Partakers Christian Podcasts

Bible Thought - Christ - WOW Word 14

 

 WOW Word - Christ

Our WOW Word today is Christ! I wonder if you know what the word "Christ" means and where it comes from? The word Christ is the New Testament word for the Old Testament word, Messiah. So we look to the Old Testament first, in order to understand what the New Testament word Christ means! It was appended to His name in the New Testament, as a way of expressing who He was!

Play or download the Podcast to discover what Alphy the WOWChurch Cat has to say! Bless ya! 

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Bible Thought - A Strategy to Persevere (Hebrews 10)

Developing A Strategy to Persevere (Hebrews10:26-39)

Introduction

As Christians living in the beginnings of the 21st century, we are relatively removed from the original recipients of this letter. We know that the original readers were around probably before the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. That this group of Hebrew Christians, due to the sufferings and persecution they were enduring, were thinking of abandoning their faith in Jesus as Messiah due to the suffering and persecution they were enduring. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world do suffer for the sake of Gospel and are systematically persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ.

In 21st century Britain, we don't have those kind of physical sufferings and persecutions because of our faith - yet. But as I read history, and read of the persecution of the Church down through the ages, I can see signs of persecution coming even to us in this country. So, just as the writer speaks to this group of Hebrew Christians, so he speaks to you and I. I, of course, don't know your personal circumstances. I don't know where you are at in your Christian life. You may be persevering joyfully or you maybe struggling with some aspect of life and thinking of giving it all up. You may not even call yourself a Christian, as you are at the stage of investigating what all this Jesus talk is all about.

Wherever you are at, whatever stage you are at, there is something in this passage for you. I know that classically these passages are seen as warnings, but I also see them as active encouragements - in this case, to persevere. Persevere by being obedient. Persevere by remembering who you are and what you have done. Persevere by looking forward to being with Jesus Christ permanently and forever.

Part 1 - Just Stop! - Persevere in obedience (v26-31)

26 Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. 27 There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. 28 For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. 30 For we know the one who said,
“I will take revenge. I will pay them back.”
He also said, “The Lord will judge his own people.”
31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Part 2 - Do Remember! - Persevere by remembering (v32-34)

32 Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. 33 Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. 34 You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

Part 3 - Hope Confidently - Persevere for reward (v35-39)

35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
37 “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.
38 And my righteous ones will live by faith.
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”
39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

Conclusion - Perseverance of the Christian

We are to keep your eyes focused on Jesus Christ, and be willing to obey God. As a Christian, persevere in your relationship with God. Obey Him and follow Him. Ask questions humbly of Him and expect Him to answer, particularly if you don't understand something. Persevere in your prayers, your relationships with God and with other people. God will persevere with you, turning you gradually into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. God will not abandon you, but you are free to abandon Him. If you did abandon Him, He would still continue to call you back to Himself. Jesus Christ is to cover our entire life, permeating and being involved in every aspect.

By doing so, this is showing an acceptance of Him, and not a rejection of Him. For when we sin and disobey in anyway at all, it is some form of rejection of Jesus as Lord of our life. The more you sin, the less sensitive you become to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. So when you realise you have sinned, be quick to humbly ask for forgiveness. So I challenge you with this: if He who was without sin, became sin, for you, then you are to live a life worthy of Him and your status of freedom from sin in Jesus Christ. One day, Jesus is coming again. He will take your face in his hands and in the words of Revelation 21, will wipe the tears from your eyes, embrace you and you will be with Him forever! That's if you would call yourself a Christian.

But if you would not call yourself a Christian here today, there are all sorts of excuses you can make for not accepting Jesus. I hear them all the time. I just need a little bit more evidence. I just need a little bit more of this or a little bit more of that. An example to disprove these kind of excuses is that of Judas Iscariot. He lived with Jesus Christ, ate with Jesus Christ, travelled with Jesus Christ, yet gave it all up for a short-term gain of money. For him, there was never enough evidence, even though he had all those experiences with the earthly Jesus Christ. There is no other way, no other sacrifice you can make, to ensure that you are will be in the presence of Almighty God - except through Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. He will continue to call you and urge you to accept Him, until one day it will be too late, and your opportunities will have passed.

 

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Bible Thought - Goal of the Christian - WOW Word 18

 

The Goal Of Being A Christian

Our WOW Word today is the goal of being a disciple of Jesus Christ!

