Brothers and sisters in Christ?
John 15.20 – 21 and 2 Cor. 8 – 9
The International Day of prayer started in 1996 when missionaries talked about the Chrs of the world who were being persecuted and those in the churches did not even know about these brothers and sisters in Christ and their suffering. It is estimated that right now there are 200 million Chrs. who are suffering real persecution in our world. More than anything else, they ask us to pray for them. In most of these cases we can not send money or books to them. In most cases no missionaries are permitted to go into their countries to preach. We live in a country where there is freedom to pray these Chrs and we are going to do that today and hopefully in the days to come.
Jesus warned his disciples that there was going to be persecution against them just because they were followers of him. In John 15.20 – 21 Jesus told them that since he was persecuted, they too would suffer the same fate. Read. Jesus did not deserve what he received – he had done nothing but good all of his life, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, encouraging those who were sad. Yes, he had challenged the traditions of the Jews and that is what engendered the persecution against him. Since Christianity started it has been persecuted by the Jews, the Roman government, Muslims, and even some Vikings. Chrs have persecuted each other – Catholics against Protestants, P and C against Anabaptists, P against P, etc. As it is still today there is persecution from secular governmental agencies and from religious groups. It is hard for us to understand this here in this country where there is a minimum of persecution; there are huge numbers of brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering.
That is something that I have been asked about the people we are talking about. Who are these people? They are common people from all over the world – I do not believe the red and yellow, black and white thing from the song we learned as children, but people of all colored. If 10 of them were standing right here today, most of them could not understand what I am saying and we could not understand what they would say. What denomination do they belong to? Most of them would not even know how to answer that question since they have not heard of Lutheran, Baptist or whatever. They believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They are trying to live for Jesus and are suffering because of that.
Christianity is unique in that we are taught to care about all people everywhere, but especially those who are Chrs. Most religions do not teach them to take care of other, but Chr does. One example of this is when Paul was traveling in Greece he learned that the believers in the church in Jerusalem were suffering because of a famine in Judea. Paul told the Chrs in Greece about the problem and they responded by taking up an offering to give to their fellow believers. This is recorded in 2 Cor. 8 and 9. They had never seen the Chrs in Jerusalem and would not see them this side of heaven but they loved them enough to give even sacrificially to help the Chrs in Jerusalem.
We will never see these believers we are praying for today, but they are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we love them because God loves them. We need to pray for them.
There are millions of Chrs being persecuted around the world including North Korea, China, India, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Sudan and other places. These are the ones we are praying for today.
North Korea is one place where the government is persecuting the Chrs. Before the Korean War Korea was one country. Missionaries had preached the Gospel all over the country. After the War the Communist government of N Korea instituted worship of the dictator and started persecuting the Chr. Maybe 100,000 to 200,000 Chrs are in prison camps for their faith. Many have been there for 10, 20, and 30 years. In N Korea it is illegal to teach your children about your faith, to own a Bible or any Chr book, and absolutely wrong to try to convert others to Christ. Yet thousands of believers still worship their Lord Jesus Christ. They need our prayers that they will remain faithful to the Lord.
China is in the center of world attention today. Next summer they will host the summer Olympic Games. This week the Communist government has warned people not to bring more than 1 Bible with them and no Chr literature. In some places in China there is a lot of persecution, but in other places the church can meet freely. Many ministers have spent years in prison because of their faith. Millions of Chinese Chrs hold secret Bible studies to learn about the Word of God. We need to pray for them.
In India, persecution is coming against Chrs from radical Hindus. One example is about Ranjan Dangua. He is from the Dalit caste, the lowest caste in India. He was converted from the Hindu religion and began to share his faith. People from his own village kidnapped him, took him to a house and beat him with rods, cut his hands and threatened worse. He escaped two days later and did the logical thing – he got his Bible and started preaching in the streets. He was kidnapped again, and held him for over a week, beating him regularly until he was able to escape. Pray for Ranjan and other believers in Christ in India.
