Mighty God

I was in Bogota, Colombia for a few days this week, first time I´ve been to this country - I've visited quite a number of South American countries and I would say this one is a bit different.  It’s always a learning experience when you travel.  The city of Bogota has a very high elevation – 2,600 meters even higher than MX. That’s why for the past couple of days, my heartbeat was much faster.  The house and building structures are mostly made of bricks, the people are friendly but barely speaks English, even their Spanish is a bit different from Mexico or Peru.  For two full days, I probably had six meetings (with bankers, lawyers, our staff in Bogota and most of them met me for the first time although i have been communicating with them via email in the past) -- their first reaction was usually a surprise because they thought I was a woman because of my last name -  Carmen obviously is a very popular woman´s first name back there.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet."  - a quote from Romeo & Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare.

One of the most challenging tasks for would-be parents is to choose a name for their child.  You know, we really had a hard time choosing the name for our son --- Ram… Ramil.  It’s not easy to choose a name.  Probably some of your parents had a hard time.   And when they finally gave you the best name they can think of, we somehow replace it with a nickname --  Panfilo – became Jun.  Bonifacio – became Bon.  Josefina became Jojie.  Protacio became Tassy.   You know as a pastor, I am pretty good in remembering the names of people in the church.   But I am really bad in remembering faces – I’m one of those people who eyes are not keen enough to recognize faces quickly.   One time in Guildford Mall, I saw an old lady coming towards me, I thought she was Nanay Ising Franco and with all smiles I greeting her and said “Kumusta Po ‘Nay?” and she replied “mabuti naman” but when she went past me, I can hear her companion asking her “sino yun?”  and she said “ewan ko!”  So don’t feel bad if I ignored you in the Mall… chances are, I haven’t recognized you.

Names are very important to God.
• In Genesis 1, He gave names to His creation, like “day,” “night,” “sky,” “land,” etc.
• In Genesis 2, He gave the name “Adam” to the man He created and He asked him to give names to all living creatures as well – this includes Eve
• Throughout the Bible, He even  changed the names of different important people:  Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Saul to Paul

Names are very important to God because His relationship with us is personal.  He knows us intimately.
Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”
Jesus Himself said that “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”  Jesus also said of a good shepherd, "The sheep hears his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name…." Then He told His disciples "I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and they know me."

The title of our message  is MIGHTY GOD.  This is the second part of our Christmas Sermon series (4 sermons starting last week culminating on our joint service).   By the way, just a quick note about the first name of the Messiah.  The King James Version of the Bible shows two names:  Wonderful, Counsellor.  While the more contemporary translations like the NIV, NLT shows it as Wonderful Counsellor as one.  Bible scholars believe that it is more correct to use Wonderful Counsellor as one name because it is consistent with the following names: Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  All these names have two key words.

Please stand and we shall read once again from Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Let us pray:
Father God in heaven, we pray for your wisdom as we once again gather together and study your Word.  Your Words are lamp on feet and light to our paths.  May we live according to Your Words.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

Based on the verses we read, the Lord also gave through the prophet Isaiah some of the names of the coming Messiah and today like what I said earlier, we are going to discuss the  second one:  MIGHTY GOD!

We are all familiar with the Christmas story
 – with the shepherds, the angels, the wise men, Mary and Joseph and of course, the humble baby in a manger.
As a human baby, Jesus appeared ordinary and helpless as a child.
King Herod, knowing the prophecy was threatened by His birth…
He had to be protected by His parents especially when the mad King Herod ordered to kill all babies during His time.
He had to be brought by His parents to Egypt to protect him.

We love to tell and re-tell the Christmas Story.  We become too familiar with it.  We make Christmas plays, musicals, it was even made to a movie.  The story of the Nativity. Jesus Christ --  baby in a manger, receiving gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Angels and shepherds. Sometimes it becomes more like a story in children’s books.  Sometimes it becomes more like bed time story or a fairy tale like unicorns, pixie dusts and tinker bells.

I like how the gospel writer Luke puts it when Jesus was about to be crucified.  He said He could have called 12 legions of Angels to help him out.  Even the devil when he was tempting Jesus in the wilderness was challenging His power.  The sisters Mary and Martha was crying with Him and telling Him that if He was a bit early their brother Lazarus wouldnt have died.
Do we have any idea how powerful Jesus is?
When He said all power and authority under heaven and on earth was given to me -- do we really know what that means?
When the Apostle John said that in Him all things were created and all things were created by Him and He was with God from the beginning… do we really know what that means?
LESSON POINTS

Let us start with our first Lesson Point.

How extensive is the mighty power of Christ?
Hebrews 1:3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.
John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made
Colossians 1:16-17 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Matthew 28:18 Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

With Christ, we are talking of a very extensive & infinite power.  His power has no boundaries.  Yes, when He was here on earth, there are things that He, upon His own volition, did not opt to know.  Like when is the day of His second coming… He said only the Father knows.  So maybe you will say ---  Jesus was not too powerful eh?  But no… Jesus opted not to exercise His divinity in certain occasions while He was here on earth in order to completely fulfil the purpose of the Father for Him to do.  It does not show limitation of His power.  It only shows His submissive heart to the will of the Father.  Jesus did not need to show off His power in order to redeem mankind from our sins!

They say the “proof of the pudding is in the eating.” A basketball player can tell his coach that he can be the best player of the game – but he needs to prove it first in order to convince his coach.
Anybody can say he’s a great singer but in order for us to believe that, we need to hear him sing first.
What is the evidence of Jesus’ power?

