Author: newlifenarrabri

Reflection on 2 Corinthians 8:1–15

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Scripture

Whatever you give is acceptable if you give eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.

Observation

Paul encourages the Corinthians to give generously to support the church in Jerusalem. The churches in Macedonia gave generously, even though they are poor. They gave far more than they could afford. They begged Paul repeatedly for the privilege of sharing in the gift.

Paul wants to encourage the Corinthians to continue in this gift of generosity. They started a year ago, now they should finish. He wants the eagerness they showed in the beginning to be matched in their giving now. The amount of money is not as important as their attitude.

Application

I believe that tithing, that is giving a tenth of your income to your local church, is a basic christian practice that leads us into a range of freedoms. While the tithe is “required”, we also have the freedom to give above and beyond this.

Whenever we are giving to others, it is our attitude that is important. We should always be eager to share from our prosperity to meet the needs of other people.

In that sense, it doesn’t matter how much or how little we give, as long as it is done with joy. The worst thing in the world is to give reluctantly, or worse, with bitterness. That just undermines any goodness our gift might contain.

I know of some business people who practise aspirational tithing. That is, they give 10% of where they would like the business to be at in twelve months’ time. That is a good attitude to have, but it is not expected that anyone should do this unless God calls them to do so. Paul tells us that we should give according to what we have, not what we don’t have.

God wants us to be generous, even sacrificial in our giving to others.

Prayer

Lord, please grow me in this area of generosity. Help me to give freely to others. Amen.

Today’s Sermon

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The sermon for October 15th 2023 is now available on the New Life web site.

In this sermon, which is based on Genesis 1:1-2, John 21:245 and Revelation 22:12-13, Kelvin talks about Knowing That You Work For God’s Kingdom.

Click here to listen on your browser, here to download the mp3

The Voice Is Silenced

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Yesterday, Australia voted in a referendum to change our constitution to include a so-called Voice to Parliament. The Voice would have been effectively a third chamber of Parliament that represented the concerns of indigenous people, able to veto any legislation or executive action of the Australian Government.

This referendum will go down as Australia’s Brexit moment. As with the Brexit vote in the UK, the ordinary people of Australia told their elite overlords to get out of identity politics and the “woke” agenda and start listening to the people who pay for all this stuff.

There are many reasons why the Voice is wrong in principle, including the following:

  • It gives one group of people extra rights not enjoyed by others
  • The aboriginal industry has over 1000 groups paid for by tax payers already
  • In Parliament, the proportion of indigenous Members and Senators exceeds the proportion of the general population. If they cannot be a “Voice” to the Government, (their job description is literally to represent the interests of their electorate), then who can?
  • The Voice would not solve the problems of remote aborigines who are the 20% who comprise the gap between mainstream Australia and indigenous Australia
  • The Voice would just be a talk fest for the inner city elites who already have plenty of platforms to voice their grievances

In Australia, constitutional change is difficult to achieve. As well as getting a national majority in favour, proponents must also win a majority in a majority of states (i.e. 4 out of 6 states). To achieve that, history shows that both sides of politic need to be actively in favour. In this case they weren’t.

So here are the results from the AEC web site as of close of counting on Saturday night. The vast majority of votes have been counted, but the result cannot be officially declared for two weeks until postal votes are included.

Overall, the vote was about 60% “No” nationally and in every state. Even Victoria, the wokest state ended up 54% “No”. Early in counting, it almost looked like it would be about 50-50, but the later counting brought it more into line with the rest of the country.

Interestingly SA and WA which were the two states that the “Yes” campaign had to win to ensure the majority of states, they had an even greater “No” vote. In other words, the more people saw of this proposal, the more likely they were to reject it.

If you go to the last line in the table you see the ACT vote. They were the exact opposite of the rest of the country- 60% “Yes”. The Canberra bubble is the cause of most of the problems in this country. Dominated by the bureaucracy, the ACT is exactly out of step with the rest of the nation. It must surely be time to dismantle Canberra- that would be a constitutional change that could get through.

Reflection on 2 Corinthians 7: 8- 16

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Scripture

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from Ssn and results in salvation. There’s no regret in that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results spiritual death.

Observation

Paul is not sorry that he sent his severe letter to the Corinthians. He was sorry at first because he caused them pain. But the pain caused them to repent and change their ways, so Paul is now glad.

Godly sorrow leads us away from sin and towards God. But worldly sorrow has no repentance and results in spiritual death.

In the case of the Corinthians, godly sorrow produced earnestness and zeal.

Titus was also happy about the way they received him. Paul’s boasting to Titus about the Corinthians proved true.

Application

There are two ways in which we can be sorry about sin – the world’s way and God’s way.

In the world’s way, people may be sorry even remorseful for their sin. This relates to the consequences of being caught or feelings of guilt. They might be sorry for their sins, but do not relate it to God. Worldly sorrow leads to death it misses repentance.

Repentance is the acknowledgement that my sin is offensive to God. The Greek word means literally to change our thinking. What we once considered to be good or pleasurable we now recognise is evil in God’s eyes. Therefore we make a decision to leave that sin in order to stop displeasing God.

Godly sorrow contains this idea of repentance. We recognise that our sin separates us from God, and we desire to return to fellowship with Him.

We need to repent of our sins daily. This is not a one-off at the start of the journey, but a life long process of course corrections as we seek to follow the Lord.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I recognise that my sins are offensive to you. I repent now and ask you to forgive me Amen.

Quote for the Day

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The one word that differentiates Christianity from the other world religions is love. Other religions demand rituals and behaviours that follow a rigid set of rules. But when one is welcomed into the family of God, it is His love that invites us. Stephen Strang

Reflection on 2 Corinthians 7: 1-7

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Scripture

Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work towards complete holiness because we fear God.

Observation

We have these promises from God (6:16–18) that God will dwell with us, that we are His people, and that God is our Father. therefore, we must cleanse ourselves from everything that will defile us and become completely holy.

Paul again asks the Corinthians to open their hearts to him. He is confident in them and takes pride in them. In Macedonia, Paul faced conflict on every side. He was encouraged when Titus arrived with the news of how the Corinthians longed to see him, and how they repented for what had happened. Paul’s heart was filled with joy.

Application

Many Christians see faith as a blessing machine. We sign up to Jesus and then He gives us all that we need. These people don’t see the need for a changed life. Paul he says it is exactly because of the promises of God that we that we must pursue a live of holiness.

God promises to be our God and our Father, so so we must make ourselves holy. Various sins defile us in body and in spirit, so we must put them away to remain holy before the Lord

The motivation for this is because we fear God. God has the power to destroy us in body and spirit. He can condemn us to the terrors of Hell. Therefore, He is to be feared.

We do not live in terror of God, because He loves us. We have experienced His love and grace. He limits His power to destroy those who walk in covenant with Him, because He loves us. We must not take that love for granted, however.

Prayer

Lord, I love you. Please show me how to become more like you, to become holy as you are holy. Amen.