Raising a Godly Generation

On a day in which our church is celebrating God's gift of children, we particularly apply the truths of 1 Peter 1:4 to our role as a church family and as members of human families. How are we helping our children to grab hold of a living hope which is imperishable, incorruptibe and unfading? How do we help our children to engage meaningfully with their church, and how do we live out our faith as families so that our children are being trained in being disciples of Christ and disciple-makers for Christ?

Have You Been Born Again?

Have You Been Born Again?

(click for Audio) 

In 1 Peter 1:3 the Apostle Peter overflows with praise to God for His wonderful gift of "new birth into a living hope". 

What is this new birth all about, and why is it so important for us? We reflect back on Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, where He said that unless a person is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.  As we explore further in the New Testament we are reminded that our salvation - the gift of eternal life - is something that is completely out of reach for us. However God in his great mercy has made it available to each of us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. By believing in Him we trade in our old life - a life under the burden of sin and death and facing inevitable judgement - and we receive new life in which we are reconciled to God, freed from the control of sin and rescued from judgement. 

God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, but to save all those who will accept this wonderful gift of His mercy.

Experiencing God's Abundant Grace and Peace

Experiencing God's Abundant Grace and Peace

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1 Peter 1:2f

4/3/2012

Would you rather be popular or influential? (from last week)

Or as our text in 1 Peter would say, have you “been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood”?

Each of the people in that clip experienced what it’s like to be chosen by God, transformed by the inner work of the Spirit so that we are set apart to do what Jesus has commanded, which is to be disciples and make disciples.

In exploring these verses we have uncovered some wonderful truths about God and about us:

Truth about Me: I do not belong here, I am a citizen of Heaven!

Truth about God: God works out everything for His good purposes.

Truth about me: Every part of my journey in this life has an eternal purpose.  I am part of God’s big story.

Truth about Me: God has placed His Spirit within me to help me live as a citizen of Heaven instead of a citizen of this world.  He helps me to bring the Kingdom of Heaven into contact with people who need to join it!

Truth about God: In Jesus, God has paid the price that purchased my salvation.  He has carried the punishment for my sin – past, present and future.

Truth about me: In gratitude for what Jesus has done for me and realising the impact of my sin upon Him; I turn away from my sin and choose to live in obedience to Him.

Transforming Truth: Instead of seeking to protect ourselves or pursue our own blessing; we now trust God for His protection and blessing and pursue obedience to Him instead.

Next words: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance”. (1 Pet. 1:2ff)

Grace and Peace will never be yours in abundance so long as you are trying to protect yourself or pursue your own blessing.

If you try to protect yourself from ridicule, from failure, from financial hardship, from loneliness or any form of persecution - you will never be free from fear and worry.  You will never be free to do what you ought to do because you will be too afraid of the potential consequences.

If you try to pursue for yourself the blessings of great relationships, wonderful experiences, good health, financial prosperity and whatever else independent of God, the results will never satisfy.  You could experience some measure of success and become proud.  You could experience some measure of disappointment and become frustrated.  Regardless, you will ultimately discover that nothing you achieve for yourself can ever measure up to the abundance of what God wanted to give you.

You might achieve prosperity but struggle with your relationships.  You might achieve great relationships but struggle with your health.  You might be on the way to achieving everything you ever wanted and find that some crisis takes it all away.

No matter how hard you work you will never obtain for yourself the abundant grace and peace that God has chosen to give us.

I want to share something of my own story today in order to help all of us reflect on these truths and apply to them to the everyday situations of our lives.

Example: Our family and the desire to own a house (I know I’ve talked with you about this before, but it’s a good illustration of the principles we’re talking about today!)  That desire can become a fixation – trawling the internet, constantly reviewing our finances to see what we can squeeze out of our budget…

Is there anything wrong with that desire?  No!

Is there anything wrong with pursuing it ourselves?  Yes!!

Why?

1.      Because we have been purchased by the death of Christ on our behalf, we am not our own.  He has the right to tell us where and how to live.  If we pursue our own blessing in terms of a house of our own, we are not allowing Him to direct us.  Jesus is Lord in name but not in truth in our lives.

2.      Because we can trust that if God directs us to buy a house that He will take care of providing for it.  It is not for us to worry, it is for us to obey.  At the right time God will make a way if it is what He wills for us. 

3.      Because if we pursue owning a house outside of God’s will, we are effectively controlled by debt instead of by God.  We will be forced to make decisions based on obligation to a mortgage instead of an obligation to God.  If we are serious about wanting to influence others for God’s Kingdom by doing the good works God prepared in advance for us to do, we can’t be saddling ourselves with other works that were not in God’s good plan.  I don’t mind working hard, I just want to make sure I’m working hard at the right things!

Are mortgages wrong?  No way, but only if they are in God’s will for you.  Many of you have earnestly sought God’s will and He’s led you in that direction. 

But Romans 14:23 reminds us that “everything that does not come from faith is sin.”  In other words, if you have even a suspicion that God does not want you to do something, don’t do it!  It doesn’t matter if everybody else in our society tells you to do it.  It doesn’t matter if your own heart is drawn to it.  We have been chosen by God through the sanctification of the spirit for obedience to Christ and sprinkling by His blood.  Put God first, and everything else will follow.  Grace and Peace will be yours in abundance.