1. His power is evident in His teachings (Matt 7:29)
- We have read the Gospels.  We have read the Epistles.  Jesus taught us from the Beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount, from the Upper Room.  Jesus was only twelve and He was already teaching in the synagogue.
2.  His power is evident in His miracles (Matt. 8:26)
- He turned water into wine.  He fed the multitude.  He made the lame walk.  He made the blind see. He walked on water. He calmed the sea.  He drove out demons. He raised up the dead.  He comforted the broken hearted.

3. His power is evident when He endured temptation.
-  Jesus was tempted and yet He did not sin.  How many of us fell into temptations several times?  Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness and yet He showed him his mighty power by being able resist the most alluring temptation ever presented to any man.
4. His power is evident when He suffered and died for our sins and resurrected on the 3rd day.
-  Jesus power was evident in His willingness to suffer for our sins, His willingness to die to pay the penalty of our sins.  His ability to conquer death by resurrecting on the third day.

- Jesus promises to redeem our sins and He did it. He died on the cross for me and you.
- Jesus promises eternal life and He has done it! He has done it for me, He has done it others… HE CAN SURELY DO IT FOR YOU!
- Jesus promises to be there for us, when we are weary and heavily laden… He wants us to come to Him. He will never leave nor forsake us.

The extent and evidence of the mighty power of Christ will not mean anything to us if we don’t experience that power ourselves.  We must experience that power because that power can change our lives.  This is the reason why our lesson points are three items.  It’s not one or the other.  It’s a package deal and the most important point is the last one.  We need to experience the power of Jesus in our lives.  This is the application part.

CONCLUSION

Church, Christ did not stay as a baby or as a young boy!  He is way far ahead of that notion that He was there, in that manger, helpless and humble and poor and powerless.  NO!  He is not just Santo Nino… He is the Mighty God.  He is the El Gibbor, He is Elohim Gibor, the one true Mighty God.
We need to understand the extent, see the evidence and personally experience His power!
Maybe for some of us, celebrating Christmas is just going through the motion.  Just getting by the holiday season.  In fact, some of us cannot even say “Merry Christmas” because we go by what most people say that we should be “politically correct” and not offensive to others.  Others are offended when we greet them Merry Christmas.  I am offended if you greet me Happy Holidays --- don't we both have the right to be offended and don't we both have the right to have our rights respected?   Christmas 2015 should mean a lot more for us, especially “us” who call ourselves Christians.  We should be confident enough to understand the extent of the power of Christ.  Our eyes should be clear enough to see the evidence of His power. And our hearts should be ready enough to personally experience the power of Jesus in our lives.

A rich young man once approached Jesus and asked Him… “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus replied to him and said “go and sell your possessions and give it to the poor and follow me.”  The rich young man was stunned!  He did not know how to respond.  He turned his back on Jesus and he was sad because he did not expect the response he got from Jesus.
He must have known miracles of Jesus and that was probably the reason why he was there.  He heard about it.  But he was not willing to experience the power of Christ behind those miracles.  He cannot give up whatever he has because maybe he was not truly convinced about the extent of Jesus power.

What about you?

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.    Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Richmond during its service on  

Sunday, December 6, 2015

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologize if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any.  as it is purely unintentional.

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:

 www.wordchristiancommunity.com

Wonderful Counsellor

Names are very important to God
• In Genesis 1, He gave names to His creation, like “day,” “night,” “sky,” “land,” etc.
• In Genesis 2, He gave the name “Adam” to the man He created and He asked him to give names to all living creatures as well – this includes Eve
• Throughout the Bible, He even  changed the names of different important people:  Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, Saul to Paul

Names are very important to God because His relationship with us is personal.  He knows us intimately. Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”  Jesus Himself said that “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”  Jesus said of a good shepherd, "The sheep hears his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name…." Then He told His disciples "I am the Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and they know me."

BACKGROUND

If you have a King James Bible, you would have noticed that the name Wonderful Counsellor has a comma in between which suggests two names but Biblical scholars mostly agree that based on the construction of the other names, ie.  Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – these are all combination of two names so contemporary versions of the Bible presented it as “Wonderful Counsellor.”

Wonderful – Hebrew “pele” which means “beyond understanding” In Greek, it means “to separate, to distinguish, or to make great.”
It is applied usually to anything that is great or wonderful, like a miracle. Judges 13:18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?”  The translation is “Why do you ask my name? seeing it is “beyond understanding.”   In verse 22, this angel of the Lord was called “God” by the father of Samson.  I understand you got quite an interesting discussion about the angel of the Lord in your ETS?  Like when it is referring to “God” and when it is referring to “angels.”  Well, if you ask me, it’s not about whether it’s uppercase or lowercase, study the context of the verse and you will know.
The coming Messiah is miraculous because Jesus is both God and man, hence He is referred to as, “Wonder-ful”
He is wonderful because He is different from the rest of us because He is God and He is also the same as the rest of us because He is man.
The “child is born” and “son is given” phrases denotes Jesus full humanity and full deity.
Child is born through Mary, in the line of David – obviously fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies.  It represents Jesus’ full humanity.  Son is given – John 3:16 right?  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have an everlasting life!
Some people would say that the “child” is Jesus and the “son” is Christ.  I don’t really support that line of thinking as it implies two personalities splitting the humanity and divinity of the Messiah.  That is not the right way of putting it.  Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man.  That’s it.
The name “Counsellor” associates and identifies Jesus directly to the 3rd person of the Trinity, i.e. the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, He promised His disciples that the Father will send Advocate, a Comforter, a Counsellor to remind them of things about Him.

POINTS TO PONDER
From His Name “Wonderful Counsellor” we can derive some important lessons in life or points to ponder.

