Still in the Beginning!
Back in Dec. I started a series of messages about being in a new beginning, and we still are. We have fallen short of goals we set but not in the spirit of which we set them. Weather, sickness, vacations, travel and priorities have slowed us down. Yes even discouragement has played a part in this problem. But God is greater than any of the problems we face and have faced in the past weeks. Starting in March we will have the café open, we will have the first movie night, the hangman’s curse, a Frank Perettie movie on March 24. We will get back on track moving forward for the Kingdom of God. But first today we will be installing our Deacons to serve the congregation, to make it easer to move in the direction God is leading.
Jeremiah 31:31
31 “The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
God has taken the old law and has given us a new covenant, a covenant of love and of order and direction.
Only God can make the days and weeks flow together in rhythm.
Only God can put meaning and purpose and direction into life.
As Christians we still experience difficult seasons…
…trials and hardships. There is winter as well as spring.
But God causes even those times to have purpose.
We soon learn that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God has given us a new beginning, a new way at looking at things. In scripture it says….
2 Corinthians 3:6
6He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The church is alive and thriving because of the Spirit of God. God has giving us the direction, the means of travel (His word), And a navigator to show the way (His Spirit).
God has given us a picture to follow, A likeness, to show what we are to become like. He wants to be transformed into His likeness. To be like Him in every thing.
2 Corinthians 3:17&18
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Wow can you see, How we can look at the new beginning God has given us. With open eyes and hearts.
John 13:34&35
34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.
He said, "Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art." The young man held out this package. "I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift."
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?"
There was silence.
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one."
But the auctioneer persisted. "Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"
Another voice angrily. "We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh’s, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!"
But still the auctioneer continued. "The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?"
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I’ll give $10 for the painting." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.
"We have $10, who will bid $20?"
"Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters."
"$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?"
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!"
A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let’s get on with the collection!"
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I’m sorry, the auction is over."
"What about the paintings?"
I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.
The man who took the son gets everything!"
God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is:
"The son, the son, who’ll take the son?"
Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE...THAT’S LOVE
For us to continue in the love God has shown us we must pass that love on to others. In Acts 6 we see love being passed on even before there were Elders in the church.
In Acts 6 we see the church moving on a road map God had laid out for the new group of young believers, the church was only in its infancy and all ready having troubles.
This is the third consecutive problem that confronted this young and rapidly growing group of Christians.
Briefly review the first two problems: social opposition (persecution) and hypocrisy. Although these problems involved people, they were not solely (or even primarily) sociological.
As Peter noted in Acts 5:4 (they were trying to lie to God), they were satanic in origin. Satan was furious and threatened by so many people being delivered from his kingdom, so he launched an all-out counter-attack to wipe them out. Satan hates to see the church grow. He uses even Christians to get his work done again Acts 5:4
Having failed in his first two attempts, he resorted to his trump card—division. Any military tactician knows the maxim “divide and conquer.” The best strategy of all is to get the enemy fighting each other. That’s what he was trying to do here—ignite a problem (caring for widows) into a feud.
So we have the makings of a nice division here. Before we read how they overcame this problem, let’s make sure we understand what division is and why it’s so serious . . .
What is division?
Division is sinful personal alienation between Christians. It is affective conflict, rooted in sinful attitudes like envy, pride, and selfish ambition (James 3:14-16
14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.), and manifesting itself in personal resentment, malice, bitterness, etc. (Ephesians 4:25-27,29-31)
25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26“In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold.
29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.)
Sometimes conflict over an issue ignites division (like Acts 6 >> NOT GETTING YOUR WAY ON AN IMPORTANT CHURCH DECISION).
Sometimes it generates “issues” to mask itself (CRITICISM OF TEACHING, BESETTING SINS, MISTAKEN DECISIONS). But when the conflict is affective, resolution of the issues doesn’t restore unity.
Why division is so serious?
The church must be unified in order to be effective. Satan believes this more than most Christians do. He knows that when Christians are united in love and building each other up and serving others together, terrific spiritual power and fruit will result. That’s why he works so hard (we usually don’t make him work too hard) to sow division.
It destroys effective outreach, because a key to our witness is the love that we show toward each other (John 13:34;17:23). If people see the same kind of alienation between Christians that they see elsewhere, why should they listen to our message?
It drains morale and motivation from all who are involved in it. It’s terrifically draining to be in an environment of suspicion, resentment and hostility. Young Christians often drop out of fellowship altogether, and even seasoned workers fail in their zeal.
It prevents effective leadership. If the leadership of the church is divided, or if a significant group becomes divided from them, the work of the church comes to a halt. Leaders must supply clear direction for the church, but the people must trust and respond to their leadership or we are a rabble.
Acts 6
1In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
How was the problem resolved and Gods love spread, by using the one thing the church is, the people. Using what God has given us. By allowing that responsibility to be passed to those who would care for it and see it was taken care of. Today we do the same thing, use what God has given to see the responsibility is taken care of by installing deacons.