I wonder what you think the goal of being a Disciple of Jesus Christ is to be. Is it just a means to get to heaven? Maybe it is praying a lot? Perhaps it is reading and memorizing the whole Bible? Doing lots of evangelism or doing lots of work for the church? As admirable as those things are, they are not what is to be the goal for those who claim to be Disciples of Jesus Christ.

The ultimate goal for any Christian Disciple is to be found in these verses from 1 John 2:3-6 -

“We know that we have come to know Jesus if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

 

According to the Apostle John, the goal of being a Christian Disciple is to walk and live as Jesus did and to follow the commands of Jesus. That doesn’t mean walking around in sandals, wearing white clothes and traversing the terrain where Jesus Himself walked. The Apostle John means that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to be radical, holy and living lives worthy of that of Jesus.

 

How can we be radical and holy?

Jean Calvin said that “Denying oneself and relying on God for all things is the goal of the Christian life.” This can only be attained by total submission to the Holy Spirit and a life of constantly “dealing with God” in all matters. That is how Christian Disciples are to be radical, holy and endeavouring to reach the goal of being Jesus to others! This is done by a constant renewing of the mind (Ephesians 4:23) and having a heart willing to be transformed. It is by loving others in such a way, that the end of a Disciple’s generosity is only when the resources have expired.

A Christian Disciple is to live and walk as Jesus did. There is no better way for a Disciple to fulfil this goal, than by imitating Jesus and obeying his command from Luke 9:23 to “…take up their cross daily and follow me.” This is seen as a higher challenge for the mind! Dietrich Bonhoeffer commented that “Discipleship of Jesus Christ, leads to death for all who follow Christ; either as a physical death or in being ostracized from the wider community.”

For the first century Christians, just as in some parts of today’s world, persecution and martyrdom were, and are, reality. A biblical example is that of Stephen recorded for us in Acts 7. Yet it also means enduring suffering, for this is how a Christian Disciple maintains a “communion with Christ”. For it is through suffering, that we share with the crucified Jesus. The bitterness of our cross is made sweeter, the more we dwell on the sufferings of Jesus and our enabled fellowship with Him.

As Christian Disciples, we are linked together in a Christian community through rebirth, and our relationship exists only through our relationship with Christ. There is no such thing as an individual member of the radical Christian community. Members are to be interdependent upon one another, bound by a corporate and inclusive personality. The church community is to be dynamic by nature, and individualism is not coherent with New Testament teaching. Remember these words, the world will know we are God’s possession and people, if we exhibit and demonstrate love toward one another.

How about that for being radical and holy? That is the goal for the Christian Disciple. We as Christians have a goal to be radical and holy. We are to be obedient to Jesus in loving God and loving others - including those who are our enemies. How can we do and be that? If we try that in our own strength we will fail. It is only through the power, strength and wisdom of the Holy Spirit who lives within you, that you can do this! How is that for a WOW Word?

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Sermon - Leviticus 16 - A God of Joy and His people Part 3

A God of Joy and His people

Part 3: Today

Holy Barrier: I wonder what the biggest fence, wall or barrier is that you have either seen! Perhaps one of the biggest walls in the world is the Great Wall of China. It is over 4000 miles long, about 25 feet high and up to 30 feet thick! It is huge!! I have seen it both up close and from the air! It was originally built to keep out invaders - for that is what walls and barriers do: Keep out enemies! However big the Great Wall of China is, there is one barrier that is even bigger!  Just as it was for ancient Israel, it is for us today.   The biggest barrier to exist is the one that separates God from all His creation. This barrier is holiness, for God is a holy God and people are inherently not!  The prophet Ezekiel gives a vivid picture of the holiness of God and describes it as a fire, a bright light, radiance, full of glory and majesty. If that is holiness, what is sin? Sin is both a heavy burden. Sin is like also toxic virus of the soul and affects every person.  It is more deadly than Ebola, HIV and Spanish flu - combined.  Sin inevitably leads to death and sin is anti-God!  Sin is disobedience of God.  Sin is also not doing what is right!  With God there is no big or small sin - sin size is a human construct! However, some sins do cause God to grieve more than others.