How many miracles did Jesus perform?  Do you know?  Do I know?  No, I don’t!  The gospels record at least 37 detailed miracles of Jesus.  He turned water into wine.  He healed the sick.  He made the lame walk, the blind see.  He drove out demons.  He brought the dead to life.  He resurrected. But remember what the Apostle John said in John 21:25 --  “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
But you know what’s interesting?  Jesus is still carrying out miracles, signs and wonders even during our time today.  He is still performing miracles in my life, in your life and in the lives of all other people who have come to know Him as their personal Lord and Savior. Amen?

How many among you can claim that the Lord has done miracles in your life specifically?  I want you to raise your hand if Christ has done miracles in your life.  We are here in Canada, isn’t that a miracle? Some of you were sick before, but now you’re not, isn’t that a miracle?  Some of you were healthy before, now you’re sick BUT you are calling more to God now, you are closer to your family now that you are sick, you are reading the Bible now that you are sick, you are attending church more often now what you are sick – isn’t that a miracle?  Maybe once you’ve done what God wants you to do while you are sick, He will heal you – that’s another miracle.  You got a job, isn’t that a miracle? Amen?  You lost your job, isn’t that a miracle?
Well, look at it this way, now that you lost your job, you are calling more to God, you have more time for your family, you are reading the Bible more often, you are attending church regularly  – isn’t that a miracle?  Maybe once you’ve done what God wants you to do while you out of job, He will give you a job, far better that your previous one – that’s another miracle.

I got a Voltes V robot after 40 years, isn’t that a miracle?

In Matthew 11:28 – 30   Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Do you know why we can come to Christ when we have all these worries and problems and pains and burdens and sorrows --- all these things, He experienced Himself.  He knows what we’re going through.  He knows not just because He is God and He is all-knowing.  He knows not just because of that.  He knows because He experienced, first hand, having problems and pains and burdens and sorrows.  Usually, when somebody comes to you and needing comfort and you say “you know brother, I know what you’re going through…”  it means you have undergone a similar problem yourself, right?  That is why you have to be very careful when you say that line “I know what you’re going through…” Make sure you really know otherwise, you’re not helping.
But one thing I can guarantee you… Jesus knows what you’re going through.  He has been hurt, humiliated, He has been denied, He has been abandoned… He was physically tortured and He was even killed.  But what makes Him different, two things I can think of :  First, He suffered not because of His own wrong doing.  He suffered so He can redeem the sins of others.  Second, with all these sufferings, humiliation, torture, provocation – He did not sin.  In fact, He even prayed for those who persecuted Him.

A lot of times, our problems were caused by ourselves,  I’m not saying all the time… I’m saying a lot of times, we are the ones bringing ourselves to a difficult situation.  We made a hush-hush decision, we cheated, we cannot forgive, we eat the “bawal” na pagkain kaya tayo nagkasakit, puyat tayo ng puyat, we work three jobs, we save a lot of money, then we go on a cruise, we eat buffet three times a day – when we go back home, nagtataka pa tayo ba’t mataas ang cholesterol natin.  At work, we are too lazy then we wonder why… when there was a lay-off we are the first ones on the list.
A lot times, we are partly or fully responsible for it.  But Jesus comforts us in all these.  The Bible says “Romans 8:34 says “Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”   He does not only comforts us… He brings our concerns to God the Father Himself.  We don’t go through any other channel.  Jesus intercedes for us DIRECTLY to the Father.

One time I had a discussion with some of you in a Bible Study about the role of  Mary.  First and foremost, the role of Mary was to be the earthly mother of the Messiah.  It’s probably one of the most difficult roles ever to be assigned by God to a person.  This is the reason why we respect and we love the Mary and this is also the reason why she’s called BLESSED!
The sad thing is -- most of us have been told and taught when we were young that we can pray to the saints or to the Virgin Mary, and they can pray and intercede for us to God the Father. This practice certainly has no Biblical basis.   The Bible nowhere instructs believers in Christ to pray to anyone other than God. The Bible nowhere encourages, or even mentions, believers to ask individuals in heaven for their prayers.  Remember that only God is Omnipresent and Omnipotent and He alone can hear the simultaneous prayers of all people from all ages, all over the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in different languages.  Only God can listen to prayers.

There was a notion that the Virgin Mary or a saint, who is glorified in Heaven, has more "direct access" to God than we do. Therefore, if a saint delivers a prayer to God, it is more effective than us praying to God directly. This concept is unbiblical. Hebrews 4:16 tells us that we, believers here on earth, can "approach the throne of grace with confidence" and Jesus intercedes for us to God the Father.  Jesus said in John 14:6  - “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

 Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit convicts us when we sin.  When a believer accepts Jesus as His Lord and Savior, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit dwells in that person. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, when the person sins, the Holy Spirit is there to convict us.    Before we became Christians, most of us when we are able to take advantage of others, we’re happy.  Nakasingit sa linya (we’re able to overtake somebody in a long line)  Sumobra ang sukli (we get more change in a restaurant than what we should get).  Nakapulot ng wallet (we found a wallet with money).  Naka-kopya sa examination (we’re able to cheat in examination)  Nakatanggap ng lagay (we received a bribe)  Naka-tsansing (we took advantage of a female co-employee)… all these things, we say “wais to!”  Naisahan ko kayo!  (I was able to take advantage of you).  I’m so good!

