Judging Others

When you're in the airport waiting for boarding, you’ll get to observe different kinds of people.  There are families, groups of friends, there are sports team, high school students, church missionaries,  single individuals, business executives, etc.  They do different things – some sleep, some read books, they use the computers, some eat, text, call, argue, some are happy, some are impatient, some are angry, some couples are kissing and hugging.

I read a story about a lady in an airport who bought a bag of cookies.  She sat in the terminal and started reading her book. A very plain looking man sat one seat away from her and to her surprise he was slowly opening her bag of cookies on the seat between them!  She could hardly believe it when the man started eating her cookies. She was so mad but she tried to compose herself.  She reached into the bag and took one cookie herself. The man didn’t say anything. He just smiled and took another cookie. The lady was furious and thought she was not going to let this man eat all of her cookies, so she took another one. Then the man took another, and then she took another … racing against the man in eating the cookies.   Finally, one cookie was left, the man quickly reached into the bottom of the bag, broke the cookie in half, ate it and left.  The lady could not believe this man’s arrogance. Soon the boarding announcement came and the lady boarded the plane, still very mad at the audacity of that man. She sat down, buckled her seat belt. She opened her purse to get a tissue, and to her surprise and shame,  her bag of cookies was there, unopened.  She was eating the man’s cookies all this time!

Our sermon is entitled JUDGING OTHERS and it’s taken from Matthew 7:1-6.  

Why do you think these TV shows are getting more and more popular?
Show Picture of American Idol

One reason is because of the judges.  The more frank and mean and brutally honest the judges are to the contestants, people like it more.
Theologians are saying that there is a Bible verse that is getting more popular nowadays than John 3:16.  That is the verse we just read, Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
Many people criticize Christians for being “judgmental and intolerant” when they take their stand against certain issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, premarital sex, homosexuality, etc. These critics refer to the passage in Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” They say Christians cannot judge because the Bible simply commands us NOT to judge.

We live in a world that increasingly promotes the idea of tolerance, but in reality this world is actually becoming more and more intolerant of Christian principles.  When we take a stand, they call us judgmental.
Their definition of  “tolerance” is that truth is determined by each individual, not by God and that there are no absolute truths or absolute morality, whatever one person or society believes to be true or moral becomes the standard. We call it moral relativism which is a philosophy that asserts there is no global or absolute moral law that applies to all people, for all time, and in all places.  
Here in Canada, murder is illegal and we Christians are told to love our neighbours. But in other culture, in the remote villages of the Amazon Jungle, it's acceptable to eat your neighbour for dinner. So is morality relative? Of course not! Morality is absolute because there is a Moral Law Giver who gives us the discerning spirit to know what is morally right or wrong.  If it´s morally wrong to murder someone in Canada, it must be wrong to murder someone in any other place here on earth.
Sometimes people develop their own ideologies, theologies or principles, and pick up a Scripture out of context to support their theology.  It’s like putting the cart ahead of the horse.   The right way of doing it is to read the Scripture and develop your theology based on what is written.
If you read Matthew 7:1 only, then yes, you’ll be led to believe that Christians are prohibited from judging in an absolute sense.  But one principle of good hermeneutics or interpreting the Bible is when you allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. What does that mean?  
It means if one verse in the Bible communicates an important principle, it must be supported by other verses because if we believe that the Bible is God’s word and it is infallible, logic tells us that the Bible will not contradict itself because God will not contradict Himself.  
Let me give you an example:
Matthew 7:1 says: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.   

Now if you read John 7:24, Jesus was teaching in a feast, He said:
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment,
So are we NOT to judge?  Or is it all right to JUDGE?

I don’t think so.  Not at all!
John 7:24 tells us that we can judge but there is a condition, it has to be a righteous kind of judgement.  Amen?  Another word for righteous judgement is DISCERNMENT! On the other hand, the command in Matthew 7:1 which tells us “do not judge” is a kind of judging that is not the same as the one in John 7:24.  We can call the one in Matthew 7 as “unrighteous” judgement.  Are you with me on this?  This is what we call “interpreting the Scripture by another Scripture.”  God cannot have contradicting principles in the Bible because as I have said earlier, God will not contradict Himself.  

The word “judge” came from the Greek word “krino” 
It means:
-  to pronounce an opinion concerning  right or wrong
-  to pronounce judgement or censure
-  to rule or govern
So same Greek word was used in Matthew 7:1 and John 17:24, same technical meaning but it boils down to the intentions of the heart.  Matthew 7:1 is hypocritical while John 17:24 is righteous judgement.

POINTS TO PONDER UPON:
I said earlier that we are all guilty of the sin of judging.  In our minds, many times, we judge people.  We may not verbalize it but God sees our hearts.  Just like any other sin, we judge others because we are in the flesh, we can’t help it sometimes.  Christians have the tendency to judge others because of this prideful spirit that we feel superior than the others but obviously this is not what Jesus wants us to do. He said do not judge according to appearance.

I read a story of a young couple who moved to a small city called Maple Ridge.  Living next door to this new couple was Jun and Mary.  One morning while Jun and Mary were eating breakfast, Mary looked through her glass window and saw her new young neighbor hanging out her laundry.  “That laundry is not clean,” she told Jun. Our young neighbor does not know how to keep her clothes clean.  Jun was just quiet looking at his Facebook account. Every time her new neighbor hangs her laundry to dry, Mary would make the same comment.  Jun continued to say nothing, he was busy changing his profile picture.  A few weeks later, Mary looked through her window and was surprised to see a nice, fresh and clean row of laundry hung out to dry by her neighbor.  In surprise, she told Jun “Look she finally learned how to clean her laundry.”  I wondered what she learned, Mary asked.  Jun said, Honey I might have an answer for you.  I got up early this morning and washed our glass windows.  I guest we finally learned how to wash our windows.  There was nothing wrong with our neighbor´s laundry.

