John 15:12-17New International Version (NIV)
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friendsif you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
New International Version (NIV)
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No claims of absolute originality are made for this material. As one man said, "I milk a lot of cows, but I churn my own butter.
Let me tell you about my friend.
I had a friend once I met him in hospital he was dying – 21 years of age his name was Trevor cool guy had a Holden car and he’d been on a rugby trip to Auckland worked in an accountants practice.
Trevor got cancer and he was dying in an Invercargill hospital and I just decided to go visit him – and his Father and another man were there and I was there about 20 years of age. I hadn’t faced death – not like this – this was death and raw and young – and I didn’t know what to say?
So I said – because I was fumbling and young and I said – “nice day isn’t it?”
I never forgot what don did –Trevor just looked out the window and with a faraway voice he simply said – “Yeah a nice day to die.”
Hopeless I didn’t stay long and I never went to the funeral but my friend said – my friend said – because he had been to the funeral – I can’t exactly remember what he said but here is what he said.
“Funny thing aboutTrevor.” He said. “ Before he died he became a Christian!’
It shocked me – This was Trevor who drank beer at the Lodge on a Friday night –Trevor who was the up and coming executive –Trevor the rugby player –Trevor – Mr Cool of Invercargill – when it was all stripped away – it became him and Jesus and he gave his life to him.
Let me tell you about my friend.
Not Trevor – nor my friend who told me about his conversion – Yes my friend Jesus!
Later I became closer to Jesus and – yes we were – are good friends but I want to tell you that I have sometimes wondered what a friend I have been to him – I know what a friend he has been to me and it is Christmas and – we recycle the message all over and yet somehow look for a freshness that we don’t get by dusting off tinsel and then I realised it is all about friendship, friendship with Jesus and when we talk about preparation for Christmas we are really talking about the renewal of friendships. No not friendships with rellies who travel long distances nor old mates who gloat of stories of yesterday – No we are talking here about the best friend a man could ever have – Jesus!!!
Last week our son’s parents came to stay and we spent some time preparing for them. They have become friends to us as we share our children and Grandchildren in common and we made preparations for their visit. We prepared a special meal – made up the spare bed and did a bit of late Spring cleaning – all the stuff you do to prepare for visitors.
How much more do we need to prepare for the coming of Jesus? This morning I want to suggest three things you can do to freshen up your friendship with Jesus this Christmas.
The first thing I would or should do if I am expecting Jesus to come is to consider who is coming ,,,mmmmm
Christmas means the worship of Christ – what kind of friend would we have that we would worship?
Consider who is coming!!!!! I mean I have had people come to our house sometimes and they have made me groan. About four or five years ago a man was contacting me and it was clear that he meant to come and do great harm to me and our family it was threatening and he was unwelcome.
But when we are preparing for Christmas we are preparing for the coming of our friend Jesus and as it says in Hebrews chapter 12:- Consider him.
In Colossians 1:15-18 we read of Jesus New American Standard Bible (NASB)
15 [a]He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For [b]by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He [c]is before all things, and in Him all things [d]hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
This Jesus we are preparing for is responsible for everything we have and enjoy – quite simply put we would be nothing, and have nothing and we would enjoy nothing without Jesus.
Who are we preparing for – Jesus, who is in the image of God – Jesus is the image of the invisible God – What is your visitor like?
When Moses met with this Jesus his face shone and the people asked Moses to cover his face because they couldn’t face his holiness – This Jesus who is the image of God – Do we understand how serious that image is?
Exodus 10 16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning. A cloud covered the mountain, and a very loud horn sounded. All the people among the tents shook with fear. 17 Then Moses brought the people from among the tents to meet God. They stood at the base of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord came down upon it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a stove. And the whole mountain shook. 19 The sound of the horn became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.20 Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and tell the people not to break through to look at the Lord. For then many of them would be destroyed. 22 Have the religious leaders who come near to the Lord set themselves apart to be holy.
Earlier when Pharoah’s heart was hardened against God and he refused to obey him plague upon plague fell upon his land – until eventually - Exodus chapter 10
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the LORD your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”
Jesus is the image of the invisible God – That means he is the image of the God who is so awesome that a nation can’t look at him- he is the image of a God who is so powerful that he cripples Egypt when they refuse to obey him - he is the image of a God who heals lepers,inspires Prophets and nations through them he is the image of the God who loves widows and heals Israel’s enemies. He is the image of the God who made the heavens and the earth – He is the image of the God who breathed stars into being – He is the image of a God who is so powerful that he can not just shake the world but he can make the stars fall from the sky – What did Peter say about him?
Peter said – You are the Christ the son of the living God.
Were it not for a slim thread of lifesaving thread called calvary – the cross- we would not even dare to breathe his name.
Do we understand who Jesus is?
Because we are preparing for Jesus.
Yet we read – this man loved sinners – he loves you – Do we really understand who we are preparing for?
We know this Jesus had power over nature – He was asleep in the boat and the wind was raging the boat was rocking in the waves the situation was desperate it was so rough that the Disciples thought that they were dying. But Jesus stood up and he simply calms the storm. Jesus can take a storm like that and turn it around – he can throw lightening back up into the sky.(Billy Graham.)
Our God is an awesome God he provokes awe and fear yet he loves us and wants us to be friends with him.