But when you become a Christian – you don’t feel good when you do those things even accidentally.  You get a guilty feeling.  It’s called “conviction” by the Holy Spirit of our sins.  If you want to be more visual about it – imagine the Holy Spirit inside you and you keep on feeding your body with SIN.  Obviously the Holy Spirit will find a way to REMIND you that you are not supposed to be doing those things anymore.  He will remind you that you are a new creation and the old has gone and the new has come.  He will convict you.  He will give you butterflies in your stomach.  He will probably even make you sick.  He will do everything so you will realize that you are committing a sin and HE does not like that.
Jesus Christ convicts us through the Holy Spirit.  But it doesn’t end there.  He doesn’t just convict us for the sake of convicting.  Jesus convicts us so we realize the need for repentance.  We realize the need to ask for forgiveness of our sins.
He promised us that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Amen?
WE can come to the Father, anytime, all it takes is a pure heart… and we can ask for forgiveness of our sins.  The Father will now look at us, not because we are cute and cuddly but because He sees the righteousness of Christ imputed upon us and He is willing to forgive.
Isn’t that amazing?  Jesus comforting us through the Holy Spirit and interceding for us to God the Father.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:

The Bible tells us in John 14:26 that “Jesus ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. The Father sends the Holy Spirit in the Name of Jesus to continue His work here on Earth by teaching us and reminding us of everything about Him.”
If you want to be more technical about it, Jesus now sits at the right hand of the Father so to say that Jesus is in our hearts and lives actually means that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer.  This is the reason why the promised Messiah is called WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR.  He lives in us and is able to comfort us because of the Holy Spirit.

A seal is something permanently embossed, as sign of an official and unbreakable endorsement.   The Holy Spirit is called “Advocate, Comforter, Counsellor, Helper, Intercessor, Consoler” in Greek, it’s “parakletos” which literally means “called to one's aid” like a legal adviser.  So to say that the Holy Spirit is just a force or power of God is to commit blasphemy against Him as it hits the very core of our faith declaration.   The Holy Spirit is a person of the Trinity.  Co-equal and Co-eternal with God the Father and the Son.

Church, Christmas is coming and we know what this occasion meant for most people… shopping! But of us who’s given the privilege to listen to God’s message this morning, let us try and do better this year.  Let’s get to know Jesus deeper, in His role as our Wonderful Counsellor.  Somebody who carries out miracles and signs and wonders.  Somebody who comforts us intimately and intercedes to the Father on our behalf. And Somebody who convicts us of our sins and  gives us the opportunity to come to the Father through Him.

There have been probably so many times and situation  when you hear someone say ‘I wish I knew someone who could tell me what I should do in this situation I am in.’ A follower of Jesus knows the exact Person to do this, Jesus himself. One of the blessings, indeed one of the greatest privileges, that a pardoned sinner is given is the presence of Jesus as his friend and guide, his shepherd to protect him from danger. How does counsel us?  I will leave you with three things on how our Wonderful Counsellor counsels us:

First, let us say that Jesus does not provide personal counsel to those who do not use the means he has provided. One of these means is the BIBLE and in it Jesus gives us all the information we need for every situation we will face in life. Sometimes the information will not contain all we want to know, but it will contain all that we need to know. The Bible tells us how to live, gives us guidelines regarding every area of life, and contains promises of God’s help. If we want to have the counsel of Jesus, we must read the Bible.

Second, Jesus expects his followers to use in order to discover his counsel is PRAYER. Prayer is like having an appointment with our counsellor, except with regard to meeting with Jesus we don’t have to join a queue and wait our turn. We have access to him at all times, and we can call on his help in every situation.

Third,    Jesus uses is counsel through his people. We are not the first to experience our situation and when we find ourselves in strange circumstances we should contact those who have been in similar situation. They will have learned something from Jesus during their times of trouble and confusion and can then share what they learned with others. They should be willing to share and the others should be willing to listen.

The Holy Spirit enables all these means for us to get the right kind of counsel from Jesus Christ.  He explains the Word to us, he enflames our prayers,  and He leads us to people  who can help us go through with our situation.  The only thing that hinders the work of the Spirit in our lives is sin because it grieves Him and we lose the sense of blessing that comes with the services of the wonderful Counsellor.

Of course, our wonderful Counsellor knows how to bring us back into a right spiritual relationship with him, and for that we should also be thankful.

God bless you.

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.    Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Surrey during its service on  

Sunday, November 29, 2015

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologize if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any.  as it is purely unintentional.

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:

 www.wordchristiancommunity.com

Let's Volt In

About 40 years ago, I was probably in grade 4 or 5 when most of the kids in my generation got really hooked on a television show, the cartoon VOLTES V.  Almost every kid my age would look forward to watching the show every Friday, around 6pm, if my memory serves me right.  We all talked about it the following Monday.  We re-enacted the episodes.  We wore home-made costumes.  We sang the Japanese opening and closing songs.  We sketched the characters on our notebook.  It became a big part of our childhood memories.

Voltes V is an adventure, futuristic saga of mainly siblings fighting against the Boazanians against their invasion of the Earth.   Voltes V,  a robot created by Dr. Ned Armstrong, is a formidable machine formed when five battleships unite and shout "Let's Volt In!"    Each of these powerful machines are piloted by Dr. Armstrong's children:  Steve Armstrong, Big Bert Armstrong, Little John Armstrong.  Two other machines are piloted by Jaime Robinson and Mark Gordon.  The show promotes important lessons about family relationship, the triumph of good over evil and never-ending adventure.

I remember I got into trouble in Grade 5  when my teacher caught me sketching the Voltes V robot on my notebook while the class is on-going.  She was so mad and she made me re-enact one of my favourite part of the show.  First thing that came to my mind was "laser sword" so I shouted it complete with action.  Surprised... my teaching ended up laughing.