I’ve heard the stories of young people who have wanted to train for ministry or to serve God overseas who have been put under tremendous pressure by Christian family and friends to first set themselves up financially – to think of their future.  What a terrible thing to do to people trying to live by faith in God – in effect urging them to sin by disobeying the call of God!

A little while ago I allowed myself to drift into the sin of envy.  As I was driving around I looked at the houses being built or established ones that caught my eye and I wished I could have one.  I wished I could provide something like that for my family.  I thought about the houses & properties that others in our church have and I felt a tinge of jealousy.

I even looked back over the course of my married life and regretted that we had not taken the plunge and purchased or built a house before the boom hit WA and prices soared out of our reach. 

I was at risk of becoming like the Israelites who grumbled against God after He’d rescued them from Egypt. 

Envy is not a smart sin – not that any sin is smart!

Usually the things we envy are not actually what we think them to be.  Often the people we are jealous of are not as happy as we suppose.  In any case, envy destroys our relationship with those we are envious of.  It takes away our ability to be happy for them when things go well for them.  It causes us to secretly rejoice at their misfortune – the exact opposite of what we are told to do in Scripture and what love produces.  It causes us to be resentful and to even start trying to sabotage them so that we can feel like for once we have the upper hand.  Envy is poison.  God gave the command “Do not covet” for very good reason.

But the real problem with envy is that it completely disrespects God.  God is our provider and as we have already studied He is in charge of everything.  To be envious of others is to grumble against God.

As I reflected on the housing issue I realised that in all honesty I would not want to swap what God has given us for the things that I want.  I wouldn’t swap our part-time ministry in Busselton for a better paying job.  I wouldn’t swap going to the church in Narembeen with a manse in order to go to a different church that paid more.  The blessings that came with those ministries are far too precious for us to despise them.  Obedience to Jesus is far more important than any alternative.

As I began to reflect on these things my envy was replaced by thanksgiving, because God has been and always will be very good to us.  We lack nothing.  We’ve been given blessings in this life and the next that we in no way deserve.  Grace and peace have been ours in abundance.

Is there an area of your life which you have not yet submitted to the Lordship of Christ?  Is there an area of your life where you have not yet allowed the Holy Spirit to set you apart for God?  Is there an area of your life in which you are not abiding by the covenant that was established for you by the blood of Jesus?

I’ve spoken today about one area of my family’s life that could easily pull us away from whole-hearted obedience to Christ.  I could have shared about a number of other issues in my own life – areas in which my service to God in being a disciple and making disciples has been undermined because I’ve tried to protect myself from rejection or ridicule or I’ve pursued things outside of God’s will.  I don’t want that to be the story of my life and I’m sure you don’t either.  What do you need to hand over to Him today?

What are the things that have provoked your heart to envy?

What are the causes of worry?

What is the root of bitterness?

What are the things that you try to protect yourself from or the things you pursue outside of God’s will?

It’s time to hand them over.

It’s time to experience Grace and Peace in abundance.

I’ve spoken with quite a few people over the last few weeks on this very issue.

In every case it was a different thing that needed to be handed over.  A different way of protecting themselves.  A different blessing being pursued.  I don’t doubt that every single one of us has a story to tell in this area.  None of us are perfect.

The one thing in common with the stories I’ve heard is that handing it over to God is rarely easy.  If you’ve been terrified of rejection your whole life you don’t just stop.  If you’ve been seeking security in material possessions you don’t just stop.  If you’ve been chasing recognition from others to make you feel OK about yourself you don’t just stop.  If you’ve been trapped in guilty obsession with lustful thoughts you don’t just stop.  It’s beyond us to do that.

That’s why we’re not rushing through these opening verses of 1 Peter.

We need to take our time and apply them to our lives.

Last month we talked about the sanctification of the Spirit – the work that God does to separate us for His own purposes, to separate us from our sin.

One of the three types of sanctification is progressive sanctification – it’s what God does bit by bit to purify us and help us to live as obedient children who experience His blessing.

That is a work that the Holy Spirit will do in you today if you allow Him.  Sometimes He helps us to change drastically in one big step as we hand an area of our life over to Him.  We experience a change that we could never have produced ourselves.  One moment we are controlled by a particular habit, addiction, person or whatever – and then God just changes us.

Sometimes He leads us on a process of gradual change, teaching us vital lessons along the way that can’t be learnt quickly.

Both of these are OK and only God knows which is needed for you right now.

But you don’t have to pretend to be perfect.  If the Holy Spirit is convicting you of something that needs to change in your life, respond to Him today.

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Handing things over to Jesus can be hard, but I’ve never met anyone who regretted doing it.  Give up the things that burden you.  Give up the things you chase.  It may be scary but you will find rest for your soul.  You will be freed to live a life of obedience and blessing.

My prayer for us is that we will increasingly be shaped by God to have a profound influence on those around us for their salvation – just like the people in the video clip did in their own unique ways.  I pray that we will trust God for protection and blessing and instead pursue obedience to Jesus Christ our Lord; that we will do as He commands – that we will be disciples and make disciples – and not let anything else get in the way.