POTD
Author: newlifenarrabri
RJ Dawson: The Parable Of The Church Chairs
RJ Dawson writes:
Then Peter and John went to church.
It was the day after the Sabbath. The new padded church chairs had arrived from Antioch. The tasteful gray tones of each identical chair matched well with the muted shades of the carpet and fabric-covered acoustic wall panels.
Strolling to the front row, the two apostles looked forward to seeing their own new church chairs with their names scripted tastefully on the backrest, but otherwise denoting a pure spiritual humility in that the chairs were identical to all the others.
They had learned this from the Master, who had decided it best to no longer sit in His huge and decorative platform throne but down among the little people in a regular chair. And His new chair was a regular chair like all the rest, of course, except for being gold-plated, just a tad larger, with His name embossed, and with special wiring and comports to facilitate better communication and access to His laptop.
The usual comforting din of low voices and polite conversation had ceased momentarily as the two great men took their seats on either side of the big chair in the center of the first row like all the rest. Church was about to begin. All was in good order.
The church song leader and choir director strode to the front. Also known as Pastor of Music, he was beaming. Some thought it was because his new contract increased his salary to match that of the top 5% of mega church song leaders and choir directors across the land. But others whispered something about a new friend. The congregation had always admired his polished taste in manner and clothing, as well as his unashamed emotive expressions and being able to cry so easily at the moving of the Spirit. He always worked very hard at putting forth an excellent expression of taste and unity toward the outside community. He handpicked and/or created the choir robe fabrics, wall hangings, platform arrangements (though he abhorred the term “platform”), and all else associated with his music and performance. He believed that God deserved the very best and was thankful for the generous monetary outlays which allowed him to give God the very best.
Read the rest of this parable here
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POTD
Reflection on Exodus 37:1-38:31
Scripture
The people brought special offerings of gold totalling 2,193 pounds (about 1,000 kg).
Application
Bezael constructs the Ark of the Covenant ad the furnishings for the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting.
We can let the numbers and details of the Tabernacle go past us because we have no point of reference. Here we are told that close to a tonne of gold went into the various furnishings.
It is impossible to compare values in our economy with the economy of the ancient world. In today’s money the gold is worth 84 million Australian dollars, and the silver is worth $40 million.
This was an amazingly costly undertaking for the people of Israel. They had only recently been slaves in Egypt, but now had resources to build this massive portable Temple.
It truly was a miracle of God’s provision.
Prayer
Lord, if you can provide that much gold and silver for a people in the wilderness, I know that you can supply what I need. Amen.
Today’s Sermon
Ephesians 4:5
Here is my commentary on Ephesians 4:5 . I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au
Ephesians 4:5
“… one Lord, one faith, one baptism,… “
Paul continues his list of things that unite christians.
We have one Lord, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our Redeemer .
To confess that Jesus is Lord is to proclaim that he is the supreme ruler in our heart, and in our lives.
To say that Jesus is Lord is to deny every other idol that would seek to become lord in our lives. To say “Jesus is Lord” is to say that money is not our lord, that self is not our lord, the family is not our lord .
For people in the Roman Empire, there was a requirement that all people acknowledge Caesar is lord. This meant to swear allegiance to the emperor as the single entity that united all the tribes and nations under Roman sway.
At various times, under several Emperors, it was compulsory for every person to offer incense and publicly declare “Caesar is Lord.” This was not a problem for most people, and Jews were given an exemption, but for christians this was a big imposition. For christians Jesus is the only Lord, and even Caesar has to submit to Him. This became a flash point between the Kingdom and the Empire leading to widespread persecution .
There is only one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ .
To say “Jesus is Lord” is to commit to obeying him in every sector of life. It is about obedience and loyalty. If an employer or a government asks us to do something contrary to God’s plan, then we respectfully refuse. As the apostles said in Acts 5:28, “ we must obey God rather than men.”
There is one faith.
Christ is not divided into denominations, and faith is shared across denominations.
Even where there is a variety of expressions of christianity, it is one faith. Although it often seems that the church is fragmented, the truth is that christians agree on 99% of doctrine, and disagree on relatively minor points .
Issues of church government, eschatology, the use of spiritual gifts, and so on, pale into insignificance compared to the central truth about salvation, the love and holiness of God, the hope we have in Christ, and the Trinity .
There is one faith. We are used to arguing about the marginal details that we forget that there is no disagreement on the important points of doctrine.