I think four or five episodes short of the final ending in April 1979, the Marcos government banned the cartoon show.  The Philippines was under Martial Law from 1972 until 1981 through Proclamation 1081 -- this is the reason why my generation was called "martial law" babies. The boys and girls during my time got too upset...most of us were crying and some recollected the experience years later and said "part of our childhood was snatched away from us."   We never knew how the cartoon ended:  did they finally reunite with their father?  Did good finally prevail over evil?  We never knew...

My only prayer and wish at that time as a young boy was to have a Voltes V robot of my own, a plastic one will do but because of life's humble condition, it did not happen.

The cartoon was finally re-aired about 20 years later.  At that time, I have a family already and never had the time to reminisce my childhood experience by watching the show again.

After almost forty years from the time it was launched in Japan,  the makers of Voltes V came out with a 40 Year toy robot (anniversary edition) made of die-cast metal.  This caught my attention and it sort of brought back some happy and sad memories.  However, for a 47 year-old husband, father, pastor, employee ---- buying an expensive toy is obviously no longer in my priority list.  It's not a secret to my family how I love to have this toy and how it became an important part of my childhood.

As a Christian and pastor, the phrase "laser sword" has a new meaning to me now.  It reminds me instead of the Sword of the Spirit, as mentioned by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians in Chapter 6 verse 17.  "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."  This same Word of God, is alive and active and it is sharper than any double-edged sword! (Hebrews 4:12).

The phrase "let's volt in" on the other hand reminds me of how important unity is among the believers.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 says "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."    Each battleship of Voltes V is powerful already, but when they do "volt in" they form a much powerful and formidable robot.  The Church, although composed of different gifted individuals, if we do cooperate and be united, we can accomplish more things for the glory of God.

A few days ago, a miracle happened!  My daughter Elaine who is now in South Korea for her university program bought me this toy as an early Christmas present.  She ordered on-line and had it shipped to Canada.

Truly God answers prayers .. even the simple prayer of a little boy!  Sometimes, it takes Him forty years though but He does answer prayers!  Thank you Lord and thank you to my family (Eleanor, Elaine and Ram).

(with my son Ram obviously enjoying assembling the robot with a very strict playmate)

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.    Amen.

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologize if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any.  as it is purely unintentional.

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:

 www.wordchristiancommunity.com

Gentle Reminders

I’ve been a preacher for almost 9 years and a pastor for almost 6 years – one thing I learned over the years… reminders, no matter how gentle or how careful we are… it’s so hard to keep an open mind, people still get offended  somehow.   Especially when it’s a form of rebuke or comment, sometimes the initial reaction of the person is – who said that?  I didn’t do anything!   Rather than focusing on the issue – they are either defensive or they focus on the person giving them the comment and not on the issue itself.  And worst – they get angry with the messenger.  Listen to this  -- the pastors are usually the messenger, bala sa kanyon – in English, cannonball!  Or worst – wrecking ball!  Pastor, you know, bro. so and so or sister so and so – offended me.  Can you talk to her?  Can you tell her I’m offended? Pastors are also used to scare kids – oh ayan na si Pastor, lagot ka?
Over the years, I have learned my lesson as a pastor.  Nowadays, if you come to me like that and you have issue with someone… most likely the first thing I will ask you is this:  Have you talked to the person? Have you followed Matthew 18?
The Apostle James concluded his epistle in Chapter 5 with some very important reminders.  We learned in the past few sermons that the Apostle James wrote this epistle mainly to believers, to Christians.  We also learned that James was not among the original disciples, he was the earthly brother of Jesus Christ and he was pivotal to the early church because originally he did not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah not until the resurrection.  James became one of the key leaders of the early church in Jerusalem.


Let’s read James, Chapter 5 verses 1 to 20:

The obvious context of this last Chapter is about the Christians who were being persecuted most likely by the Romans during that time.  James had to write these reminders and at the same time provide words of comfort to the believers.

Whenever I read something about suffering or persecution or trials experience by followers of Jesus, I’m reminded of this quote from Rick Warren.  He said:

Really?  God does not want me to be happy?  God does not want me to be comfortable?  Well, that’s not what this quotation says.  If I will rephrase this, I would say --- IF HAPPINESS WILL COMPROMISE OUR HOLINESS, IT’S BETTER NOT TO BE HAPPY AT ALL.
IF BEING COMFORTABLE WILL COMPROMISE OUR GODLY CHARACTER, THEN GOD WOULD RATHER NOT MAKE US COMFORTABLE.

I noticed that Chapter 5 was basically divided into three parts:

The whole chapter was devoted to encouragement and comfort to believers who are oppressed, who are persecuted, who are sick – whether physically or spiritually.
Let us look at the first part, verses 1 to 6.
God’s stern warning towards rich oppressors.  (v1-6)
First of all, before you react – please take note of the sub-heading, if you are using the NIV.  It says there:  Warning to the Rich Oppressors.  James did not say, warning to the rich people.  He said “rich oppressors.”  It totally changes the picture.