There are many Chr suffering in the Muslim countries of Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, as well as other Muslim countries. There have been hundreds of thousands of Chrs in Iraq for centuries. They have faithfully served God, built churches, maintained hospitals and schools, and have served their country well. In the last few years they have persecuted by radical Muslims who want only Muslims in that country. I was listening to a radio show from WCCO last week. They had a former Iraqi official on who was a Chr. He said in two instances new churches have been built – one in Bagdad that can seat 1000 people. He also said thousands of Chrs have fled Iraq because of the persecution. Many of the Chrs in Muslim countries are “secret believers” who can not openly profess their faith or their family members would kill them, but they worship as they can now. We will pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in these Muslim countries
One of the worst places where persecution is taking place is in Sudan. There is the Muslim government mostly in the north has been using their military to attack Chr villages in the south and west. They will attack a village, kill the men, and take the women and children to be sold as slaves. Hundreds of thousands of mostly women and children are in refugee camps where there is little food and water, and a lot of starvation, disease and death. Yet groups like Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse have hospitals there and have struggled to get food to these brothers and sisters in Christ.
We will pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ.
I wish that there was more we could do for these fellow Chrs. Most of them can not receive money of any kind and would not need it. It is almost impossible to get Chr literature to them although some does get through. We can pray that the persecution stops, and if it does not, we pray that these believers remain faithful to our Lord.
Open Doors, an international Christian ministry which supports and strengthens persecuted believers, is calling on Christians to pray for over 200 million suffering Christians during the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) on Sunday, Nov. 11. During that day churches around the United States will focus on prayer and support for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. IDOP is one of the largest prayer events in the world and has heightened awareness of persecuted Christians since its inception in 1996. Because of persecution and suffering that Muslim Background Believers -- those who convert from Islam to Christianity -- face daily, Open Doors USA has made these hundreds of thousands of "Secret Believers" the focus of this year's IDOP. "The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church presents a tremendous opportunity for millions of people to make a difference in the lives of those being persecuted for their faith in countries like Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, North Korea and many more,"
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sermon - 10/28/07
Joy: Fruit of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2 and Galatians 5
In this series of sermons, we are looking at discovering joy in God, in discipline and in a number of other places in our Chr life. This morning we are looking at joy as it comes from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the most neglected member of the Trinity. We do not say enough about the presence of the Spirit of God and his work. Today we are going to see how the Spirit works in each of us to give us real joy.
The Holy Spirit was at work in the OT but was given in a special way in the NT. The night before Jesus was crucified; he gathered his disciples in the upper room and talked to them about what was going to happen to them after he left them. An essential teaching for them was the promise of the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the counselor, who would come to them when Jesus went away from them into heaven. (John 16) This promise was fulfilled in Acts 2 when God sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples. Read with me Acts 2.1 – 4. There were 120 believers gathered in the room when God fulfilled his promise by sending the Holy Spirit to them. It was seen as tongues of fire sitting on their heads, and these people spoke in other tongues or languages, and people in the crowd in Jerusalem from other countries could hear them speak in their own language. One of the main differences between the OT and NT is that the Holy Spirit came to all believers and not just a few.
Then the Apostle Peter stood up and preached to them. A summary of the message is recorded in Acts 2. He told them that God had sent Jesus as the Messiah and that the people of Jerusalem had killed him by crucifying him on a cross. When they heard this they were convicted of their guilt of killing the son of God, they asked what they should do. Peter told them in Acts 2.36 – 41. Read. These Jews were told to repent or their sins and to be baptized. When they did that, their sins would be forgiven and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. There are two things we are to do – repent and be baptized. There are two results both extremely important to us. All of our past sins are totally taken away, forgiven completely. I am not saying much more about this, but the gift of the Spirit is exceedingly important.
Do you realize that you have the Holy Spirit of God living in you? Every one who has been baptized into Jesus Christ has the Spirit of God in him or her right now. That is exciting and a confusing truth. God the Holy Spirit is in us to help us live our lives for God. Does that seem sort of mystical or spiritual? It is and it should be. But is Holy Spirit is not a tyrant or dictator. He is there but waits for us to ask for his help and guidance. The Spirit of God is in us.
In the NT the Spirit gives us gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. We could have a series of sermons on the gifts of the Spirit – the main passages about these are found in Romans 12 and 1 Cor. 12 -14, and Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. But we are going to look at the fruit of the Spirit today. The passage about these is found in Galatians 5.22 – 26. Read.