He takes children on his knee – in Revelation he is so awesome that the Apostle John who walked on earth fell to the ground as though dead.
But he loves you wants to be your best friend and you need to prepare for him because he is coming.
He is incredible and awesome but he is full of grace. Nails are being belted into him – he has been bruttaly scourged and treated as a criminal and yet he says: “ forgive them for they know not what they do.”
We need to understand Just who our Jesus is.
Getting prepared for Jesus is a serious business.
We need to get prepared.
The nature of our preparations are serious and cut deep.
Some years ago two men led expeditions to the North Pole. One was called Roald It was the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration,” and the South Pole represented one of the last unexplored areas on earth. Robert Falcon Scott hoped to claim the bottom of the world for England; Roald Amundsen wished to plant the Norwegian flag there on behalf of his countrymen.
Despite their common goal, the two adventurers’ approaches to their expeditions were quite different—as were the end results. Amundsen reached the South Pole first and returned home on a trip that was relatively smooth and straightforward. Scott arrived at 90 Degrees South only to experience the crushing disappointment of seeing one of Amundsen’s flags flapping in the wind. He would never make it back; he and his four companions died of starvation, exhaustion, and exposure as they attempted to make the 700 mile return trip to their base camp.
The difference between the two adventurers was preparation. One well prepared and strategic the other through good intentions but poor planning perished. The difference was preparation.
Too many Christians today only make scant arrangements for Jesus. This week Foli and I met a man who said I am an atheist and God knows that. He thinks he is funny. But it is serious – That man was 86 years old and healthy but he needs to know that he can only get to heaven on God’s terms not his own and that involves receiving Jesus as his Lord and saviour and he doesn’t know my friend Jesus – Neither does the young man I met who had a vague understanding of Jesus and his expression of faith was reduced to pretty much only saying grace. No apparent commitment to follow no apparent commitment
Preparation for Jesus just like an expedition to the south pole it means a serious commitment the difference between success and failure is life and death..
Psalm 37 …4Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. 6He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.…
Commitment to Christ requires completely giving yourself over to him.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training... (1 Corinthians 9:25)
The difference between involvement and commitment is like an eggs and ham breakfast - the chicken was involved but the pig was committed.
Shiloh Bible Church
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Text Illustration:
Garibaldi had an incredibly committed volunteer army. He would appeal for recruits in these terms: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!”
Jesus invites you to discipleship. But He lets you know up front that it is a commitment that will cost you something. It’s not going to be easy. To paraphrase Garibaldi, “Let him who loves the Lord with his heart and not with his lips only, be Jesus’ disciple!”
Preparation for Christmas means rediscovering your Jesus.
Secondly – It involves living how he wants you to live. It is called obedience.
Preparation may mean a change of habits.
But for many of us we have to make major efforts to move from belief to change
There is some truth in the old joke.
Q: How many Church members does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Change? What do you mean change?
Over recent months I had let slip my personal habit of praying a minimum of 30 minutes a day. In order to make changes I have had to change my priorities and to view the prayer time as a valuable pursuit instead of something I do before getting on with my day.
In our reading this morning we read the words of Jesus where he said:-
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
Our salvation with Jesus depends on grace but our friendship really depends of us doing what he commands. What does he command – Well- for one that we love one another – two that we follow him – three that we spend time with him and that we Go and make disciples of all nations something that we are very eager to do in the 3D Ministry.
Changing habits calls for decision and many people come into the valley of decision to receive Christ but avoid the upward climb to the mountain top of changing habits and discipleship. So they miss the view from the top
A young boy by the name of James had a desire to be the most famous manufacturer and salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese and began with a little buggy pulled by a pony named Paddy. After making his cheese, he would load his wagon and he and Paddy would drive down the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese. As the months passed, the young boy began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work.
One day he pulled his pony to a stop and began to talk to him. He said, "Paddy, there is something wrong. We are not doing it right. I am afraid we have things turned around and our priorities are not where they ought to be. Maybe we ought to serve God and place him first in our lives." The boy drove home and made a covenant that for the rest of his life he would first serve God and then would work as God directed.
Many years after this, the young boy, now a man, stood as Sunday School Superintendent at North Shore Baptist Church in Chicago and said, "I would rather be a layman in the North Shore Baptist Church than to head the greatest corporation in America. My first job is serving Jesus."
As a result Kraft foods became a worldwide player in the food Industry, 22,000 employees before the merged with Heinz in 2015, remember this came from a change of habits in a boy, his pony named Paddy, and the promise little James L. Kraft made to serve God and work as He directed.
(Adapted by Brett Blair and now John Gullick from Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Baker, p. 331).
Jesus says something very interesting John chapter 14 30"I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; 31but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.
I often think I do approximately what God wants But Jesus says I do exactly what God wants me to do.
The third thing we need to do in hitting the refresh button with God is not to be surprised by failures and skinned knees but get up and have another go!!!!
We often fail – but Jesus says but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last – when we fail we are to get up and run the race that God has set before us.
Here I showed the clip from youtube of Derek Redmond injuring himself in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Derek's determination to finish reminds me of Hebrews 12:1-3, which says, "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus … so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
And Derek's dad's actions remind me of several verses, but especially these two: "His father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). And, "I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you" (Isaiah 46:4).
When times get tough, it's good to remember these things.
God will carry us … all the way to the finish line.