God is not angry with the rich per se but to those who oppressed the poor
There’s nothing wrong with being rich.  There are a lot of Bible characters who have served the Lord well who are rich:  Abraham was rich.  Joseph was rich.  David was rich.  There is nothing wrong with being rich.  What James is trying to warn here are the rich oppressors.  I also believe that the rich people that James was talking about here –
These rich people are most likely unbelievers
First, he did not call them brothers and sisters.  He only started using Brothers and Sisters in verse 7.  Let me show you (show slide no. 2 and 3).  James have expressed his rebuke to the rich oppressors at that time as his words of comfort to the oppressed believers, or to the poor.      So according to James --
Why is God angry with the rich oppressors?
Two things:
Because of how they acquired their wealth (v4)
Because of how they used their wealth (v5-6)
He said in verse 4:  Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty!
So the rich became rich because they are cheating their workers, they are not paying them fair and square.  This was how they acquired their wealth – through cheating and they are taking advantage of others.
How did they use their wealth?   Verse 5-6 says: You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
So they used their wealth to murder innocent people, they used their wealth for their own luxury and self-indulgence.  During this time, there were lots of rich Jews like those tax collectors and they connive with the Romans in order to oppress their fellow Jews especially those who were following Christ.  They were not using their wealth to bless other people.

We are not just talking here of the super-rich and famous like Jim Pattison or Bill Gates  If you go to a very poor country, I would say 90% of us here, or ever 100% of us here will be considered rich by their own standards.  Of course if you compare yourself to Jim Pattison or Bill Gates, we are far way below the wealth scale.

Matthew 6:20  says “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
The rich people of Jerusalem who had oppressed their Christian brethren literally “weeped and howled” as described by James during the siege of Jerusalem in AD70 because they lost everything they had accumulated.  In our time today, a lot of people are accumulating wealth for their retirement, they are paying life insurance left and right…they are saving for their future at the expense of their present life.  They work so much even at the expense of their quality time with their family.  Ironically, some people who have stored so much… they even die before they retire.   If we store up treasures in heaven, if we do good things to others, if we bless others with our abundance, we can bring these things even when we die because God will ultimately reward us in heaven.

The second part of Chapter 5 is verses 7-12.  It’s about –
God’s gentle reminder to be patient and to persevere in the midst of suffering.  (v7-12)
He said --
Be patient, like a farmer waiting for his field to yield valuable crops.
 He said be patient, stand firm – because the Lord is coming soon.  James is reminding the believers like you and me – yes, I know you are being persecuted – in your neighborhood, in your office because of you faith. People laugh at us.  People mock us.  People treat us unfairly.  But we have to be patient.  We have to stand firm because time will come the Lord will vindicate us.  If we live our lives giving glory to the Name of Jesus, we know that one day, Jesus will return and at that time, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord of all.
James said if we  should ---
Persevere in the midst of suffering. God will bless us if we do.
James said in verse 11 – As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
James made an example of an Old Testament character named Job.  Most of us know what happened to Job.  He was a righteous man, who was stripped of everything he owned – his wealth, his family, his health because God wanted to test his faith and since he persevered in the midst of suffering, God has blessed him in the end.  In fact, Job did not sin even in the midst of suffering.  He said “naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will depart.”
Come to think of it – when we were born to this world, we didn’t own anything.  We’re naked.  We’re nothing. And when its time for us to leave this world, we cannot take anything as well.  God owns everything.  So if in His own divine will, He takes away something from us – it is God’s prerogative because He owns everything in the first place.
Sometimes we make the mistake of  having that mindset that we own something – we own our property, we own our intelligence, we own our family – and that if something was taken from us, we cry UNFAIR!  God why did you take my family? God why did you take my job?  God why did you take my health?  Well.. we don’t own any of those things in the first place.  God has the right to take any of those things from us.  We are just stewards.  We are just caretakers.  God allows us to suffer sometimes, just like Job, because He wants to test our faith.   Since we’re talking about testing and we have talked about rich people earlier… it reminds me of the story of the rich young ruler who came to Christ.
He came to Christ and asked – Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Jesus replied “  go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”  The rich young ruler refused to do it and he went away sad.  Jesus wasn’t not against him being rich.  It’s his attachment to his riches that is the problem.
His relationship with Christ is being hindered by his attachment to his riches.  That’s where the problem is.  If he followed Christ – say he wholeheartedly obey and sold his possessions to the poor – maybe he’s not done anything yet and God is already providing a solution. The important thing is – he passed the test.  But unfortunately, he did not.   Remember what happened to Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah?  When Abraham was about to thrust the knife towards Isaac, God provided a RAM caught in the bushes as sacrifice.

Another interesting verse that we read was in verse 12.  It says there -- Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.
So James is basically saying –
Do not swear.  Let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no.
Oh how we love to swear sometimes.  This is not the kind of swear that we know of ha?  The bad word swear kind of thing.  No, this is more like taking an oath.
“I swear to God, hope to die!”  I am telling the truth!
C’mon! Do we really have to say that?  Does swearing make our statement more truthful?  Or more believable?  Sometimes we hear people, I swear!  Mamatay man ang asawa ko!  Aba pati asawa idinamay?
You know what Jesus said about swearing in Matthew 5:37 --
All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
When you say YES, that’s it.  People should believe you.  Even if you swear, if you have no credibility because you are always breaking your promise, no one will believe you.  We usually hear this from celebrities:  I swear!  Kumapal ang buhok ko!  There’s even a song -- And I swear by the moon and the stars in the sky --
I'll be there!  What does the moon and the stars have anything to do with you being there?  It makes no sense right?

The third part of Chapter 5 is about –

James said - Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
In verse 14, why call the “elders?”

The answer is in verse 16 “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

The elders of the church are assumed to be righteous!
God wants us to praise Him through songs of praise when we’re happy and He wants us to pray when we are sick – I believe the sickness in this passage is first and foremost physical but then it could also be spiritual.   This is in view of the phrase “and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  The Jewish people believe that if a person has committed sins, physical sickness is also being manifested.  Those who are sick as asked to call the elders.  During those times, anointing of oil could be a practical and medicinal way to heal a lot of diseases.  In addition, anointing of oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit who has the capacity to heal any disease.  