All of these qualities are the result of the Holy Spirit helping them to grow in us. These are the qualities that should grow in us when the Spirit plants them. When we plant a garden, we expect that what we plant will grow – plant peas, and we expect peas to grow. (Story about Uncle Vic and his friend planted squash and Vic replaced them with cucumbers seeds. Two years in a row.) The Holy Spirit plants this fruit in us and he expects it to grow. This fruit – word is the singular – like a clump of grapes rather than a variety of individual fruits. One other essential point needs to be made – this fruit is supernatural. It comes from God, through the Spirit of God.
The fruit of supernatural love is listed first. This is agape love, sacrificial love that thinks first of the needs of others not ourselves. Natural love is good to see. I love to watch my sons and their wives with their kids – they love them and it show. Some times raising kids demands supernatural love from God. This love sees others in need and does something about it like the Good Samaritan. We need to love God, our neighbor and ourselves.
Next in the list is supernatural joy. This is the joy that comes from God. Natural joy is happiness, but this is supernatural joy does not depending on circumstances. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are under severe persecution, but they have the joy of Christ in them, supernatural joy.
Supernatural peace is the next one on the list. We need peace in this world desperately. The peace listed here is peace with God. We do not need to fear God – he is working for our benefit through the Holy Spirit. This peace extends to our personal relationships – peace with others. And there is peace within ourselves. Some tremendous wars go on inside of us. The peace of God helps us to be at peace within ourselves.
The next three fruit of the Spirit help us in dealing with others. We need supernatural patience in dealing with others. I don’t have any problem with patience, except when I am driving a car and a few other places. (All of the idiot drivers in the world know when I am driving and they make sure they drive in front of me.) I think we need to be patiently impatient with others. For me, I am too patient with myself and impatient with others. God is infinitely patient with me in my spiritual growth and I need to be patient with others, patiently impatient.
We need to have supernatural kindness and goodness. Have you ever said something and as soon as it came out of your mouth, you said to yourself that was not very kind? With the love of God in us we say, think and do the kindest things. Goodness here has the element of giving to others to help them. I read a mission letter this week from a couple who are doing a good work in a difficult country. They were not receiving enough money to pay their bills. Part of me said, that is too bad, but the Spirit in me said, Steve what can you do to help them? That was the Spirit helping me to show goodness.
The last three fruit of the Spirit are qualities that we are to have in our character or inner being – supernatural faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I need to be faithful to God in all I do and am. The Spirit helps me to be faithful to him in a God inspired way. In dealing with others, people need to see the Spirit’s gentleness in me. Even in the face of opposition, I treat others with gentleness. Self-control is really being Spirit controlled. He lives in us to help us to avoid sin in deed or thought.
The main thing we need to do is pray for and then let the Spirit of God grow his fruit in us. Pray with me: I thank you my Lord for the Holy Spirit living in all of us. Fill us each day with your Spirit so your fruit will grow in us, supernatural love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We want to be like you in every way. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray.
If you are here today and want to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sin, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we invite you to come forward. All of us pray to open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2 and Galatians 5
In this series of sermons, we are looking at discovering joy in God, in discipline and in a number of other places in our Chr life. This morning we are looking at joy as it comes from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the most neglected member of the Trinity. We do not say enough about the presence of the Spirit of God and his work. Today we are going to see how the Spirit works in each of us to give us real joy.
The Holy Spirit was at work in the OT but was given in a special way in the NT. The night before Jesus was crucified; he gathered his disciples in the upper room and talked to them about what was going to happen to them after he left them. An essential teaching for them was the promise of the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the counselor, who would come to them when Jesus went away from them into heaven. (John 16) This promise was fulfilled in Acts 2 when God sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples. Read with me Acts 2.1 – 4. There were 120 believers gathered in the room when God fulfilled his promise by sending the Holy Spirit to them. It was seen as tongues of fire sitting on their heads, and these people spoke in other tongues or languages, and people in the crowd in Jerusalem from other countries could hear them speak in their own language. One of the main differences between the OT and NT is that the Holy Spirit came to all believers and not just a few.
