All Nations Presbyterian Church

The Christian worldview: The gospel

pastor — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:27:31 +0000

If you were trying to explain what Christians believe to someone who has no background in church, there are lots of things you could include. You would want to explain that God exists, about sin, about Jesus. But what is most important? Ultimately, you need to explain about who Jesus is and his death and resurrection (as Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ). This is the ‘gospel’, the important news for the world.

Being a Christian is not just about believing certain facts, like Jesus’ death and resurrection, but responding to those facts. People in the Bible are often called to “repent and believe”, to change their direction in life and trust that Jesus is the King and Saviour.

Christianity is unlike any other religion. Instead of asking people to do something to be rewarded by God, Jesus gives people the reward first which no-one deserves and asks us to live in response to it. This is called ‘grace’. God loves people and saves people even though they have done nothing to deserve it. All we are called to do is accept this, trust in Jesus, and live in response.

Jesus is all-important. Christians need to tell others of this important news, for without Jesus people are lost and separated from God. We also need to live well in response to Jesus, otherwise we are saying that the gospel doesn’t really change us, only gives us more facts. How important is Jesus to you really?

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, Friday 5 March 2010).

Leading each other: Being part of a church

pastor — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:49:36 +0000

Being a Christian is often portrayed as just a personal issue between me and God. There is a lot of discussion about spirituality, experience, but the idea of being part of some kind of ancient institution doesn’t seem so appealing to most people. But the Bible is clear on this: when someone comes to believe in Jesus, they are immediately part of the church (Eph 2:1-18 ). You are not simply reconciled to God, but also to other Christians. People from Jewish backgrounds in first century Turkey had to come to grips with the fact that they now shared a church with many non-Jewish people, and Paul encourages them to take this seriously.

Ephesians 2:19-22 gives us three pictures of what it means to be part of a church. Firstly, we are fellow citizens with other Christians. We belong, this is where we are supposed to be, we are home. Secondly, we are part of the family of God. This is more personal than being a citizen! Thirdly, we are a brick in God’s temple. Bricks need to support other bricks, for they are part of something bigger together.

What might this mean for you? It means church is far more important than we often think. We should be active in our churches, supporting each other, growing together, serving together. It is an important part of being a Christian. How can you better support others in your church? Sitting back and just seeing what you can get out of church is not the right response to Jesus; we need to get to work and serve alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ.

(Based on ANPC Sunday teaching, 28 February 2010).

The Christian Worldview: Sin

pastor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:42:38 +0000

When we think of the word ’sin’, we think of bad things we do – lying, stealing, murder and things like this. But the Biblical view of sin is much bigger than this. In Genesis 3:1-24 we read of the first sin, of people disobeying God. The heart of sin is actually wanting to be like God (Gen 3:4-6 ). But instead of a positive thing, this ends up with shame, broken relationships, and curses.

Everyone sins, wanting to rule their own lives and having no time to serve God (1 John 1:8-10 ). And this is a huge problem; so huge that the penalty is eternal death, much worse than even having a hand or a foot cut off (Matt 18:8-9 ). People cannot fix this problem, we need someone to do it for us – Jesus. After we do believe in Jesus, we still sin but we are slowly changed to be more like Jesus.

Does your sin bother you? Do you ever confess your sin to God? Sin is so bad we need to be aware of it, pray about it, and work to change. If you trust in Jesus and yet continue to live a life only serving yourself, you are saying that sin is not so bad and you don’t really need Jesus. Let’s take sin seriously.

Leading with mercy: Deacons

pastor — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 01:51:02 +0000

Being a church together can be complicated. In one sense, it is very easy, with people gathering together because of Jesus. But as more people meet, things need to be done and organized, people need to be cared for, and ministries need to be co-ordinated. That’s where deacons come in.

Acts 6:1-7 is most helpful to us. The early church faced a significant problem – some widows were not receiving food and it was due to language and cultural differences. The apostles asked the congregation to choose 7 faithful godly men to co-ordinate this important task. The end result was that the apostles could concentrate on telling people about Jesus, while important work was getting done fairly. The church grew instead of this issue becoming something that distracted from the proclaiming of the gospel.

In the church today, deacons are still important. We need to be careful to choose responsible faithful men for this task. And we also need to recognize that if the church is to be able to reach many people with the news about Jesus, many will need to be involved in different ways. How can you help?

(Based on Sunday teaching, 21 Feb 2010).

Mankind: made in the image of God

pastor — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:59:04 +0000

God, who made everything, made people to be different from the rest of the world. People are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27 ). People are declared to be “very good” while the rest of creation is declared to be “good”. People are special to God, and have a special role to play in the world.

The phrase “the image of God” is used three different ways in the Bible. Firstly, all people, male and female, are made in God’s image. Secondly, Jesus is the image of God in a way that we are not (Col 1:15 ). Thirdly, when people come to trust in Jesus they should become more like Jesus and closer to a true reflection of God’s image.

What might this mean for Christians? It means that human life is important to us, so we oppose abortion, euthanasia and care about how all people are treated. It means that we must value humans above the rest of creation. And it means that we need to seriously pray and strive to better reflect Jesus’ character so we can better reflect God’s image.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 19 February 2010).

Leading in the church: elders

pastor — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:23:07 +0000

The Bible describes Christians as sheep. This is not the most flattering description, for sheep are vulnerable to almost every predator, and tend to wander off if left alone. Jesus is the Good Shepherd of the sheep (John 10 ), who cares for them and who leads them. But as we wait for Jesus to return, God has given the church elders to lead and shepherd His sheep.

Acts 20:17-38 gives us a clear picture of what elders should do, as Paul instructs the elders in Ephesus. They are to care for the church, share their lives with them, and protect them from threats. They are to lead the church, both by example and by decisions which help them follow Jesus. They are also to teach the church, showing in different ways how the good news about Jesus impacts their lives.

All Nations is a Presbyterian church, governed by elders. We need to recognize that elders have an important role, support them and pray for them, and consider who might be a suitable elder. We also need to submit to those God has placed in this position (Heb 13:17 ) and serve each other. How can you support your elders? Is there a godly man you can encourage to consider this important role?

(Based on Sunday teaching at ANPC, February 14 2010 ).

How does believing in creation change anything?

pastor — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:39:17 +0000

In Genesis 1:1-3 , at the very start of the Bible, we see God created the world out of nothing simply by speaking. God is so powerful and has made everything in a good order. We can appreciate God’s power when we think about the complexity of the world and the human body.

On top of making the world, God controls what happens in the world. He even controls things like which nation lives where and for how long (Acts 17:26 ), how the birds and flowers survive (Matt 6:25-34 ) and the amount of hairs on your head (Luke 12:6-7 ). And he makes and controls all things for a purpose: that we might see what he has made and seek after him, to try to connect with God. And the only way we can connect with the God who made everything is through Jesus, who died, rose again, and will return to judge all things (Acts 17:31 ).

So what might this mean for us? Firstly, we should appreciate the world a little more. All of us busy modern people move so quickly we rarely slow down to appreciate God’s world, which is so beautiful. Secondly, we should appreciate God more. We have a God who is powerful beyond imagining, who cares for the people he has made, and who has the power to respond to prayer. Finally, thinking about the world should make us want to find out about the One who made it. To do this, we need to look beyond the world to the Bible, where God tells us about Jesus and how we can connect with God.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, Friday Night the 12th of February 2010).