  Life Lesson #3:

It is easy to forget God when we’re happy.  It is easy to forget to thank the Lord when everything goes well. But if we have problems, like health problems, if we are a sick with  a serious disease – oh I am pretty sure, we will pray.  James said, praise God when you’re happy.  Pray when you are sick!

CONCLUSION:
The book of James can be summarized in 2:17.
- In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
This is what we have developed as our theme for our sixth anniversary.

I used hashtag because in social media, hashtag is placed beside a keyword so that keyword can be easily searched or identified.
I placed hashtag alongside faith@work because the people around us can identify if our faith is genuine or not -- mainly through our work.
The best evidence of our genuine faith is the work that we do for the Lord.
The Bible says you can tell a tree by its fruit.  I believe Richmond church, on our sixth anniversary must earn a reputation and we must be known for people with genuine faith in Christ as evidenced by what we do and not by what we say.

Do we practice what we preach?
Jesus said the world will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.  Do we show our love for one another?

Do we walk the talk?
Paul said in 1st Corinthians 13 --
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.   If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is an action word.  We prove that our faith is genuine if we show love for others.

Is our faith at work?

Let another person tell you that it does.

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.    Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Richmond during its service on  

Sunday, November 8, 2015

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologize if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any.  as it is purely unintentional.

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:

 www.wordchristiancommunity.com

What Is Your Life?

Two weeks ago, I heard about this newest school shooting rampage in the United States… in Oregon, the place that Canadians like to visit because there’s no sales tax.  A twenty-six year old community college student shot and killed nine people and injuring seven others.  Most of those who were killed are students.  Imagine the families of those who died… maybe in the morning, it was just an ordinary day for most of them.  They probably just said bye just like the usual way…or maybe some of them didn’t even say “bye” …  Imagine if you are a family of one of those students… then you receive news late in the morning that your son or daughter is no longer coming home because they were killed.  Just like that.  One of the students was even asked by the shooter if he was religious. The student said he was Christian and he was shot point blank, just like that.

Getting old or even dying is a reality that we all have to face.  As Christians we know that Jesus has conquered death and death no longer has its sting but still, a lot of people fear death, even if it’s a certainty.  Either you die young or you get older and still die.  So the challenge is not whether we can live forever or not … or to die or not to die.  The challenge is how we live our lives while we are here on earth.  Our life is a gift from God. The Bible says He breathed His spirit into our nostrils, otherwise, we are just dust from the ground.   So God gave us life, or maybe the more correct way of saying it is that “God lent us life” and while we have this life that God has allowed us to use… how are we living our life?  James posed a very important question here in Chapter 4:  What is Your Life?  And I think there is no way we can live our lives to the fullest if we don’t really know the answer to that question right?

This will be our question to ponder and its very logical.  How can we know how to be good in something if we don’t understand fully what that something is all about?  It is also amazing to find out the implications of not knowing what life is all about because it is manifested in the things that we do.
Let us understand what James had to say about our lives. Please read James Chapter 4.

In Chapter 4, James presented to us different life issues – one after the other.  He is like a machine gun here.  Listing down the things that we do, the sins that we commit, situations that we get caught up into -- one after another --- and based on his own analysis these things are caused by a wrong understanding of life, a false concept of reality. If we don’t know what our life truly is, here are the things or sins that we are likely to commit.  I just summarized it to seven of these sins or issues that we get to commit or get caught up because of our wrong view of life.

First, James asked a hypothetical question:  What causes fights and quarrels among you? It’s hypothetical because he answered it himself.  He said “Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? So the cause of most fights and quarrels that we experience… comes from within.  It comes from inside of us.  In verse 2, he said you DESIRE but do not have so you kill.  You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. So the first sin is:
COVETOUSNESS
Covetousness is greediness.  It’s when we desire things that we don’t have or we don’t have capability of getting.  Then James said, well, you don’t have it because you don’t ask God.  Maybe when you ask Him – He would either give it to you or He would enlighten your minds that you don’t need it after all.  In verse 3, he said “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
ASKING WITH WRONG MOTIVES
Asking with wrong motives is another sin that we commit.  These two are connected with each other.  When we pray we have to check our hearts.  Why do we ask these things in the first place?  Do we really need these things?  Or we want to have these things because we just want to impress other people.  We pray God for provision but we can’t wait for His answer so we just swipe it.  We use our credit card.  I heard one preacher saying “Credit Card” is used to  buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t know using money we don’t own (repeat).
Then James is getting more intense, he used a really heavy word here, he said “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?
FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD
What’s wrong with being a friend?  He calls us “adulterous” because we are having an affair with the world and we are not faithful to God.
The Bible says in Romans 12 “ Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  The use of the word “friendship” is  a sarcastic tone.  By being too worldly makes us less and less Godly because simply stating, we cannot serve two masters.  James said, that friendship with the world is simply an enmity with God.
The 4th sin is very famous and we can probably have a separate sermon about this by itself.  In verse 6, he quoted the book of Proverbs by saying “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
PRIDE
Pride is another sin that we commit when we have the wrong concept of our life.  He’s basically saying, a lot of times, we are proud.  We all want to be on the side of God, right?  Because we know He is all-powerful, almighty, all-knowing.  But there is one way to be cheering for the opposite team, there is one way to oppose God and that is PRIDE.
In verse 11, He said “do not slander one another.:
SLANDER
To slander means “to insult” or defamation or libel.  It comes from the Greek word “katalaleó” which means “to speak evil of.”  Sometimes it’s easy for us to judge another person.  Without knowing the whole story, we can easily form an opinion or judgement based only on what we hear from other people.  James said “there is only one Lawgiver and Judge” and that’s our God.
BOASTING
Boasting about tomorrow is another sin.  I like his illustration here.  He said: “you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow”    Of course his point here is not whether or not we should plan for our future.  His point here is sometimes we plan for our future to the point that we are boasting already.  Having insurance coverage is not bad.  However, getting all these kinds of insurance that obviously have all these expensive premiums that lead us to work 2 or 3 jobs, that takes away our time with God and with our family… because we want to leave millions and millions of dollar… e no wonder you will die early.  Jesus said, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow shall worry about itself.  He also said, when we pray and ask God, we say Give Us Today our Daily Bread.  For some of us, we stock our Bread for 10 years. We accumulate wealth now, for the things that we need for 20 years.  If you die tomorrow, what will happen? What happened to those times wasted accumulating all those riches?
The last point he made is also very important.  He said “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
SIN OF OMMISSION (v. 17)
It’s not enough that we are not doing bad things.  It is also a SIN if we don’t do good things.  Last night in the prayer meeting we talked about this.  God supplies us with provisions more than we need, He supplies us in abundance, NOT JUST FOR OURSELVES but He does that so we can be a channel of blessing to others.