What kind of windows do you look through?  This is where we sometimes fail. This is the reason why we are disqualified to judge.  We judge people based on what we can see or based on what we feel. Usually we don’t know the other side of the story and we cannot see the heart of the person. This is because we are not God, we are sinful human beings saved by the grace of the Lord. The reason why we should not quickly judge somebody else is because… 

In most cases, the person who is critical or judgmental of others has a much bigger issue to deal with in his/her own life. (v.3)
Jesus said "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
Jesus used an important metaphor here.  I call this the “speck and log metaphor.”  A person is being judged by another because he has an issue, and Jesus compared the person´s issue to a SPECK on his eyes.  The King James version used the word “mote” which is a dry stalk or twig, or a chaff.  Parang puwing.  Mote -- probably this is where the word “muta” came from. 
On the other hand, Jesus says that oftentimes, the person who is judging has a LOG on his eyes. The King James version used the word “beam” which is a long, sturdy piece of timber used to support the roof of a building.   Did you notice how big of a difference between a speck and log?  Using these metaphors, Jesus made a very clear point.  In most cases, the person who is critical or judgmental of others has a much bigger issue to deal with in his own life. (v.3)  
This is the reason why sometimes we judge others because we tried to camouflage our own issues by being critical of other people. Look at the person beside you, look at him in the eyes… and see if he has a “mote.” Baka may muta.  
So it’s common sense, how can we make righteous judgement if we have bigger issues to deal with?  It’s like the BLIND leading the BLIND!
This leads us to our second point:

Lesson 2.  We must continually reflect on our own lives and deal with our own issues in full submission and humility before the Lord. (v.5)
Christ is reminding each one of us against making judgments in a hypocritical or condemning manner. This type of self-righteous judgement is a characteristic often associated with the Pharisees and the religious people during the ministry of Jesus. 
Those people who love to quote “judge not” from Matthew 7:1 fail to notice the command in Matthew 7:5, when it says, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” 
The point Jesus emphasizes here is to judge yourself first before you make judgments about others. As Christians, we must continually reflect on our own lives and deal with our own issues in full submission and humility before the Lord.   It’s a process called sanctification wherein we are  transformed day by day into the image of Christ. 
Jesus is saying that if we ourselves are not personally repenting of our sins, we are not in a position tell others how sinful they are. Here you can also see that Christians miss a lot of opportunities to share the Gospel simply because they don’t lead a blameless life.
How can someone have credibility in telling someone else that he is a sinner and he needs Christ in their lives if they can see that the person sharing the Gospel with them is not living a holy life and is not  practicing what he preaches? No credibility, right? Remember that the first Bible that an unbeliever will read is your life.  
Lesson no. 3, this is very important --

Lesson 3. We exercise righteous judgement by discerning those who will ridicule, mock or abuse us especially when we are sharing the Gospel 
In verse 1, Jesus commanded us not too judge with the wrong motives because He knows that those people who are self-righteous and those who likes to judge others are not really doing it to help the other person, they are doing it so they will feel good about themselves… but Jesus said, well, look at yourself first in the mirror.  You may even have a bigger issue, you may even be in bondage to a more serious sin.  
If you read verse 6, Jesus said “ Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”   
I call this the dogs and swine metaphor. This is an allegorical statement wherein Jesus called certain groups of people as “dogs” and “swines”  Here Jesus is telling His disciples -- do not give what is holy to dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine... He is actually telling His disciples and to us to make a certain kind of judgment.   
He wants us to identify who are the dogs and the swines and do not share anything holy with them.  Isn’t that judging?  It is!  Otherwise, how can you make a decision whether one person is a dog or a swine? How can you segregate them from the rest if you won’t exercise judgement?

Verse 1-5 tells us NOT to exercise unrighteous judgement but verse 6 tells us to basically judge righteously who are the dogs and the swine. He is now telling us that we must exercise discernment and righteously judge that the message of the Gospel is not going to be wasted or trampled upon.    
In biblical times, dogs were not those cute and cuddly Chihuahuas and Chowchows that we have today.    DOGS in those days refer to those dirty, greedy, snarling, vicious, diseased animals wandering on the streets and scavenging for food.  No responsible Jew would throw meat that was used in the temple for sacrifice to these dogs since it’s not even allowed to be eaten by man.  SWINE, like these wild dogs were greedy, vicious and filthy.  Swine is the epitome of uncleanliness as far as the Jews were concerned.  Dogs and swine represent those people who are greatly perverse and ungodly and they refuse to have anything to do with the holiness of God.  What they do is trample upon the Gospel of Jesus on their feet , just like pigs, they don´t like pearls, they don´t see its value and they tear God’s people into pieces.  

It doesn´t mean we refrain from preaching the Gospel.  Jesus is saying, beware! You don’t just share the holy things of God with anybody – sometimes we are just too overeager to share the Gospel that we don’t exercise our gift of discernment anymore. Jesus is basically saying, hey guys --- it’s quality not quantity. Our job is not to shove the gospel down people’s throats. There’s no sense in preaching the value of pearls to pigs. The message of the Gospel is a pearl. Your time, energy, and abilities are God's pearls. As good stewards, we must take care of God´s pearls.  It is possible to waste them either by using them when we should not… or not using them when we should.

FINAL THOUGHTS
In the final analysis, each one of us must recognize that ...