Then the Apostle Peter stood up and preached to them. A summary of the message is recorded in Acts 2. He told them that God had sent Jesus as the Messiah and that the people of Jerusalem had killed him by crucifying him on a cross. When they heard this they were convicted of their guilt of killing the son of God, they asked what they should do. Peter told them in Acts 2.36 – 41. Read. These Jews were told to repent or their sins and to be baptized. When they did that, their sins would be forgiven and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. There are two things we are to do – repent and be baptized. There are two results both extremely important to us. All of our past sins are totally taken away, forgiven completely. I am not saying much more about this, but the gift of the Spirit is exceedingly important.
Do you realize that you have the Holy Spirit of God living in you? Every one who has been baptized into Jesus Christ has the Spirit of God in him or her right now. That is exciting and a confusing truth. God the Holy Spirit is in us to help us live our lives for God. Does that seem sort of mystical or spiritual? It is and it should be. But is Holy Spirit is not a tyrant or dictator. He is there but waits for us to ask for his help and guidance. The Spirit of God is in us.
In the NT the Spirit gives us gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit. We could have a series of sermons on the gifts of the Spirit – the main passages about these are found in Romans 12 and 1 Cor. 12 -14, and Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4. But we are going to look at the fruit of the Spirit today. The passage about these is found in Galatians 5.22 – 26. Read.
All of these qualities are the result of the Holy Spirit helping them to grow in us. These are the qualities that should grow in us when the Spirit plants them. When we plant a garden, we expect that what we plant will grow – plant peas, and we expect peas to grow. (Story about Uncle Vic and his friend planted squash and Vic replaced them with cucumbers seeds. Two years in a row.) The Holy Spirit plants this fruit in us and he expects it to grow. This fruit – word is the singular – like a clump of grapes rather than a variety of individual fruits. One other essential point needs to be made – this fruit is supernatural. It comes from God, through the Spirit of God.
The fruit of supernatural love is listed first. This is agape love, sacrificial love that thinks first of the needs of others not ourselves. Natural love is good to see. I love to watch my sons and their wives with their kids – they love them and it show. Some times raising kids demands supernatural love from God. This love sees others in need and does something about it like the Good Samaritan. We need to love God, our neighbor and ourselves.
Next in the list is supernatural joy. This is the joy that comes from God. Natural joy is happiness, but this is supernatural joy does not depending on circumstances. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are under severe persecution, but they have the joy of Christ in them, supernatural joy.
Supernatural peace is the next one on the list. We need peace in this world desperately. The peace listed here is peace with God. We do not need to fear God – he is working for our benefit through the Holy Spirit. This peace extends to our personal relationships – peace with others. And there is peace within ourselves. Some tremendous wars go on inside of us. The peace of God helps us to be at peace within ourselves.
The next three fruit of the Spirit help us in dealing with others. We need supernatural patience in dealing with others. I don’t have any problem with patience, except when I am driving a car and a few other places. (All of the idiot drivers in the world know when I am driving and they make sure they drive in front of me.) I think we need to be patiently impatient with others. For me, I am too patient with myself and impatient with others. God is infinitely patient with me in my spiritual growth and I need to be patient with others, patiently impatient.
We need to have supernatural kindness and goodness. Have you ever said something and as soon as it came out of your mouth, you said to yourself that was not very kind? With the love of God in us we say, think and do the kindest things. Goodness here has the element of giving to others to help them. I read a mission letter this week from a couple who are doing a good work in a difficult country. They were not receiving enough money to pay their bills. Part of me said, that is too bad, but the Spirit in me said, Steve what can you do to help them? That was the Spirit helping me to show goodness.
The last three fruit of the Spirit are qualities that we are to have in our character or inner being – supernatural faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I need to be faithful to God in all I do and am. The Spirit helps me to be faithful to him in a God inspired way. In dealing with others, people need to see the Spirit’s gentleness in me. Even in the face of opposition, I treat others with gentleness. Self-control is really being Spirit controlled. He lives in us to help us to avoid sin in deed or thought.
The main thing we need to do is pray for and then let the Spirit of God grow his fruit in us. Pray with me: I thank you my Lord for the Holy Spirit living in all of us. Fill us each day with your Spirit so your fruit will grow in us, supernatural love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We want to be like you in every way. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray.
If you are here today and want to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sin, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we invite you to come forward. All of us pray to open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wonderful Birthday
I had a wonderful birthday. Mary gave me a number of nice things and took me out for supper at the Timberlodge. Good food and we shared a birthday sundae.