Mist is what in Filipino?  “Hamog” Lately it’s been too foggy right?  But it only appears for a while and then disappear.  Our life here on earth is like that.  Until we are able to grasp that reality, then we are obviously going to commit the sins that we mentioned earlier. Our life here on earth is very short especially when we compare it to eternity.  But you know what, our life here on earth maybe very short… like a mist… but the implication of the things that we do in this short life here earth has tremendous impact on how and where we are going to spend for in eternity.

Knowing what our life really is, what should we do?  James said…
1. Check  your motives whenever you ask God for anything in prayer (v.2) 
If we know that our life here on earth is very short, and we know that the things that we do here will impact our life thereafter, then probably when we pray, we can ask God for the right things.  Ask yourself  first when you pray. Do you really need these things?  Will it make you closer to God?  Will it allow you to help others?  Will it bring you closer to the ones you love?
2.  Recognize God’s grace and walk in humility (v.6)
We also need to recognize God’s grace and walk in humility.  I don’t know why but this is very hard to do.  Being humble, right?  We are all guilty of this because there is a very thin line that divides true humility from false humility.
If we are talking about our needs, God is supplying us more than that.  A lot of times, we fail to recognize His grace and we are not humble enough to admit that we have what we need and we have to stop acting like the whole world turned us down because that is false humility.
The third point, James said in verse 7
3.  Submit yourselves to God and resist the devil
If we realize the fact that our life is like a MIST that can anytime vanish, don’t we want to submit to God who is our Maker and has full control of everything? We obviously cannot hang on to anything here on earth, not even to our families because they, too, can disappear on an instant.  But we can hang on to God.  If we submit ourselves to Him alone, even if we die tomorrow we know that our life has not gone to waste.
Resist the devil – this is something we need to do as well. Just to segue a little bit… remember one time I posted a question in email for discussion?  “should Christians rebuke the devil?”   The Bible says “Greater is he that is in us, than he who is in the world.” However,  the Bible does not clearly tell us to rebuke the devil. “To rebuke” means to correct, to chasten, to punish, to convict”   First of all, the devil, if we talk about Satan, is not omnipresent.  If we rebuke Satan today, he may not even hear us.  So we may be talking of the evil spirits.  What the Bible teaches is that we ask the Lord to rebuke the devil for us.  If you read Zechariah 3:2 and Jude 1:9 it is the Lord Himself who is rebuking the devil.  What the Bible commands us to do, which is here in verse 7 is to RESIST the DEVIL and he will flee from you.  How do we resist the devil?  Well, God has given us the full armor of God for our spiritual battles.   The most effective weapons we have against the devil are our faith, wisdom, and knowledge about God and His Word.  It’s the way we live our lives in accordance to God’s commands and the fruit of the Holy Spirit – these are the most effective weapons against the devil.

Let me conclude in saying that:

Generally speaking, when a person is on his deathbed and is about to die, you won’t hear him talking about his wealth or his resources, he calls his family and he talks about relationships and God, right?

We are just visiting here.  We don’t belong here.  This is not our permanent home.  This is the reason why James said “do not become friends with this world” because we are not supposed to be comfortable here.  If we become too attached here, the Lord may just leave us here.  But this is nothing compared to what’s waiting for us in heaven. The Bible says “no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him—“   isn’t that wonderful?

Paul has a very good explanation about this to the faithful church in Philippi:

We don’t belong here.  We belong in heaven.  Our citizenship is there.  We are not even permanent residents here.  We’re just tourist.  We can’t even acquire properties here.  Our houses – these are just “lent” to us by God … we may have a humble two bedroom apartment here but Jesus said “in my Father’s house, there are mansions and I will go there ahead of you and prepare a place for you.”  That’s why Paul said… we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus.  Our ultimate hope in life is the coming of Jesus Christ when He will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
That is what our life is. It is certainly not limited to the things that we experience here on Earth.  It is much much much more than that.

Prayer

Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:  

Father God, I confess all my sins to you today.  Please forgive me.  Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ.  I accept Him in my life as my Savior and as my Lord.  May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be.  In Jesus Name, I pray.    Amen.

The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Richmond during its service on  

Sunday, October 18, 2015.

I apologize if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologize if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any.  as it is purely unintentional.

If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at:

 www.wordchristiancommunity.com