God is the supreme judge of everyone and He alone has the authority to determine our right or wrong motives.
Sometimes, these things happen even in the church.  How many times have we looked at another person and judge them. We sometimes criticize how another Christian prays or why they don’t pray as often as we do, how another Christian performs in the ministry, we sometimes criticize how spiritually immature they are, we criticize how they raise their children or how they relate to their spouses.  We play different roles in the ministry but one person is not inferior to another, anyway, we are all servants of God.  The Apostle Paul tells us –

Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Romans 14:4 NIV
Don’t get me wrong, we are not talking here of a  righteous kind of judgement but we’re talking here of a self-centered condemning attitude.  
Jesus wants us to rebuke our fellow brothers but in humility, in love and in edifying words.  We confront the sin of others with meekness and not pride because one day we ourselves will face 

Christ who is the supreme judge. 
We will all face judgement at the judgement seat of Christ.
Romans 14:10–12 says, “For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. . . . So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God”  

The Bible tells us that there are several kinds of judgement:
    
First, when a person dies, judgement happens because those who are in Christ go to a place called paradise, otherwise, you go to a place of torment awaiting for the final destination.  The book of Hebrews tells us that “as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

Second, after the Rapture of the church, and if you believe in pre-tribulation like I do, there will be judgement of believers in heaven, this is called BEMA where Christ will judge believers based on their lives here on Earth.  At the judgment seat of Christ, believers are rewarded based on how faithfully they have served Him.  This is not for salvation, this is for rewards. While there is an ongoing tribulation on earth, the judgement of believers is happening in Heaven. 

Third, there is the judgement of all nations which will happen after the seven year tribulation where God will separate the sheep and the goats in order to determine who shall enter the millennial kingdom or the 1,000 year reign of Christ.  

Fourth, finally the Great White Throne judgement  which will happen after the Millennium when Christ will judge the unbelievers of all ages and they shall be consigned to the lake of fire for eternity.  

No matter how many kinds of judgements there are, the important thing is for us to know that JESUS is the supreme judge and one day, we shall meet Him face to face and definitely He will ask us, “how did we treat the least of our brothers.” 

Are you ready to be judged?

Let us pray.

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 Saviour 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 Maple Ridge during its Sunday service on  September 24, 2017

I apologise if there are grammatical and spelling errors. 

I also apologise 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

Through the Roof

Usually, the phrase “through the roof” is used when something has gone up in a significant way – like price of fuel has gone up through the roof, or the stock market has gone up, through the roof, or your blood pressure or cholesterol level has gone up “through the roof.”
“Through the Roof” conventionally means an upward direction.  In our story today, it´s the other way around, it´s a downward direction.  This is therefore a very unconventional story.

Our story today talks about a huge crowd of people who were surrounding our Lord Jesus Christ during His ministry in one of the towns in Galilee. It is also a story of friendship and how this friendship led to a miracle from the Lord Jesus Christ.  You see God uses ordinary people to demonstrate His extraordinary power.  He chooses seemingly hopeless situations like that of this paralyzed man to give  ultimate hope to those who believe in Him.  You life situation at present may seem unbearable and you feel helpless.  Remember you may feel helpless but you are not hopeless in the Lord.

How many friends do you have? If you hold a party next week, do you think lots of people will come? Or it depends --   if it´s a buffet dinner at River Rock, maybe there´ll be a lot of people coming.  When you post something important in Facebook, how many “likes” do you get? When you need help moving to a new house, how many of your  friends will be there to help you carry your fridge or your king size bed? When you get sick, how many of your friends do you think will visit you in the hospital?  When you´re in financial need, how many of your friends do you think will be willing to lend you some money? Let´s get a bit morbid here – during your funeral, how many people do you think will be willing to deliver a eulogy for you?  

How many of our “so called” friends today will be willing to take an extra mile for us?   
My high school teacher would always tell us this saying “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell who you are.”  Friendships are established and strengthened through what we call a symbiotic relationship.  If you expect your friends to go “through the roof” with you, you must be willing to do the same.  If you expect your friends to be there for you during times of trouble, have you been there for them when they were experiencing troubles themselves?  

Our story today, like what I mentioned earlier, is also about friendship of probably five men.  It has a touch of humor.  It´s funny but it has a very profound message to those people who lived during Biblical times and also to people during our time today.  

Let us first look at the characters in our story:

1. Jesus Christ 
2. The Paralyzed Man
3. Four Friends
4. Pharisees & Teachers of the Law
5. The Crowd
The spotlight is focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason why all those people came was to see Him and to witness the miracles and healings that He was performing.  
The second main character is the paralyzed man.  In the King James Version, he was told to have palsy.  It´s a sickness that leads to paralysis and uncontrolled movement or shaking.  One of the most common forms of palsy is cerebral palsy which is a brain problem. 
The paralyzed man may have been suffering and we can say he is in a very unfortunate situation but he is still blessed.  You know why?  If other people have BFF, this paralyzed man has FFF. 
The Four Faithful Friends.  They are the supporting characters in this story.  We can also call them the Fantastic Four. 
They were just on the side lights --  their names were never mentioned,  their occupations were never told, they were never appreciated openly for what they have done for their friend. When we get to heaven, there will be a lot of people who were never honored or appreciated here on earth but will be receiving great rewards up there.  The Bible says “those who have humbled themselves will be exalted”
The fourth group of characters were the teachers of the law, most likely they were Pharisees.  The first question that you might ask is that “what in the world are they doing there -- if they have no faith and they don’t have any iota of trust in Jesus.”  Well, they were there to scrutinize Him, to watch Him make a mistake so they can pin Him down.  They were there to challenge Him hoping that He may openly violate the prevailing laws so they can bring Him to trial.  They were there to mock Him and show to everyone that He is not who He claims to be.
The last group was the crowd.  The Bible uses the term “multitude” simply because they were many.  It was obvious that during this time Jesus was gaining popularity among different groups of people.  The news about His healings and miracles were spreading across towns so wherever He went, a multitude of people were following Him.  In this story, the Bible says that the people “gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.”  In fact, if you read verse 34 of the preceding chapter, Mark described it as “the whole city was gathered around the door.” 
This is the reason why it was almost impossible for the Fantastic Four to even get close to Jesus and bring their paralyzed friend.  Imagine a sold-out concert of a famous singer like Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber .  You probably won´t stand a chance of getting close to the singer.