I bought a book for myself - the biggest book I own. It is Biblica - A Bible Atlas. It weighs about 20 pounds and is about 2 ft by 2 ft and 5 inches thick. Fabulous pictures and maps.
Sunday at church I got a number of cards and presents and a lot teasing and hugs from my friends there.
In the afternoon I went to Peder's to hold Aurelia and watch the Vikings. She is so sweet and nice to hold.
Hans called while I was there and Josiah sang me Happy Birthday. How nice is that.
Heidi called so I got to talk to her too.
Thanks to all of you.
Love,
Dad/Steve.
I had a wonderful birthday. Mary gave me a number of nice things and took me out for supper at the Timberlodge. Good food and we shared a birthday sundae.
I bought a book for myself - the biggest book I own. It is Biblica - A Bible Atlas. It weighs about 20 pounds and is about 2 ft by 2 ft and 5 inches thick. Fabulous pictures and maps.
Sunday at church I got a number of cards and presents and a lot teasing and hugs from my friends there.
In the afternoon I went to Peder's to hold Aurelia and watch the Vikings. She is so sweet and nice to hold.
Hans called while I was there and Josiah sang me Happy Birthday. How nice is that.
Heidi called so I got to talk to her too.
Thanks to all of you.
Love,
Dad/Steve.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sermon for Sunday - 10/14
The Joy of Maturing
Philippians 3.10 – 16
We have been talking about joy in the Chr. life. We are to rejoice in our faith in Jesus Christ. We are to enjoy our life because we have new life in Christ, we know God and we will receive eternal life. This morning we are going to learn about the joy of maturing. (The joy of getting old is different. There is joy in that, but also some struggles.)
Before we go to the scripture of the day, let me say a couple of things. When I was teaching human development, I started talking about maturing, not maturity. We are all in the process of maturing, changing, and as far as I am concerned, we do not finish the process once and for all. A child of 5 might be mature for a 5 year old, but immature at 10 if he or she does not change. We can be a mature 20 year old and immature at 40 unless we change in lives. We need to be maturing.
Also, the mature Chr is like Jesus Christ in his or her thinking, attitudes, talk, and life. That is the goal we are aiming at in our Chr lives. Unless we become like Christ, we are not mature. It seems like some of the Chrs in the church in Philippi were going around parading in front of the others as if they were completely mature. They were better than everyone else in their own eyes. This is where Paul tries to correct them. Read with me: Phil. 3:10 -16.
The passage shows the dynamic nature of the joy of maturing. First Paul tells us what he is aiming at. Paul wanted to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, and even to become like him in his death, that is the resurrection from the dead. Paul first got to know Christ at his conversion after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. That changed his life, that was the start of his life in Christ, but after that he kept on growing in his relationship with Christ. Our conversion experience is important to us, but after that we need to keep growing Christ or maturing.
What does it mean to know Christ? It is not just to know about Christ, but to know him personally, intimately. Jesus is our God, but also our best friend. To know Christ means to love him more. He is so good to us every day so we love him more. To know Christ is to obey him more. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” To know Christ is to trust him more. We like to trust ourselves, be the master of our own life, but the Chr life is a life of trusting the leadership of Jesus Christ.
Verses 12 – 14 of this passage give us the central message about the joy of maturing. Read. Do you hear that? I have not already obtained perfection, but I press on toward the goal of the high calling of Jesus Christ. This is the Apostle Paul speaking. He had been a Chr for 20 or 30 years by now. Certainly St. Paul would be perfect by this time. By his own admission, he was still straining to get to the goal.
The imagery is a race; I think a marathon race (26.2 miles). The Chr. life is a marathon race, not a 100 yd. dash. When I was running marathons, the best one was the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth. In that race we ran along Lake Superior the whole time, and from 20 miles from the finish line, we could see the end of the race. It finished just below the lift bridge and we could see that. During the race there were lots of times I wanted to quit, but I would look over toward the finish line and know I needed to just keep going, one foot in front of the other. Eventually I rounded the corner and about 3 blocks up was the finish line. All of a sudden, all the work and strain became worth it. Even though I was way past tired, a smile came across my face and I started running harder and faster than I had all day. In our Chr life we keep going – pressing on to reach the goal in Jesus Christ.
