, (Story about my old flatmate).
Let’s not rely too much on feelings though as Graham would say “keep the brain plugged in“.
But back to my original question, what are you making room for in your heart? I’ve been doing an assignment recently and it’s been tough. I’ve just moved house I don’t have a desk in my new room yet it’s about a third of the size of my old room (no more en suite). But God suggested something that would help me at the beginning of last month. He said, “Why don’t you stop watching TV this month?” and I said “but I’ll miss Top Gear”. Isn’t it so sad that I genuinely agonized over that decision? Eventually, I had to push TopGear and Dragon’s Den out of my heart to allow room for something more important, my theological studies. I’m in a very privileged position working for this church, making time for God is probably not as difficult for me as it may be for many of you who lead different lifestyles. But how about making some more room in your heart for God today, this week, this month? How about switching off the TV and reading a Christian book.
Billy Graham video clip from YouTube.
Worldly Sorrow
2 Corinthians 7:8-10. We can’t be 100% sure what Paul was so worried about but considering the context it would probably have been how his letters would be received by the Corinthians and what news Titus would return with. But thankfully, as is so often the case, there was nothing to get so anxious about. Titus brings good news. And Paul writes that he had initially regretted ever sending the letter but now, in light of the good news, he has no regrets even if he had caused sorrow. Even if he had caused them sorrow he doesn’t regret it. Why? Because their sorrow led to repentance. And so there was no real harm, quite the opposite. This does not refer to the repentance of a non believer to a believer but of a believer who has corrected his ways after going amiss.
So, Paul says in verse 10 “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but Worldly sorrow brings death“. Paul had already warned of the dangers of being overwhelmed with excessive sorrow which leads to despair or bitterness in Chapter 2:5-7. Wordly sorrow leads to anger, self-condemnation, despondency and I would like to add the fruits of bitterness: gossip and slander. This is the result in a person who cannot handle being corrected for something that they have done wrong, can’t be told off. We have some responsibility for the way we dish out correction but ultimately how we respond to correction is key. Are we going to have godly or worldly sorrow? Learning to take it on the chin, without being a doormat is an important skill. Knowing the difference between fair correction and just bullying is important. In the work place, if you think your boss is being a bully then it’s going to be difficult not to have worldly sorrow. Hard not to get angry and backstab and be bitter and gossip. But you must resist, join a union if you think you’re being bullied by your boss. And pray, above all pray, pray for God to provide an answer to your situation. Don’t get angry or bitter or do something you’ll regret.
In the church, I should hope that the kind of correction you’ll receive from people will be good honest stuff. You’ll be able to tell by referring to the bible. Don’t be filled with worldly sorrow, don’t be someone who cannot be told.
Godly Sorrow
Listen to this little list that Paul makes. Most of us are pretty familiar with the lists in Galatians 5 (the acts of the sinful nature and the fruits of the Spirit) and the list in 1 Corinthians 13 about Love. But in my 8 or so years of being a Christian I don’t recall hearing a sermon about this little list. So from verse 11, see what godly sorrow has produced in you:
- What earnestness
- What eagerness to clear yourselves
- What indignation
- What alarm
- What longing
- What concern
- What readiness to see justice done
Are we earnest about God, about the meeting of the saints (that’s us by the way)? Are eager to clear ourselves, to be honest, dignified and humble men and women? Do we express indignation at sin in the church? Are we alarmed by it, shocked by it? Do we long for peace and holiness together? Are we concerned and diligent in striving for these things? Are we always prepared to see justice done among us, to see that righteousness is the norm?
His spirit Has Been Refreshed by All of You
2 Corinthians 7:13 - 14 isn’t that lovely? Titus’ spirit was refreshed by the people in the Corinthian church. Do we refresh people who come among us? You know what, without being immodest, I don’t think we do too bad here. We welcome, we give hospitality: tea and coffee, we embrace regardless of race or language or status. Even our name, Elim, is taken from Exodus 15. Just after Moses and the Israelites have left Egypt, God has parted the Red Sea and closed it again on top of Israel’s oppressors, Pharaoh and his soldiers. They wander around in the desert for three days, no water! Things are getting desperate, God is having to perform more miracles just so that they can have a drink. But then he leads them to an oasis called Elim. Where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees (the fact that there was so many palm trees indicated just how much water and nutrients there were there) and they camped there near the water. I dare say, you couldn’t keep them away from the water! Let’s be a church that really emulates our name! If Paul could say good things about the church in Corinth, I’m sure we’re doing ok!
But just as we make room for God in our hearts, let us also bear the fruit of godly sorrow and refresh those who come among us, who come among the palm trees of Elim.
Sources:
Talbert, C. H. Reading Corinthians, A New Commentary for Preachers.
Watson, N. The Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
The Billy Graham book I referred to: Thoughts and Reflections on Billy Graham’s Life Principles.