This miracle is found in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)
The fact that three out of four Gospel writers captured this story, it must have been very significant.  For me, this story teaches one of the most important doctrine of Christianity, the deity (dēədē) of Jesus. 
This story proves that even while here on Earth, Jesus is all-powerful and all-knowing
His power to forgive sins and to heal the man´s sickness prove His  omnipotence and His ability to read the thoughts and hearts of the teachers of the law proves His omniscience.   These are attributes of God alone so this story is proof that Jesus did not leave or give up His divinity in heaven just like what other false teachers are claiming. Jesus is 100% God and 100% man even here on Earth.
Mark stated that the miracle took place in Capernaum

LIFE LESSONS:

Let us proceed to some of the lessons we can learn from this story.

They can either bring us closer to Him or drive us away from Him.
If we surround ourselves with godly people, guess what, there´s a very big chance that we´ll be godly as well.  
If we surround ourselves with crooks or people who have shady characters, then it will just be a matter of time before we become like one.  “Bad company corrupts character.”  “Birds of the same feathers, flock together.”  “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell who you are.”  The Bible says “do not be equally yoked with an unbeliever.”

Who do you hang out with?
If you hang out with smokers, you´ll probably end up smoking.  If you hang out with drunkards, you´ll end up being a drunkard yourself.  Students and young people - if you spend time and hang out with those who cheat in school, guess what?  One day you´ll be cheating yourself as well.  
On the positive side, if you hang out with respectful and honest people, or people with integrity, matured Christians, helpful, friendly people --- chances are, you´ll become like one.  That´s why I hang out with the good looking men of Maple Ridge so I can become like one.

What caught my attention in this story are the four friends of the paralyzed man.  They climbed up the house, made some holes in the roof and laid the man down straight right in front of Jesus. These four friends in our story did something unconventional for the sake of friendship.  From the top of the roof, they laid down a blanket with their friend just to bring him close to Jesus.  

It´s important to understand the culture and the structure of first century houses in Israel.  Houses at that time were not made of galvanized iron or cement.  They were made of wood and bricks and straw mats and hard clay.   Usually, there are staircases going to the roof.  The roofs of houses then were not really sloping that much, because it hardly rains anyway.  So it´s not really so difficult to climb up the roof and make a hole.  However, they were carrying a sick person which made the situation more complicated. 

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” A true friend is tested during times of adversity.  I would assume that this paralyzed man have done a lot of good things for his friends and now that there is something these four friends can do for him, i.e. to bring him to Jesus. 

Do you have these kinds of friends?
Do you have friends who bring you closer to Jesus?  Do you have friends who are willing to go “through the roof” just to bring you to Christ?  The sad thing is sometimes we stick to a friend because they flatter us, they make us feel good, and they always agree with us.  They tell us what we want to hear. They tell us what we want, what we really, really want!

A true friend is one who can come to you, look you in the eye and point out your faults… right on your face.  A true friend understands that sometimes  “gentle rebuke” is necessary to correct a friend. A true friend is someone who can take the risk losing your friendship for as long as he can tell your mistakes and hopefully help you change as a person and help you get closer to Jesus.  

However, God already gave us these kinds of friends, especially here in the church. We find them annoying, we find them offensive, we find them judgmental, holier than thou.  They keep on calling us to pray, to study the Bible, to come to church, they rebuke us to quit a bad habit. We drive them away. When a friend rebukes us, we feel offended and we avoid them. Our reaction is : Who does she think she is? Is she SINLESS! Of course not – everybody sins but at this point in time, the issue is YOU!  Maybe one day, you will get your opportunity to help your friend by rebuking him too   
O idea of a friend is a goody goody friend, … happy happy lang tayo… no rebuke, no serious talk, chill lang.  We should be friends with people who can bring us closer to Jesus.

Third point, 

These four friends wouldn’t even have to climb up the roof if the multitude of people, if the crowd -- which was probably 90% uzizeras or just lookie-lous, if they gave way, it would have been a lot easier for the four men.  But the multitude was there to block their way towards Jesus. 
Church, in our time today, the “multitude” is still there.  They are all around us.  People, Things, Events, anything that blocks our way to Jesus is represented by the “multitude”  in our story.   Anything that takes our minds and our hearts and our attention away from God is the “multitude.”  They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing.  They are the false teachers and preachers.  They are the so-called “fake friends.”  If there is a BFF, there is an FFF – it means Fake Friend Forever.  Don’t be an FFF, be a BFF! Ok? 
Have you experienced having a fake friend? Somebody who just take advantage of you? Just want to borrow money from you? Lagi ka lang inuutangan (Bro. Rommel, may utang ba ko sayo?)  You know, I had some fake friends too in the past.   But praise God I have more genuine friends than fake friends.    Jesus had a fake friend when He was here on Earth.   His name’s Judas!  He pretended to be somebody he is not.  He just took advantage of the kindness and generosity of Christ.  But sadly in the end, he got into trouble.

I know most of you have been in the same Bible Study Group for years.  You have tons of stories about your past escapades and road trips and campings together.  The Lord willing, new families will come to WCCC Maple Ridge.  I hope and pray that you shall be willing to make new friendships and be willing open up your lives for them.  Let us make them feel welcome this church.  Let´s avoid cliques that turn people away and make newcomers feel uncomfortable.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
 Let me end with some more thoughts here about our Lord Jesus Christ.  First of all, the four friends may have been disappointed that after going through all those trouble of bringing their friend to Jesus, the first thing they heard from the Lord was “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  
Ah, excuse me… Jesus Christ… master…bossing?  We didn’t go through all that trouble for our friend here, just for the forgiveness of his sins… we came here for healing, you know, healing!  We need some miracles here.    But of course they didn’t say that.  Why? Because the Jews believe that sickness like what this man had, was because of SIN.  They believe that a person gets sick because of what he may have done in the past, of what his parents or grandparents may have done in the past.  So Jesus, who is more concerned about the man´s spiritual condition more than his physical condition – He forgave the man first and then healed Him later.