Paul say, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. He is not talking about forgetting what is behind in an absolute sense. We can not forget what we did in the past, and some of the things in our past are good things to remember. Paul talked often about his conversion experience. He did not forget that. What is means is that some times we get bogged down in what we did in the past. Satan likes to remind us of what we did in the past and then tell us we are worthless because of our past. That is not true – when we ask the forgiveness of God, we are forgiven.
At other times to we concentrate on our past accomplishments and think we have done enough, we have grown enough. I am thankful that I have been forgiven for my past and I am thankful for what I have done in the past, but today I strain toward what is ahead. This is a powerful tension in our lives. We appreciate what we have done for the Lord, but we want to do more to glorify him. We can not be satisfied with what we have done. There is so much that still needs to be done.
Two important marks that we are maturing are submitting to God more and trusting God more. This is a huge struggle for most of us – to submit to God’s will. We want to be the master of our own fate, the captain of our ship. We think we know what is best. We struggle with what God wants us to do and be. (A young man who was afraid to submit to God because that meant God would send him to Africa or someplace.) Listen to God no matter how old you are, he is still working with you and me to and as we submit to his will in our lives, he will bring glory to himself in our lives.
The second mark of a maturing Chr is learning to trust in God. What a joy it is to see how faithful God has been all through my life. I can see that he was with my family in bringing us to Christ – at the church at Faribault and here. He was with us when my dad died when I was a teenager. He was with me during my college years and ministry in Illinois. He was evident in many ways in raising my kids. God’s hand was in helping me move to Austin, and in the education I have gotten. My precious God has been faithful during all the struggles of my life. Did he protect me from all the problems? No. but he was there to walk with me and work out the best in my life along the way. God has been faithful in the past and he will be completely faithful in the future. Amen. And that brings the greatest joy possible.
How do we mature in Christ? We have said this over and over again. Read the word of God – there is joy in that. Pray to God – have a joyful conversation with him all the time. Look at your life and ask God what he wants you to do to grow in him. He might push you out of your comfort zone, but he will be with you and me every step of the way.
If you need to start your journey with God today by giving your life to him the invitation is for you. All of us commit our lives to work with God as he helps us in our maturing process.
Philippians 3.10 – 16
We have been talking about joy in the Chr. life. We are to rejoice in our faith in Jesus Christ. We are to enjoy our life because we have new life in Christ, we know God and we will receive eternal life. This morning we are going to learn about the joy of maturing. (The joy of getting old is different. There is joy in that, but also some struggles.)
Before we go to the scripture of the day, let me say a couple of things. When I was teaching human development, I started talking about maturing, not maturity. We are all in the process of maturing, changing, and as far as I am concerned, we do not finish the process once and for all. A child of 5 might be mature for a 5 year old, but immature at 10 if he or she does not change. We can be a mature 20 year old and immature at 40 unless we change in lives. We need to be maturing.
Also, the mature Chr is like Jesus Christ in his or her thinking, attitudes, talk, and life. That is the goal we are aiming at in our Chr lives. Unless we become like Christ, we are not mature. It seems like some of the Chrs in the church in Philippi were going around parading in front of the others as if they were completely mature. They were better than everyone else in their own eyes. This is where Paul tries to correct them. Read with me: Phil. 3:10 -16.
The passage shows the dynamic nature of the joy of maturing. First Paul tells us what he is aiming at. Paul wanted to know Christ, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering, and even to become like him in his death, that is the resurrection from the dead. Paul first got to know Christ at his conversion after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. That changed his life, that was the start of his life in Christ, but after that he kept on growing in his relationship with Christ. Our conversion experience is important to us, but after that we need to keep growing Christ or maturing.
What does it mean to know Christ? It is not just to know about Christ, but to know him personally, intimately. Jesus is our God, but also our best friend. To know Christ means to love him more. He is so good to us every day so we love him more. To know Christ is to obey him more. Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” To know Christ is to trust him more. We like to trust ourselves, be the master of our own life, but the Chr life is a life of trusting the leadership of Jesus Christ.