When we look at the New Testament, especially the book of Acts, we see a diversity of expressions of faith. There is no hint that the church at Rome is separated from the church at Antioch, even though they operated in very different contexts. They may have had very different worship Styles and doctrinal positions , but they were United in their love for the lord. A deficient faith does not mean no faith.
There is one baptism.
There are so many different beliefs about baptism that it is almost impossible to accept that there is just one baptism. There is infant baptism, adult baptism, sprinkling and full immersion. Some will only baptise in churches, while others will only that baptise in public spaces. Some baptise into the name of Jesus, but others baptise into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Some baptise immediately on profession of faith, but others say that teaching in the ways of the Lord must come first.
In all of that variety, Paul says there is one baptism.
Baptism is about being introduced or Incorporated into the Body of Christ. Whatever and however it is practised, it is a sign that a person has been welcomed into Christ’s Kingdom and therefore into the church .
Baptism is always a faith statement whether it is a child being baptised or an adult. In either case, we cannot see the future of the person, or whether they will remain true to Christ. All we know is that on this day this person (or their parent) is claiming to be a follower of Jesus. We cannot see if that is a true claim, or whether they will persevere to the end. So the church baptises people in faith.
The sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion carry the power of the Holy Spirit in an enhanced way. They are vehicles of God’s grace, and not just religious ceremonies. When the church baptises a person, the Spirit of God is moving.
Baptism represents a person dying and rising to new life in Christ. The old nature is drowned in the water, and the person is raised to eternal life in God. Baptism is about death and resurrection more than it is about cleansing.
This verse has often been invoked to prohibit a person from being re-baptised. This is not the intention here. If a person is baptised and subsequently leaves the fellowship of the church for a time, there is nothing to stop them from being re-baptised. The second occasion is as much a celebration of the “one baptism” as the first occasion .
Key points in this verse
- There is one Lord, Jesus Christ
- Christians must determine that nothing else can be lord in their lives
- We may disagree on doctrines or practice, but there is one faith
- There is one baptism into the one church
Reflection on Exodus 35:1-36:38
Scripture
So Moses gave the command, and the message was sent through the camp: “Men and women, don’t prepare any more gifts for the sanctuary. We have enough!” So the people stopped bringing their sacred offerings. Their contributions were more than enough to complete the whole project.
Application
The craftsmen begin the project of constructing the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The call goes out for people to bring the materials needed as a sacred offering to the Lord. The people respond so generously that Moses has to tell them to stop giving.
Has there ever been a time in the recent history of the church where a pastor has said, “Stop giving! We have enough already!”
There are two miracles in this episode.
Firstly, the people had faith and resources to give so freely to the project. Often churches and pastors have to plead with people to have faith to give generously to anything,
Whole books have been written and training courses have been developed to help pastors motivate their people to be generous.
Here in the desert, a nation of former slaves have miraculously got the materials needed. And they also have the faith in God’s provision for them to be able and willing to give.
The second miracle is for those in charge of the project to recognise that they had more than enough. They had the same kind of belief to know that God would provide all that they needed to complete what they had begun.
When we read through Exodus it is easy to focus on the failings of the Israelites. Here they show how great their faith really was.
Prayer
Thank you Lord for these people who show us how to give generously and faithfully for your works. Amen.
POTD
Life Matters
Our local newspaper, The Courier, has started publishing articles from local pastors.
I was up for the first one of 2021, published today
Life Matters
Keith Bates
Congratulations! If you are reading this, you survived 2020!
While last year seemed for many people to have more challenges than most years, 2021 stands before us seemingly bearing many opportunities and possibilities.
Any New Year, but especially this time around, feels like an opportunity for a new start, a new beginning, a new chance to be the person we would like to be. It’s ridiculous to place so much value on what is just another date on the calendar, but we have this wired- in expectation that we can do so much better if we try a little harder.
This is the appeal of New Year’s Resolutions of course. We take the opportunity to make a new start at doing those things which we know we should be doing. That is why January is the busiest month for gym operators and February, not so much.
Did you make a Resolution this year? How is it working out for you? I find that the chocolate is still calling me from the fridge as much as it ever does.
So we want to be better people, in some way, and most of the time we find it’s too hard. We can’t do it ourselves because we are too trapped into old patterns of living.
In the Bible we read this interesting passage: “But to all who believed him (Jesus) and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”
Being reborn sounds like the ultimate restart. You can get to do it all over and maybe not make so many mistakes this time around. Better still, the things we have done that separate us from God are swept away and we get a new start with Him.
Maybe this year’s resolution could be a prayer: “Lord I want to follow you. Please come into my heart and give me that new start.”