This miracle proved that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man.  He forgives sins.  He heals the broken-hearted and by His wounds, we are healed, amen?
Jesus is our True Friend.  The apostle John explained this very clearly in Chapter 15 of John´s Gospel:

Can you picture the situation? Jesus was probably teaching or healing someone.  Then all of a sudden, some debris are falling, some dirt and pieces of wood and a hole is suddenly showing up from the roof.  Then a man is slowly being laid down right in front of Him.  If I was there, I would probably laugh my heart out.  But annoying as it may, Jesus did not drive them away.  If you come to Jesus today, He will not drive you away.  He will forgive you and He will heal you.  He will break the norm.  He will do the unconventional for you.  

The question now is posed back to us.  
 How far are you willing to go with Him?
He has already proven His love for each one of us.  He has already sacrificed His love for us. The four faithful friends has gone through the roof, down to the ground.  Jesus did much much much more than that.  He came not just from the roof, He came from heaven, the abode of God, the holy of holies,  He came all the way down here on earth just to prove His love for you and His love for me.

How far are you will to go with Him?

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 Saviour 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 Maple Ridge during its first service on  Sunday, September 10, 2017

I apologise if there are grammatical and spelling errors. 

I also apologise 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

Positive Attitudes of a Healthy Church

Time flies by so fast.  The Bible says “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow (Psalm 144:4).

What is your definition of a church?  First of all, the church is not the place or the building – a week ago we had our family camp and we had a worship service there with Bro. Sarcee preaching the Word of God and the church was there. The church is a venue – technically, you don’t really go to church.  You are either part of the church or you´re not. The church is an association of very unique people.  It is the only association whose membership is based on a single qualification. Do you know what qualification is that?  To qualify for a church membership, the applicant must be unqualified for membership.  The applicant must be unworthy of being a member of the church and the reason for that is because we are all imperfect, unworthy sinners.  Therefore, every local church is basically a congregation of sinners who have been saved by God's grace alone, through faith in Christ.  And you and I are among them.  We are not qualified to be here but because of God´s grace, we are here and we are starting a new church here in this wonderful city of Maple Ridge.

Because of this reality, it should come as no surprise everyone that there are quite a number of problem people in the church.  These people are called by many names: difficult people, EGRs (or extra-grace required) people, high maintenance people, these are people “with attitudes” – negative attitudes!  They are present in every church, sometimes even present in your home groups.
When you were still the Maple Ridge Home Group, I want you to think, who is giving you the most problem (aside from your pastor)?  As far as you´re concerned, who is the EGR in Maple Ridge.   If you cannot identify at least one problematic person in this group, it´s probably you.
You are probably the one giving problem to others!

In the world we live in today, there are a lot of negative things going on.   People fighting each other. Couples breaking up, getting a divorce.  Terrorist attacks – just weeks ago in Barcelona. Floods and typhoons. Even church splits.    Therefore…

Any person with too much negativities in life should be able to seek refuge in the church.  And we cannot give what we don’t have.

The church is more than just a hospital because here, we admit people who are:
(a) physically sick so we can pray healing for them;
(b) emotionally sick because we give each other moral support, we share each other´s burdens, and
(c) most importantly people who are spiritually sick so we can be vessel in which God can use -- for them to come to Christ.  In fact, people who are spiritually dead can be born again in the church.  God does not only heal people in the church, He can bring the spiritually dead back to life.

I believe in my heart that God has big plans for Maple Ridge church.  But I also believe that before He starts bringing in new families to this church, He wants to us to be F.A.T.!  With FAT, I meant i.e. faithful, available and teachable. We have to have the right positive attitude in order to make WCCC Maple Ridge a healthy church.  Do you have your Bible?

You see, the Bible is God´s Word.  The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God stands forever.  Please stand and let us read our Scripture for this morning which can be found in 1st Thessalonians 5:12-15

STUDYING THE CONTEXT:
Before we proceed, let me give you some background of this book 1st Thessalonians:

What makes 1st Thessalonians a very important part of the Bible is because of its discussion of end time events. Everyone would like to have some insight as to what the future holds. an event that commences the seven-year tribulation.
1st Thessalonians has one of the most profound explanation of rapture which can be found in Chapter 4   This book assures us that during the rapture, Jesus will return for His people. The dead in Christ shall rise first, while those still living will follow soon after. All believers will meet Jesus in the air to begin spending eternity with the Lord in their glorified bodies.    

So Paul was telling the Thessalonians, ok guys, this is how it´s going to end!  The Lord promises that He will come back for each of His children.  And this is how it´s going to happen and he discussed this in Chapter 4.
But in the mean time since we are all here on Earth, for now, while waiting for the coming of the Lord, for the time being… let´s do these things, in Chapter 5.  Paul focuses on relationship and he was telling his readers to basically think and act positive. To focus on what is important, not to be distracted by negative things, negative people and negative circumstances.
If I will divide the passages that we read, I would group these passages into three:

LESSONS:

We have to be positive in the church.  The world, as it is, is already filled with pain and challenges and negative attitudes.  The first step that Paul wants to address is our attitude towards church leaders.  He was very specific when he said “those who work hard, those who care for you and those who admonish you.”
It was Paul who also said “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”
From Paul´s statement, we can say that there two kinds of leaders in the church –
- Those who work hard and those who don’t work hard
- Those who care and those who don’t care
- Those who admonish, reprimand or rebuke you & those who don’t
Unfortunately, not all church leaders deserve this treatment, why? Because not all of them are working hard, not all of them is caring enough and not all of them are able to rebuke others.
But I assure you that the pastors and leaders of WCCC work hard, they are caring and they will rebuke you when necessary.
But here´s the problem -- our response to a pastor who rebukes us is usually the opposite.  Instead of holding the person in high regard, we hold a grudge on them because we don’t want to hear their rebuke.  Remember the Bible tells us that it is better to be rebuked by a godly person than to be admired by fools.
On the other hand, if you are the church leader, respect is not something you can just force on others.  You have to earn it.  You have to work hard, you have to show that you care, you have to give the church members Godly advice and instructions.