Verses 12 – 14 of this passage give us the central message about the joy of maturing. Read. Do you hear that? I have not already obtained perfection, but I press on toward the goal of the high calling of Jesus Christ. This is the Apostle Paul speaking. He had been a Chr for 20 or 30 years by now. Certainly St. Paul would be perfect by this time. By his own admission, he was still straining to get to the goal.
The imagery is a race; I think a marathon race (26.2 miles). The Chr. life is a marathon race, not a 100 yd. dash. When I was running marathons, the best one was the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth. In that race we ran along Lake Superior the whole time, and from 20 miles from the finish line, we could see the end of the race. It finished just below the lift bridge and we could see that. During the race there were lots of times I wanted to quit, but I would look over toward the finish line and know I needed to just keep going, one foot in front of the other. Eventually I rounded the corner and about 3 blocks up was the finish line. All of a sudden, all the work and strain became worth it. Even though I was way past tired, a smile came across my face and I started running harder and faster than I had all day. In our Chr life we keep going – pressing on to reach the goal in Jesus Christ.
Paul say, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. He is not talking about forgetting what is behind in an absolute sense. We can not forget what we did in the past, and some of the things in our past are good things to remember. Paul talked often about his conversion experience. He did not forget that. What is means is that some times we get bogged down in what we did in the past. Satan likes to remind us of what we did in the past and then tell us we are worthless because of our past. That is not true – when we ask the forgiveness of God, we are forgiven.
At other times to we concentrate on our past accomplishments and think we have done enough, we have grown enough. I am thankful that I have been forgiven for my past and I am thankful for what I have done in the past, but today I strain toward what is ahead. This is a powerful tension in our lives. We appreciate what we have done for the Lord, but we want to do more to glorify him. We can not be satisfied with what we have done. There is so much that still needs to be done.
Two important marks that we are maturing are submitting to God more and trusting God more. This is a huge struggle for most of us – to submit to God’s will. We want to be the master of our own fate, the captain of our ship. We think we know what is best. We struggle with what God wants us to do and be. (A young man who was afraid to submit to God because that meant God would send him to Africa or someplace.) Listen to God no matter how old you are, he is still working with you and me to and as we submit to his will in our lives, he will bring glory to himself in our lives.
The second mark of a maturing Chr is learning to trust in God. What a joy it is to see how faithful God has been all through my life. I can see that he was with my family in bringing us to Christ – at the church at Faribault and here. He was with us when my dad died when I was a teenager. He was with me during my college years and ministry in Illinois. He was evident in many ways in raising my kids. God’s hand was in helping me move to Austin, and in the education I have gotten. My precious God has been faithful during all the struggles of my life. Did he protect me from all the problems? No. but he was there to walk with me and work out the best in my life along the way. God has been faithful in the past and he will be completely faithful in the future. Amen. And that brings the greatest joy possible.
How do we mature in Christ? We have said this over and over again. Read the word of God – there is joy in that. Pray to God – have a joyful conversation with him all the time. Look at your life and ask God what he wants you to do to grow in him. He might push you out of your comfort zone, but he will be with you and me every step of the way.
If you need to start your journey with God today by giving your life to him the invitation is for you. All of us commit our lives to work with God as he helps us in our maturing process.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
busy week
I felt busy last week and when I look back on it it was.
I worked at Worleins 4 days - M, Th, F and Sat. That took care of most of my mornings.
I had 2 football games to ref. The Friday games was between a 5 - 0 team and an 0 - 5 team. It ended up 28 -25 with both teams leading at times.
I had a good day on Wednesday with teaching my Bible study in the morning - on the book of Romans - it is fun. then there was calling in the after noon.
My car had to be fixed - the water pump when out and that is a pain to fix. That took from Wed. through Friday to get done. I hope that is the end of troubles with the radiator system.
I got a new computer and monitor this week. My computer at the church was 7 years old - still working, but very slow even for me. I am still working to get it set up. The 19 inch LCD screen is huge compared with what I had before.
Saturday Mary and I went out to celebrate going together 10 years. We went out for supper. After we got back to her house we were checking on some financial stuff for her and discovered we have going together for 11 years not 10. We have fun together. Mary is working 7 days a week right now and will be for probably 2 months or more. It is wearing on her.
I took Mom to the DR for her leg. She has a sore that would not heal. She has gone for 5 week - last week they put on a skin graft and it is healing well now.