Holy People: If only people declared holy can enter God's presence, how are we made holy?  How can we, as mortal unholy people, enter into the presence of God and live? What does atonement, if anything, mean for us in the 21^st century? Chapters 9 & 10 of the book of Hebrews are the best commentary you can find on Leviticus 16.  In there we see that Jesus Christ is our scapegoat and takes the immense burden of our sins on himself!  Aaron was a type of servant king but Jesus was the ultimate servant king! Aaron, as Chief Priest, offered sacrifices for the cleansing of sin, but Jesus Christ himself was both the sacrifice and the Chief Priest.  Jesus Christ became sin! We see the annually repeated Day of Atonement becoming the unique Day of Calvary, as Jesus' death is an atoning and substitutionary sacrifice, which makes amends to God for the sins of the world.  Jesus alone gives life and offers life to the full - a life borne from grace and not from Law. At the time of Jesus' death, the curtain to the Holy of Holies in the Temple, the Tabernacles successor in Jerusalem, was torn in two from top to bottom to symbolise that access to God was now open!  The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, as God never wanted sacrifices in the first place! God desired obedience over sacrifice - all the time! The sacrifices of Leviticus were only in situ because the ancient Israelites sinned, they were disobedient towards God and His desires! God wanted obedience, and obedience as we know, goes on to give praise to Almighty God and gives testimony to His goodness!

Declared Holy:

Lets now, quickly compare the Levitical Sacrifices and Jesus' Sacrifices!

Levitical Sacrifices: Performed repeatedly by earthly priests who stood. Their work was unending as they laboured on earth and their sacrifices could never take away sin.

Jesus' Sacrifice: He offered one sacrifice. Jesus now sits at God's right hand in power and glory with His earthly work now complete. His sacrifice achieved its goal of fulfilment and made his followers holy! At the cross of Jesus Christ on Calvary, the Old Covenant was fulfilled and the New Covenant ushered in! This New Covenant assures those who follow Jesus Christ have

• Forgiveness!
• Peace!
• Reconciled to God
• Declared right and just before God!
• Cleansed from sin!
• Free from the slavery to sin!
• Intercedes for us!
• Given the Spirit to dwell inside!
• Granted direct access to God the Father, through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit

With His own blood, rather than that of an animal, Jesus became the only atoning sacrifice that is perfectly acceptable to God, and it's only by His blood that was shed on that hill of Calvary that makes people holy.  While the Levitical sacrifices were needed to be done over and over again, Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was a once and for all sacrifice - never to be repeated!  Because of Jesus Christ's sacrificial death and His subsequent resurrection, we have access to God and we have been declared holy and innocent! But only if we have made a conscious decision to follow Him Perfect holiness, has been revealed in Jesus Christ, and Him alone. 

If you are a Christian, you have been declared holy because you now wear Jesus Christ's robe of righteousness!  It was given to you as a gift of grace! That is because of what Jesus did on the cross and in His resurrection.  Jesus Christ has broken down the barrier between God and humanity once and for all, by His sacrificial death. That's why we celebrate Jesus' death around the communion table and that's why the bread and the wine are only symbolic of His flesh and blood.  If the bread and wine did turn into the actual flesh and blood of Jesus Christ as some churches proclaim, then we would be sacrificing Jesus Christ all over again. If you are a Christian, you are declared holy, and therefore you are to live a holy life - a life worthy of Jesus Christ!

Live Holy!

As a Christian, the Holy Spirit is living inside you, changing and transforming you into the very image of the holy one, Jesus Christ.  Your transformation into that image of Jesus Christ, is the greatest evidence, not only of the work of the Holy Spirit but also of you being a Christian living an obedient life to God.  As a Christian, you are no longer an enemy of God but a friend of God and belong to God!  As Christians, we are to live a life of obedience to God - casting off all that hinders and seeks to stop us.  And if we fall into disobedience, we can confess our sin to the Father, through the name of the Son and in the power of the Spirit and get right back up again, knowing we are forgiven - totally amazing! As Christians, we are called to be joyfully obedient to the Lord, serving Him in every aspect of life! In doing so, our whole lives will be acceptable worship to God and not just at a Sunday meeting.  Our worship is to be a lifestyle of conscious decisions, reflecting our devotion to a God with whom we are to be in a dynamic and intimate relationship with.  This lifestyle will affect the way we work, rest and play! As instruments in God's orchestra of joy, we are to be loyal to Him - the joy giver!  We are to obey with joyful, effervescent vigour and reflect a living God to a society out there, which is in darkness.  They will know we are Christians by the way we act - actions of obedience to God, signified by the love we have for each other and them.  Love in action by supplying people's needs, both on an individual and church basis. We are called to follow God and not to succumb to the temptations, which seek to mar our relationship with the God who lives inside us. 