Paul also said in verse 13 to  “live in peace with each other.”

In Tagalog, huwag daw ninyong aawayin ang inyong pastor or your church leaders. Don´t  quarrel with them. Don’t be a negative person. You see, I am not the one telling you this, it´s the Lord through Paul.  If you don’t agree, when you get to heaven, ask him ok?

The Bible commands us to love the church leaders and workers.  Most of us don’t see the hard work that goes on in church. We come here on Sunday, we think things just happen, just like that. But they don’t.
• People have come early to open the building, they arrange the chairs, they prepare the communion for our services, they buy cutleries in Costco
• Sunday school teachers have worked hard to prepare Bible lessons
• Music teams have been practicing since the previous week,
• Sunday Bulletin is being prepared 5 days before
• The preacher has been meditating on his message for weeks
• All these things that your leaders and workers are doing day after day is like a production in
Broadway to be shown week after week with an audience of one, i.e. our Lord Jesus Christ.

God wants us to keep on doing this because today, and every coming Sunday, there are people who will come here who are in need of what Jesus is offering – they need forgiveness of their sins, a fresh start in life, and the fellowship of a church family who is willing to love and care for them.  Are you with me? 

Sunday after Sunday there will be people visiting Maple Ridge church.  These people will form their first impressions about us - based on what they see, what they hear and what they experience.  The first Bible they will read are not the ones we give away.  The first Bible they will read is “US,” our lives, our attitudes.  When they enter our building they won´t be at ease. “What is it like on the inside? What are the people like, will they even notice me? Questions in their minds go on and on..

I hope and pray that from the moment they enter this place, they´ll say: “This is such a warm and friendly place. The people are nice.  I like the music, everyone is singing, the smiles on the people’s faces. It’s all so alive, its worshipful. My kids are treated well in Sunday school.   When people come here, I want them to hear God´s word – I want them to hear a sermon that touches their lives, a well-crafted, biblical sermon.”  But most of all, I want them to know Jesus in a personal way, here in Maple Ridge church.  Are you with me?

As far as our attitudes towards other church members, I want you to remember three Rs:
1. Rebuke - warn those who are idle and disruptive
2. Remind – remind people why you are in the church, remind them of the love of God, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
3. Reconcile – Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for everyone.

There are at least three different group of people in the church:
1. Those who are idle and disruptive
2. Those who are disheartened
3. Those who are weak

Paul said " warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”  Huwag po kayong magaaway away.  Do not quarrel especially on trivial things. Minsan, maliit na bagay, hindi na kayo nagpapansinan.  I hate to say this - you cannot minister to others if there will be animosities within.  God has something big for this church, let´s not get caught up with internal issues.  There are people outside of our circle who needs to be ministered.  If we want our church to grow, we must minister to these individuals.  Going to church is not just showing up on Sunday morning. The Lord wants you to use the gifts He gave you to minister and serve others. When you do, you'll be blessed to see how God uses you to help others change. And it will be your greatest joy to see helping others themselves.  We minister to these people so that one day, they can minister to others.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Paul wants us to develop positive attitudes in the church and even outside the church.  He wants us to recognize, receive and respect our church leaders.  He wants us to rebuke, remind and reconcile with our fellow church members.

Illustration: The Second Grader
I read a story of a second grader named Mike. On the way to school Mike’s arm bumped against a seat on the bus and it made a big cut and his blood got all over his clothes. In school, he forgot to put his homework paper in his book bag so he got an F.  During recess he was accidently hit by a classmate in the mouth and he lost two teeth. On his way home, he slipped on the ice, fell onto the ground and broke his wrist. On the way to the hospital he reached into his pocket with his good hand pulled something out. His father asked him what it was. He said, “It’s a dollar coin! I found it on the ground when I fell down on the ice. It’s the first dollar I ever found.  This is the best day of my life!”
Some people can see almost the positive side of every situation.  Paul wants us to develop that kind of positive spirit in all areas of our lives.

If you read verses 16 to 18, it says there – and I want you to memorize this --

It means that --

We should have a positive attitude in all of our circumstances in life… always!
But Paul says "in all circumstances," regardless of what’s happening in our lives, we’re to be joyful, we´re to pray, and we´re to give thanks. That’s an important lesson to learn.
So what is our problem?  “Not enough money? You don’t feel well today? Your kids don’t obey? You´re not happy with your job? Can´t send enough money to the Philippines?”   Maybe you need to rethink your attitude, maybe instead of focusing on the things you don’t have, we start focusing on the things that God has blessed us with.  You got hot water when you got up this morning.  You drove a nice car.  We have lots of food later, we even have lechon today. Later you´ll watch TV in your lazy boy.  Later you´ll sleep in your comfy bed. You have everything you really need, and an awful lot of stuff that you don’t need.  When Paul wrote this letter, he was probably in house arrest, with very limited resources.

So we ought to be thankful, we ought to be joyful, & we ought to pray and have that positive attitude toward others.

It´s hard to rejoice always, to pray continually, to give thanks in all circumstances.  I KNOW!  That´s why Paul said … this is God´s will for each one of us IN CHRIST JESUS!  On our own, we can´t do this.  It´s impossible to rejoice with all the problems around us.  But Paul said.. IN CHRIST JESUS!  Paul said “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.”  Not some things… not just the things that are easy.  Paul said ALL THINGS.  Jesus said “apart from ME, you can do nothing.”
Jesus is the only one who can change our negative attitude.  He can change us inside and out.
So do you have a problem with a negative attitude this morning? If you do, Jesus is the only One who can really change you. He can change you inside and out. He can give you new words to speak, He can give a new relationships that will work.  He can make you into a person who experiences the fullness of life. In fact, He can give you a new life!

