Good morning, Church! It’s a privilege to be here today, celebrating 17 years! Seventeen is a significant age, marking greater responsibility. As Shalom Church enters this adulthood, there are key responsibilities to embrace, symbolised by:
- Taking the steering wheel, 2) Fighting the good fight, 3) Voting for Jesus, 4) Taking responsibility for actions, and 5) Not depending on others.
You are family, and I feel very blessed to have pastor Marcio as a good friend. Most importantly, it’s a blessing to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Transformation in Christ:
Like the Apostle Paul, it’s not just Christ in me, but me ‘in Christ.’ (Paul mentions this approximately 140 times). It’s not just that I found Him, but He found me, He chose me!
1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”
The Blessing of Obedience and Reward of Faithfulness
There is a Divine Blessing that follows obedience, a reward for faithfulness.
Deuteronomy 28:1-13
1“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world.
2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
3 Your towns and your fields will be blessed.
4 Your children and your crops will be blessed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.
5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.
6 Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.
7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!
8 “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do.
10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.
11 “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops.
12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.
13 If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.
While some may say this is Old Testament, remember:
Hebrews 8:6: “But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.”
The new covenant doesn’t only refer to spiritual things. Jesus physically blesses people.
Obedience brings a blessing and faith carries a reward!
Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
The Ultimate Choice:
One day, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phi 2:10-11). You will either do it in rejoicing or regret. For those who know and live for the Lord Jesus, crowns will be received and cast at His feet. Those who have ignored God’s love will also kneel at the judgment seat of Christ – that need not be you.
The Superior Christian Life:
Having walked with Christ for over 30 years, it’s evident the Christian life is the fullest and best life. Some argue that one must experience everything to evaluate it. This is flawed logic. The Christian life is a success; why look elsewhere?
Billy Graham once said, “I have never known a man to accept Christ and regret it.”
Many have tried other adventures and have reported wasted lives and painful experiences.
Seven Reasons Why the Christian Life Is Better:
1- The Incarnation of Christ:
Christians must also distinguish themselves by virtue of the fact that they believe that the second person of the Godhead, God the Son, became a man and walked on this earth to communicate God’s love and forgiveness to his creatures. Before his conversion from atheism to Christianity, Lewis speculated that if there was a personal God, he could no more know God personally than Hamlet could know Shakespeare.
Two years later when Lewis finally became a Christian he revisited his Hamlet-Shakespeare analogy. Certainly Hamlet, the character of the play, could never break out of the play to get to know Shakespeare, the author of the play. (Hamlet is Shakespeare’s longest play. Set in Denmark between the years 1599 and 1602)
Nevertheless, Lewis speculated that it could be possible for Shakespeare the author of the play to write himself into the play as a character, and this way an introduction between Hamlet and Shakespeare could be possible.
Lewis also believed that something like this actually did occur when God the Son became a man in the Incarnation. And it is this coming of God the Son into the world to mend what was broken in humanity. He died sacrificially for humanity’s sin, reconciling men and women to himself.
2- The Resurrection of Jesus Christ:
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Paul states that without it, preaching and faith are in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14-15, 19).
The miraculous resurrection authenticates Jesus’ message.
Minimal facts supported by historical sources:
1) Jesus died by crucifixion, 2) the disciples sincerely believed He rose from the dead, evidenced by their suffering.
3) Paul, the church persecutor, was transformed. 4) James, the skeptic and brother of Jesus, was changed. 5) The tomb was empty.
3- Total Forgiveness:
The Christian life offers total forgiveness.
Matthew 9:1-7 (Jesus heals a paralysed man, forgiving his sins).
1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Every sin is a cosmic act of treason, yet Ephesians 4:32 declares, “God in Christ forgives you.”
His forgiveness even covers the biggest sin – rejecting God. Other faiths may offer potential forgiveness based on behaviour, but Christianity offers a guarantee.
4- Assurance of Eternal Life with God:
John 3:16 reveals that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The Christian life guarantees eternal life with God.
John 10:28-30: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
1 John 5:11: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
1 John 5:13: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
John 3:36: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
5- Abundant Life:
John 10:10: guarantees us that we will live with an abundant life. Only the Christian life offers the assurance of a rich and satisfying life.
6- A Unique Way of Love:
Only the Christian life offers a unique way of love. Real love must come from our heart, soul and mind.
As Jesus said in Mark 12: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Christians believe that the only antidote is the love of God who knows us completely, and because of the death and resurrection of Christ, has the power to forgive us thoroughly. A person on the mend in Jesus will become more empathetic of others and able to see others at their point of deepest need and tell them about Jesus. The claims of Christ and the benefits of the gospel are exclusive and narrow because only Christ can love us perfectly and save us from our sins.
- Flowing in the Supernatural:
We can have a supernatural life if we believe in Him and walk in obedience!
In the Christian faith, we can really know GOD, He will be with you and you in Him.
John 14:17: the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Conclusion:
The Christian life is a superior way, offering incarnation, resurrection, forgiveness, eternal life, abundant life, unique love, and the supernatural. Embrace this life and share it with others.