Go into this week, to obey and serve the Lord with faithful obedience! But if you are not a Christian here tonight, then please do make yourself known to us afterwards and we would love to talk to you about becoming a Christian. While you have breath, it's not too late to start this life of joyful obedience to a loving God and enter into a living and dynamic relationship of true Joy with Him.  Don't leave it so late that you incur God's judgement for your sins and have everlasting separation from Him and others! God does indeed love you and He is calling you to come into a dynamic relationship of true joy with Him today. Take the opportunity today - come and follow Jesus Christ. He is calling you to respond!

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Sermon - Leviticus 16 - A God of Joy and His people Part 2

A God of Joy and His people

(Part 2)

2. Life worship -Leviticus 18v1-5; 19v9-18

In our first part, we looked at the ceremonial cleansing of God's dwelling place. Now Leviticus moves to the matter of personal & communal holiness and moral impurity.  Repeatedly in this book, God has frequently said "Be holy, for I am holy".  The ancient nation of Israel was to be an obedient example to the whole world, a unique concept or paradigm if you like!  God was present with them and they were to be His light in a dark world.  The people of Israel were to live a life that reflected the holiness of God!  God desired obedience over sacrifice!

Be Holy!

Holiness was to be a moral attribute of ancient Israel, much the same as it was for the holy God who dwelt amongst them.  In chapter 18, we see at least 3 characteristics of this relationship! Firstly there is the call to be loyal to God!  God's laws were not be obeyed slavishly but to obeyed joyfully and with effervescent vigour!  God is speaking to those He is in an intimate relationship with and He wants them to be observably loyal by being like Him - holy! Secondly there is the call to be different! Different from the surrounding countries and cultures!  Ancient Israel was to have a national distinctiveness that truly was to have separated them from the surrounding cultures such as Egypt Ancient Israel was to live a life so radically different that people around them would notice! They were to be separate from the worlds around them in lifestyle and worship!  . Their God was a personal God who dwelt with them. God's presence with them was to affect every aspect of life, on both a national and individual level. Thirdly, their whole life was to be worship! Worship wasn't to be just for the Sabbath, feasts and ceremonies - it was to be their lifestyle.  God's regulations affected such ordinary things as relationships, diet, clothing, social justice, social welfare, environment and work.  Their whole lifestyle was to be an act of worship, and not just on the Sabbath.  Who knows best what humans need - humans or the God who created them? By being obedient, they would have life to the full - a life of blessing and peace! Lets look at an example. Chapter 19 which was read to us, starts off with taking care of the poor and the daily necessity to eat!  That was how God was going to provide for the poor - through the farmer not harvesting everything! To leave some food unharvested was to be a symbolic act of worship, a thanksgiving and a visible sign of trusting in God to supply!  It was holiness in action - a generous holiness if you will!

Good Neighbours!

This section is summed up in Leviticus 19:18, "love your neighbour as yourself". So, for an ancient Israelite, to love his neighbour would mean not stealing, lying, deceiving, blaspheming, cursing, being unjust, slanderous, filled with hatred or endangering!  A good neighbour would be a person of integrity, not seeking to exploit others in any way.  A good neighbour would administer justice and be observably filled with love.  Does that remind you of something that was said in the New Testament?

How to read Leviticus today?

So what is the best way for us in the 21^st century to read these ancient laws of Leviticus? Is it just to simply ignore them or are we to slavishly follow them?  Perhaps the best way is to simply let Scripture interpret Scripture and see what the New Testament says about the Leviticus laws.  Take for instance the food laws.  We know in the New Testament that all food is now permissible, whereas under the Old Testament, certain foods were not permitted to be eaten.  In the New Testament, the Apostle Peter had a dream in which all food was declared clean! It is also wise, not to see them as merely a list of "not do" statements, but also as "do statements".  Rather, we should see them as a love letter from a God who wants to save His people from distress and anxiety in order to give them a life of peace, unity, health and a joyful life in all its fullness. All these laws were to lead ancient Israel to be a holy nation. Holiness was about being set apart for a purpose and making wise, conscious decisions about what was right or wrong.  It involved being obedient to God and keeping His decrees and regulations.  Being holy, involved having a lifestyle, which was contrary to the cultures surrounding them.  To be holy was a lifestyle choice of worship, to reflect their holy God. They were called to be loyal! Called to be distinct! Called to worship!  What has all this got to do with us? Where does the Day of Atonement and these laws fit into the life of a Christian in the 21^st century?  We will take a look in the third part in al little while!

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Saturday Story - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Story

of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

Today we hear the story of perhaps one of the greatest Saints of the 20th Century church - Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His books and writings have never been more influential than they are today. His fight to stand for the cause of Christ cost him his life. We do well to honour and remember him as an example to us all. Come and listen to his story of faith...