If you’re already a Christian and you need a church where you can experience positive things, we invite you to come and join with us here in WCCC Maple Ridge. We know that Jesus can meet all your needs, so we offer Him to you.  We´ll try our best, by God´s grace, to let you personally experience the love of Jesus in this church.

If you’re here and have not surrendered your life to Jesus.  I invite you to  join me in prayer, confessing your faith in Him.  LET US PRAY.

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 Saviour 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 Maple Ridge during its first service on  Sunday, September 3, 2017

I apologise if there are grammatical and spelling errors. 

I also apologise 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

The Great "Omission"

I love to watch movies.  I also love to watch the Academy Awards.  The last Academy Awards had a terrible booboo when the presenters announced the wrong best picture. We know what happened during Miss Universe 2016 when Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner. Winners of major awards like the Oscars are very careful when they deliver their victory speech especially during the part wherein they thank those people who have helped them.  They certainly don’t want to OMIT anybody.  Sometimes they make a list of names so they won´t forget.
It´s the same thing when you get invited to a party, it´s frustrating when you arrive at the door, you can´t get in because your name was omitted from the list.  Or when you are supposed to be honoured during a ceremony but for whatever reason, somebody omitted your name.

In our lives as Christians, there is a sin of commission and there is a sin of omission.  If we do bad things to other people, we COMMIT a sin.  It´s a sin of commission.    Now, if we failed to do good things to others, it is also a sin.  It´s a sin of omission.  God does not want us to do bad things but He also expects us to do good things.  

I want you to pay attention to these words:  commission and omission.  The title of our message this morning is “THE GREAT OMISSION” and our Scripture is Matthew 28:16-20.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave His disciples the Great Commission.  A “commission” is a command from somebody in authority, it´s a directive.  It´s not the Great Suggestion.  Pretty much like traffic lights.  They say in the Philippines traffic light is only a suggestion. Jesus gave commands directly to His disciples and indirectly to us. Jesus gave the church a marching order.  

Let us read from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 28 verses 16 to 20:

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, His last words to His disciples were not “go to a mega church that provides good food” or “go and sing worship songs that make you feel good” or “go and have some fund raising so you can buy a comfortable church building.”  Jesus did not say those things.  Jesus did not say “go and convert people to Christianity” or “go and make people born again and forget about them.”
No.  Jesus was very specific.  He said “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  In the King James version, the command says “go and teach all nations” and the Greek word used for “teach” is matheteuo which is translated in English as “make disciples.”   So the NIV version basically tells us the English meaning of the original Greek word.  

The disciples took His command seriously and followed it.  They went into the world and shared the gospel and gave up their lives and thousands upon thousands were saved by the grace of God.  

These disciples delivered the message about Jesus which was so powerful and they have lived their lives as effective witnesses.  They were so effective that their enemies accused them…

If they did not follow the Great Commission, we would not even hear about Jesus Christ today.   The early church took the Great Commission seriously. That was then.  What about now?
What has happened to churches in our time today.

When something is omitted, it is “left out, undone, neglected.”  In most churches today, instead of making disciples in all nations, instead of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth, churches today can not even take the gospel outside its church building.  WCCC has some mission projects but it´s not enough.  Personally, I am also guilty of this.  
It is also very clear from the Scripture we read earlier that the call to make disciples and share the Gospel is NOT a gift but a command. This is one of the common myths that we would to debunk today.   There is another myth that we will debunk later. 

It is unbiblical therefore to think that we should not share the Gospel because we lack the gift of evangelism.  Many people think if they don’t have the gift, then it is not their job to share the gospel.  You may not agree with me but in the Bible, evangelism is not a “gift.” Sharing the gospel of Christ is a command for all believers. A lot of people is confused with the “role” of evangelist which is mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 with the “gift” of evangelism. There is no gift of evangelism, but a call for everyone to evangelize. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:11 that the church is gifted with evangelists, and their job is to equip God’s people to do evangelism. 

If we don´t evangelize, we commit the sin of omission and the repercussion is very damaging.  I read an old English proverb attributed to Benjamin Franklin.

If we don´t evangelize, we commit the sin of omission and the repercussion is serious.  I said earlier that “In many churches today, the “C” is missing in the Great Commission, making it the Great “Omission”.  How about you?

This is our question for the day.  This question is addressed to each one of us, individually and to our church as a whole.  This is a question addressed to a lot of churches today.  Are we more concerned on property and not on people?  Are we more concerned on meetings more than missions? Are we more concerned on our comfort more than community?  Are we more concerned on the color of man´s skin than the condition of his soul?   We all want to see people coming to church, for as long as they are the right kind of people.  This is a hard topic church.  I don’t intend to hurt anybody´s feelings.  I myself am guilty of this.  Has the Great Commission become the Great Omission.
What do you think the “C” in Commission stands for?

This is where we draw our lesson points for today.

LESSON POINTS:

Remember who gave the command in the first place.  Who gave the Great Commission.  It´s Jesus Christ.  The first C that we need to bring back to the Great Commission is Christ.  We can have all the mission and evangelism projects in the world.  We can make ourselves very busy, just like Martha – she was very busy in the kitchen.  Just like some of us, we are so busy with ministry activities but remember what Jesus said “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  She chose to worship Jesus.  
In Rick Warren´s book PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, he talked about five purposes that answers the question “What on earth am I here for?”  And these purposes were presented in chronological order.
The very first purpose is WORSHIP, then FELLOWSHIP, then DISCIPLESHIP, then MINISTRY and the last one is MISSION. Our priority is our relationship with Jesus.  It goes first before anything else.  Jesus goes above everything else.  It´s the first greatest commanded anyway.  We shall “love the Lord your God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.”  The fifth purpose in this book is MISSION.  This means that we don´t just jump right away to the mission field if our relationship with Jesus Christ is not right. The challenge of churches nowadays, we´re usually stuck in the fourth purpose, that is MINISTRY.Jesus said in verse 18:
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  (v18)
Remember church that whenever we engage in fulfilling the Great Commission, the devil works double time to frustrate.  If you think with our own abilities, we can fight the devil then you are being misled.  We have to work on the power and authority of Jesus in us through the Holy Spirit.  We must ensure that when we are engaging ourselves in this warfare against the devil, Jesus is taking the lead.

