What Jesus Says to a Complacent Church

“Because of His great mercy God has given us a new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope.” 1 Peter 1:3
 
Because we’re imperfect people living in an imperfect world we all experience failures in life.

The night Jesus was arrested, two of his closest friends had massive failures: Judas betrayed him and Peter denied him. It was the same sin, just expressed in different ways.

What causes our personal failures? Like Peter, we 1) overestimate our own strength; 2) fear the disapproval of others, and 3) speak without thinking.

But Peter also did three things right. He 1) grieved his failure; 2) let his small group support him; and 3) cast himself on God’s mercy.

“Give yourselves completely to God – every part of you – because you’ve been brought from death to life, and now you want to be used by God for good, and for His righteous purposes.”
Romans 6:13 (Living Bible)
 
The greatest joy and thrill in life is being used by God. Used for purposes greater than ourselves. It’s what we were created for. Unfortunately, many people feel unworthy because of past behaviour, or unqualified due to lack of training. But through His mercy, and regardless of our pasts, God can use all of us to minister His love to others. God wants our lives to have eternal significance as we serve Him with authenticity (not acting like someone else) while remembering that “our message is not about ourselves – it is about Jesus Christ as the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 4:5)

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to heal the brokenhearted, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”  Luke 4:18-19 (NIV)
 
We all have occasional bad days and sometimes our lives feel inundated with bad news from the world around us.  We need good news!  

That’s why Jesus came: He changed everything through the good news of the Easter story – His death, burial, and resurrection.

He came to give hope to the hopeless, to heal the brokenhearted, to release the captives, to reveal God to the world, and to purchase our freedom. 

In a society where anything goes, it’s so easy to become complacent about our faith.
 
We will see what happened to God’s people when they became complacent and how we as Christians today can fall into the same trap.
 
Find out what God’s solution to complacency is, and how we can put it into practice.
 

Listen now as Berni Dymet unpacks his thoughts.

We see miracles throughout the Bible, but the greater work of God is when the miracles are performed in us.
 
Between the miracle of us coming to Christ and the miracle of our life in heaven, we have the opportunity to see God at work not only in the world and our circumstances, but in us as well: in our heart, our direction, and our character.
 
God wants to work in you and through you even while you wait for the next miracle in your life.

Words can have a lot of power in people’s lives for both good and bad, and the power that words carry can stay with people for many years.
 
Words can identify two kinds of people in the world.
Some of us are open to opportunities to trust God in faith, and others of us are naturally supportive.
 
Today we’ll see why it is important for each of us to do what comes naturally but also to listen for God’s voice throughout.

Listen now as Pastor Peter unpacks his thoughts.

Truly, the mysteries of God’s ways are beyond my comprehension. In His loving grace, God works out His supreme purpose within and in spite of my human nature.
 
So, when my life doesn’t make sense, I will:
1) remember God’s promises,
2) rely on God’s purposes,
3) recognise God’s provision, and
4) rest in God’s presence.
 
In His presence, I find -
peace in the midst of the chaos,
perspective that overshadows the questions, and
power to overcome the
pressures, expectations, and responsibilities.
 
Because it doesn’t make sense doesn’t mean it’s senseless.

Gideon was a man who shows us how to live up to the potential God knows we have.
 
We can live a significant life when we listen to what God says about us, go in the strength we have and watch God use our weaknesses.
 
God uses our weaknesses to bring Him glory.
He does it through reducing our resources, magnifying our need, showing us someone who trusts God with what little they have, and using our meager resources to show how great He is.
 
While we may want to hide in our weaknesses, God wants to use them.
 
Then He can use us to accomplish His purposes.

Listen now as Pastor Peter unpacks his thoughts.

The word itself is so intimidating … it can make one feel fearful and paralysed but if we learn to trust the unknown future to a known God, things become clearer. If we look at Scripture, God is all about the future and who He has called us to be. One of my favourite passages in the Bible says the following:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

We know that God has called us with a purpose and a plan. Many of us are sitting comfortably and coasting through life but God has called us to reign as Sons and Daughters of the most High God. What does that look like? How do we walk that out practically as Christians?
Its starts by us trusting God with our Futures….

How conscious are you of what happens at the end of the Sunday worship service when the benediction is pronounced?
Are you internally thinking, "Great, the service is over, now I can have my tea  & biscuits?”
Do you take any notice of the benediction? Anyway, what is the benediction?

It derives from the Latin words “bene” meaning good and “diction” meaning speech or word.
Thus benediction means a good word  i.e. a blessing. The benediction after the worship service is an example of a word or words of blessing prayed over us.
Who would not want to receive a blessing from God?

This morning we are going to look into the subject of blessing in the scriptures and its practical application in our lives.
Our initial scriptural reference will be the “Aaronic Blessing” in Numbers 6: 23-27.
“May the Lord bless you and keep you………… ,and I will bless them.”

May God bless you and may you be a blessing to others.