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Bible Thought - WOW Word - Living Water

WOW Word - Living Water

In the book of Leviticus, God commanded that the cleansing of a defiled house required sprinkling with a mixture of blood and ‘living’ water, the bird having been slain over the water (Leviticus 14:51). Elsewhere we read of the ‘water of cleansing’ (Numbers 19), which is also called ‘living water’.

This was water that had been sprinkled with the ashes of a young cow, and was kept aside for purification by sprinkling those who had touched a dead body. In both cases, this water had been cleansed by the shedding of blood and sacrifice. The cleansing was to be through the blood of sacrifice, applied through the sprinkled water. For there is no cleansing without the shedding of blood.

Let us look to Jesus in his earthly ministry! What did Jesus say about being living water? Speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus said: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10

Elsewhere in John 7:37-39 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Now moving forward to seeing Jesus as He is and will be - Revelation 7:17 - For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

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Bible Thought - Spiritual Armour - WOW Word 39

WOW Word - Spiritual Armour

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:10-20 NIV)

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To help His people resist satan and to fight spiritual warfare, God has designed spiritual armour for Christians to wear during our constant battle with temptation, sin & also with the evil one. That’s what the Apostle Paul is talking about here in Ephesians 6! This armour is what God wears according to Isaiah 59:17, when He goes out to battle! The hallmarks of this Armour are: Truth, Righteousness, Gospel, Faith, Salvation, the Scriptures and Prayer.

To discover more about the Spiritual Armour, download the mp3 using the links below.
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Bible Thought - WOW Word 62 - Trinity

WOW Word - Trinity

~Today Alphy the WOWChurch Cat shares about

the WOW Word Trinity!

One of the problems that people tell me they have with the Christian God is the concept of God being a Trinity, asking “Why must God be a Trinity?” After all they say, the word Trinity isn’t in the Bible! And they are partly correct, insomuch as that there is no explicit Bible text using the word trinity. However, the concept is explicit throughout the Bible.

Another problem they say is that in the Old Testament part of the Bible the cry “The Lord our God is One” resonates throughout!! And yes that is true! But there are glimpses of the Trinity in the Old Testament! Such as when Bezalel was filled with the Holy Spirit, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts in Exodus 35! Such as when David cried in repentance for God not to take the Holy Spirit away from him in Psalm 51! Or when Isaiah saw the pre-incarnate Jesus in a vision in Isaiah 6 and verified by Jesus good friend John in John 12:41.
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Bible Thought - WOW Word 27 - Serving

 37. Serving

Serving God and serving other people is the mark of a spiritually mature Christian Disciple. Did you know that? For it is through serving, that the Christian Disciple reflects the greatest servant of all - Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to serve and to give his life for others.

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Philippians 2:5-8 - In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!

As followers and partakers of Jesus, Christian Disciples are to be as Jesus Christ and to serve. Yet if we are honest, we sometimes feel incapable. That is because we forget that God the Holy Spirit is within us to empower us to obediently serve God and serve others.

Go Serve!

As a Christian Disciple, a partaker of Jesus Christ, you are called to a life of service: serving God and other people. Your church is to be a body of people, where each person is to have a serving function – serving God and serving others. Why serve others? By serving others as a church, a group of people, it shows unity and solidarity to those outside of the church who frequently accuse the church of infighting and “devouring one another”.
The Christian life is not to be static or inactive, but rather it is to be dynamic and active. The word ‘servant’ is key in Scripture. It is used at least 500 times in its various derivations. Spiritual growth comes from serving, rather than being served. This is because what ever is given in service of God and others, faith grows and Jesus Christ gives back even more. Jesus speaking in Matthew 25:15-30 tells of the rewards for faithful service and the penalties for being faithless. Serving others is a sign that you, as a Christian Disciple, trust God and are having faith in Him.
In serving others, you fulfil the command that Jesus gave to love God and love others. Showing love and serving each other through your Spiritual Gifts and giving, achieves this aim of obedience to Jesus. As the church, we are dependent upon each other, just as one part of the human body has dependence on another part. That is why we serve each other and use the gifts generously given by God.
When you, as a disciple and partaker of Jesus Christ, serve in any capacity, then God’s honour is released. This is done because service shows the beauty and glory of Jesus Christ to those being served and to those watching. That is to be our motive for service. Serving is never about what you can get out of it. When that is the motive, God is patently not glorified. God’s glory and supremacy is the goal of all those who would call themselves a Christian Disciple.
So go … serve. How’s that for a WOW Word?

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