There is it. nothing profound, but a good busy week for a sort of retired guy.
Love to all,
Dad/Steve.
I worked at Worleins 4 days - M, Th, F and Sat. That took care of most of my mornings.
I had 2 football games to ref. The Friday games was between a 5 - 0 team and an 0 - 5 team. It ended up 28 -25 with both teams leading at times.
I had a good day on Wednesday with teaching my Bible study in the morning - on the book of Romans - it is fun. then there was calling in the after noon.
My car had to be fixed - the water pump when out and that is a pain to fix. That took from Wed. through Friday to get done. I hope that is the end of troubles with the radiator system.
I got a new computer and monitor this week. My computer at the church was 7 years old - still working, but very slow even for me. I am still working to get it set up. The 19 inch LCD screen is huge compared with what I had before.
Saturday Mary and I went out to celebrate going together 10 years. We went out for supper. After we got back to her house we were checking on some financial stuff for her and discovered we have going together for 11 years not 10. We have fun together. Mary is working 7 days a week right now and will be for probably 2 months or more. It is wearing on her.
I took Mom to the DR for her leg. She has a sore that would not heal. She has gone for 5 week - last week they put on a skin graft and it is healing well now.
There is it. nothing profound, but a good busy week for a sort of retired guy.
Love to all,
Dad/Steve.
Friday, September 7, 2007
New Granddaughter
What is it going to be?
What is it going to be? Most of the time now that question has been answered, but not this time. Mom and Dad did not want to know so we ask this question – boy or girl? We will know the moment of birth.
What is it going to be? We know this child is going to be loved. Mom and Dad have already expanded their love capacity to surround this child with love. Grandparents, aunts and uncles and many others will insure that the child is going to be dearly loved. Maybe even the cats will love the baby.
What is it going to be? This little one is going to be cared for. It will be fed, changed, bathed, checked on, held, touched, smiled at, admired, carried, cuddled, watched, talked to, listened to, walked, bounced, and enjoyed.
What is it going to be? This child will be well trained – there will be books and other things to stimulate the little one to learn. The baby will be read to and played with.
What is it going to be? This child will be prayed for. God has known this precious little one since it began to be “knit in the womb.”
Everyday and many times a day the child will be brought before the loving heavenly Father.
What is it going to be? Looking to the future, this child will be happy and sad, successful and not so successful, challenged and stretched, frightened and comforted, have many friends and feel alone. This child will have many to help in all of these life situations.
What is it going to be? It could be the President of the US or a company, a teacher, a minister, a social worker, or almost anything else. The future is open and with the right support and encouragement, it will be happy with the choices it makes.
What is it going to be? We now know for sure that this child is Aurelia Ryan DeFor, born August 23, 2007 at 5.45 AM to Peder and Sarah.
With much love,
Grandpa Steve.
What is it going to be? Most of the time now that question has been answered, but not this time. Mom and Dad did not want to know so we ask this question – boy or girl? We will know the moment of birth.
What is it going to be? We know this child is going to be loved. Mom and Dad have already expanded their love capacity to surround this child with love. Grandparents, aunts and uncles and many others will insure that the child is going to be dearly loved. Maybe even the cats will love the baby.
What is it going to be? This little one is going to be cared for. It will be fed, changed, bathed, checked on, held, touched, smiled at, admired, carried, cuddled, watched, talked to, listened to, walked, bounced, and enjoyed.
What is it going to be? This child will be well trained – there will be books and other things to stimulate the little one to learn. The baby will be read to and played with.
What is it going to be? This child will be prayed for. God has known this precious little one since it began to be “knit in the womb.”
Everyday and many times a day the child will be brought before the loving heavenly Father.
What is it going to be? Looking to the future, this child will be happy and sad, successful and not so successful, challenged and stretched, frightened and comforted, have many friends and feel alone. This child will have many to help in all of these life situations.
What is it going to be? It could be the President of the US or a company, a teacher, a minister, a social worker, or almost anything else. The future is open and with the right support and encouragement, it will be happy with the choices it makes.
What is it going to be? We now know for sure that this child is Aurelia Ryan DeFor, born August 23, 2007 at 5.45 AM to Peder and Sarah.
With much love,
Grandpa Steve.
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