Date: 13-10-24
Preacher: Ps Rosie Lee
Title: We Can Do It! Through Christ
We Can Do It! Through Christ
The main biblical references for this morning’s message were taken from Philippians 4:11-13. Indeed Ps Rosie’s response of ‘can meh’ to the quoted references would be typical of most believers as we doubt whether such a ‘boast in Christ’ would stand the test of time. So, to her, there is a gap in belief and practice. Furthermore our understanding of love in human terms is narrow and thus not possible to help us with the answer to this often asked question ‘if God loves me why does He allow this to happen?’
To help us to understand who this God is we need both a mind shift and a heart shift. She also wanted the congregation to focus on these phrases from the main references: ‘be content’, ‘learned the secret’, ‘through Him who strengthens and empowers’ and ‘inner strength and confident peace’ as she brought us closer to an understanding of the God we worship.
Her points that follow are valid for a fulfilling Christian life as they will help us not to gripe and whine each time when adversity hits but would also help us to build a more solid foundation in Him. The 5 points are her responses to the question ‘Who is this God?’
- God is sovereign. That means He has unquestionable rights and beyond reproach.
- God is just, holy and good. That means we should be confident that whatever God allows is just, holy and good.
- God is merciful and gracious. It is the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy but not the God we believe in. Occasionally when we learn of untimely deaths or mishaps of relatives, friends or colleagues, an appropriate response would be to pray and direct our focus to Jesus as the events are beyond our understanding.
- God is eternal. His plans are always of eternal value and this aspect of Him also brings us in conflict with Him for our wants and needs are often temporal as we seek to satiate our earthly desires.
- God is the rewarder. To this point, Ps Rosie said the best reward is Jesus Himself who was given unto man and through Him, we gain everything else.
Just before the conclusion and her testimony of a family crisis, I really liked the point she made about being pampered Singaporeans and as such we often use that yardstick to measure God’s rewards. We are so used to all the creature comforts that we feel God should always provide more and more of the same.
Ultimately the condition of our hearts and our foundation in Him borne out of a knowledge and understanding of Him would form the basis for our response to testy events that happen to us.