The second point which is the second “C” is commitment.

  
I put this second point to make emphasis.  I know that if we truly have Jesus in our hearts, there should be “commitment” to His words.  We must be committed to His commands.
Commitment.  Commitment.  Commitment.  I know is a very abused and overused word.  Jesus said in verse 19:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit  (v19)
The mandate of the Great Commission is to “go!”  This is a word of action.  We cannot go if we are just standing still or sitting still.  We cannot say we´re committed to follow Christ if we are just sitting comfortably in where we are.  Jesus said “go!”
When Jesus said “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” – This statement is not a defensive statement.  During Biblical times, the gates of the city is very critical.  When the city is attacked, it´s the gate that can spell the difference.  If the enemy can overcome the city gates, then they can lose the battle.   What Jesus meant that the church that He will build, the gates of Hell shall not prevail.. it means that the Church should take an offensive stance… attacking the city of the enemy and overcome the gates of Hell.  It means action.  It means commitment on the part of each believer.  First, we have to be committed to live a life worthy of Christ´s calling and second, we have to be committed to follow His commands.   If we are not committed, then the Great Commission becomes the Great Omission.   

Most of us evangelizes others through our lifestyle and there is nothing wrong with that.  We always hear that the first Bible that other people will read is our lives.  But we should not stop there.  We must have genuine concern in teaching others to obey God´s words.  
Jesus said…
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (v20)
This is the second myth that we would like to debunk today.  We think that we follow the Great Commission by just living our lives.  Sharing the Gospel involves not only our lifestyles but it also our lips.  We are commanded to “teach.”  This is where most Christians fail.  Why?  Because they do not have the confidence. Why? Because most Christians are not equipped.  So we go back to proper training.  We are told to share our faith.  We are to tell the lost world what Jesus did for us when He saved us and what He can do for them, if they will trust Jesus.
It is not enough for us to show it.  We must also SAY it.  Can you repeat this statement?  It´s not enough to SHOW it, we must also SAY it.  We must have genuine concern in teaching others to obey God´s word.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
The read the following story in the internet.  I apologize if I wasn´t able to take note or make proper reference to the original author.

It is about a small rescue station run by volunteers to assist the US Coast Guard.  They put their station near a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often happen.  They had a small and primitive building, they only had one boat and there was only a few of them.  But the members of this rescue station were committed.  They kept constant watch over the sea.  Whenever a ship went down, they would bravely go out day or night to save the lost.  Because of so many lives saved by this rescue station, they became famous.

Not long after, many people came and wanted to be associated with this rescue station.  They have given their time, their talent and their money to support its important work.  New and modern boats were bought.  New crews and volunteers were recruited.  Lots of training sessions were conducted.  As volunteers join the station, lots of ideas poured in.  Some of them became unhappy with their old building, so they wanted a better place and a new building was constructed.  They wanted a bigger place to welcome survivors of shipwrecks.  They also bought new beds, new furnitures and new equipments.  
Now the rescue stations became a popular gathering place of its members.  They met regularly.  They loved each other.  They enjoyed the company of every one.  They get to know each other more.  They hugged each other.  They shared their lives with each other.  As time goes on, the members are now getting less and less interested in what´s going on at the sea beside them.  Fewer members are now interested in going to the sea for life-saving missions.  What they did was to hire lifeboat crews to do the job for them.  

One day, a large ship was wrecked off the coast.  The hired crews brought into the station boatloads of dirty, wet, sick and half-drowned people.  People from different walks of life.  Some of them were from first class cabins, some were from the lower decks.  People with different colors.  Some are black. Some had yellow skin.  Some speak English.  Some could hardly speak at all.  The beautiful building became a place of chaos.  Their new carpets got dirty.  Their furniture were damaged.  The committee decided to build showers outside the building so that the victims can clean up themselves before getting inside the building.  

In their next general meeting, there was a heated debate.  Some members wanted to stop the stations life-saving activities as these activities have become a hindrance to their normal fellowship.  Few members insisted that their primary purpose was to save lives.  Unfortunately, they were voted down and they were told to leave.
So the small group of members of the old station started a new station.  Years passed, the new station experienced the same problem.  It evolved into a place of meeting, of fellowship and never-ending training sessions.  The cycle continues.  A few people started another station, with the goal of saving lives, then after a while, they grow big but only in numbers only.  If you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of stations with ample parking and nice facilities.  Shipwrecks still happen a lot of times in the area.  Unfortunately, a lot of people drown and they are not being saved.

This story is a parable. It´s the parable of the rescue station.  But we can also call it the parable of the modern church.  I am not saying we are like this church.  But if we don´t do anything, we can be like them.  If we omit C in our commission, if Christ is no longer the reason for our mission, if we are not committed to saving lives and if we are not genuinely concern for their eternal destiny, our great Commission becomes a Great Omission.

This happens not only in the church in general but also to each one of us.  We can become so comfortable of being a Christian that we forget the Great Commission. Why do you think God did not just take us up to heaven the moment we received Christ in our lives? 

There are people around us in shipwrecks.  They are drowning. They are losing hope.  Some of them are not even aware of their situation.  God has given us the command to help them.  Not only that, He promised that He will always be with us to the end of the age.  He also sent the Holy Spirit to empower us, to give us confidence, because He knows we cannot do it ourselves. Jesus said “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Let us pray.

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 Saviour 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, May 7, 2017

I apologise if there are grammatical and spelling errors. 

I also apologise 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