Saturday, July 06, 2024

The Power of a Praying Church: Transforming the Nations

Good evening, everyone. Very happy to see you all tonight! Felt like a very long week, especially if you’ve been fasting. But can we greet the people around us? To your left and to your right, greet them with a very good evening!

All right, I’d like to ask before we begin: Who has been here since day one? Please raise your hand. Wow! How about day two? You were here on day two? Okay. Day three? Great! And now, day four? You know, if you didn’t make it to any of those days, you missed a lot.

I think we’ve heard, in the past few days, real stories from men in our church. On day one, I remember Mike. He shared about how a terrible accident happened, and yet the Lord was able to turn it around to make it an instrument for his family to know more about God. On day two, I remember Jerel was here, and he shared the conviction of obeying the Lord, even when it’s hard—because money, you know, is very attractive—but in the workplace, we need to have integrity as we follow the Lord there. On day three, just last night, we heard from Bong as he shared about healing—physical healing and healing in our families. I think you will all remember how he shared from his heart that even if the Lord did not give him what he was praying for, he would still believe and have faith in Him.

These past few days, I am very convinced that our church is made up of men and women who quietly work and go on with their lives. But if you ask them what the Lord has been doing, you will hear amazing stories—stories of men who are praying, women who are faithful. There are many, many in our church.

Also, the second thing I realized is that our church worships a God who is truly undefeated. Amen?

Tonight, we will go through our topic, which is focusing on our church and our nation. We’ll talk about The Power of a Praying Church Impacting the Nation. Why is it important for us, as followers of Christ, to pray for our church as we reach out to this nation and even the nations beyond?

We will learn three things as we look into Acts 12, which is our Bible reading for today. We will learn that it is important to embrace persecution because, as we embrace persecution, we will encounter God’s power. And as we encounter God’s power, it will motivate us to evangelize the nations.

Embracing Persecution

Let’s start with the first point: Embracing Persecution.

Let’s paint the picture first in Acts 12:1-3. Here, we meet an interesting character—Herod Agrippa. Let us read:

"About that time, King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James, John’s brother, killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter."

When you go and research who this Herod Agrippa is, it can sometimes get a little confusing because many people in the Bible, especially in the New Testament, are called Herod by name. But this particular Herod is not the same one who persecuted the Jews when Jesus, as a baby, was about to be born. This is his descendant—it's a different Herod. But just the same, in this particular history of the church, this Herod Agrippa continued to persecute the followers of Christ.

There were many things that happened to the apostles of Jesus after He died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. Here, we are told that James was killed with a sword, and many of them had to go through persecution, not just James. In this story, it’s Peter’s turn.

I want to bring your attention to this particular phrase: The killing of James with a sword pleased the Jewish people. And you know, King Herod Agrippa was Jewish himself, and he wanted to keep the peace among the Jewish people. To him, Christians—followers of Christ—were disruptive. It was important to get rid of this small sect so that the peace could be kept. That was his motivation. It was successful with James, so he arrested Peter.

Then, he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. That’s a lot! Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover.

Now, how would you feel if you were Peter in this case? I’m sure you would feel afraid. Maybe you would feel confused. Maybe you would feel angry—Why does this have to happen to me?

Whatever Peter felt during this moment, it was certain death as far as he was concerned. That’s a lot of soldiers guarding him for a public trial, which definitely would end in his death.

So, what happened? While Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

We see in this passage how much the church community, though small, was earnest in their prayer. They came together physically, much like we are doing now, to pray specifically for Peter.

Now, if I ask myself, Why are they praying for Peter? I think one of the reasons is because there was nothing more they could do. James had just been killed, and now Peter was in prison. What could happen next? Of course, the death of Peter. So they were there, praying with each other, trying to intervene so that God would do something about this.

But I also think that more than their wish for God to intervene, it was their desire to make sense of this whole thing. You see, as followers of Christ, whenever we face challenges, problems, and persecutions, it is always an opportunity for us to do more than just feel sad and afraid, or feel that it’s unfair.

In John Eldridge’s book Wild at Heart, this is his suggestion: at the point in time where you feel you are within a struggle, ask these questions:

  • What is God trying to teach me here?
  • What issues in my heart is God trying to raise through this problem?
  • What is it that God wants me to see?
  • What is it that God is asking me to let go of?

To us who follow Christ, struggles and problems allow us to enter into a journey. This journey enables us to know God more, and yes, to learn more about the faith we claim to have.

As the church prayed earnestly for Peter, I am sure Peter himself had these questions in mind. There was nothing else he could do, right?

We continue the passage: "The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep."

Can you imagine sleeping through this? Tomorrow, you will probably die in a very public way, yet Peter slept. As he slept, he was even fastened with two chains between two soldiers, while other soldiers stood guard at the prison gate. Herod Agrippa really wanted him dead—not just dead, but dead dead. He wanted to be sure that Peter wouldn’t escape.

You know, some problems have a solution. This problem didn’t seem to have one. This was one of those problems where you might think, How could I survive this?

Friends, are you facing a problem of your own tonight? Are you going through something? Do you feel like you’re Peter—chained on your left and on your right, not really knowing what to do?

In fact, let me ask the people here: Please raise your hand if you have a problem. Wow, wow—just like me, we all have problems.

Now, I’m going to say something, and I don’t want to be insensitive to what you are going through, but I want to say it anyway because it’s the truth: Praise God you have a problem! This allows us to come to God and ask these important questions about who God is and what our faith is made of, and to journey with God through this specific season of our lives.

In fact, I think we should have a special prayer line for people who don’t have problems. Do you want that? We will pray for you. We will give you one! I’m only kidding, of course, but you get my point, right?

If you are a follower of Christ and you don’t feel like you have to go through something, I pray that you pray that God would reveal to you the things that will strengthen your faith.

So what happens to Peter now?

He embraced his persecution. Sometimes we’re afraid of persecution. We’re afraid of struggles and problems. In fact, in my own d-group, it’s very common for me and my wife to ask our d-group members, “Give us the bad news.” We know there’s good news, and we know there are things to praise God for. But equally important are the bad news—the things you are going through that would strengthen your faith. Now, let’s see what God will do.

Encounter God's Power

Point number two: As we embrace persecution, we encounter God’s power.

Suddenly, as Peter was asleep, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him. I mean, how deep into sleep are you that it would take an angel to strike you to wake you up, right? Peter was really sound asleep! The angel said, "Quick, get up!" And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals," and Peter did. "Now, put on your coat and follow me," the angel ordered.

Notice how Peter obeyed everything the angel told him. He obeyed.

What happens next?

Peter left the cell, following the angel, but all the time, he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening to him.

Do you ever have this experience? You know, I’m a very dense person—you should ask my wife! I don’t understand things right away, and sometimes I don’t realize that I am in the middle of a miracle. What do I mean by that? Sometimes I keep complaining and complaining about setbacks or things that didn’t go the way I wanted, but only at the end of it do I look back and see that it was actually the Lord moving.

Right now, we often don’t realize that. It takes us being really prayerful and understanding the wisdom of God. That’s exactly Peter’s experience. He didn’t realize that the Lord was already delivering him from his chains.

They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and it opened for them all by itself.

They passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter, as dense as he is—like me—finally came to his senses and said, "It’s really true! The Lord has sent His angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me." Then he knew—the Lord had rescued him.

I want us to think about this scene. One moment you’re chained, with soldiers on your left and right, and more soldiers outside. Then suddenly, you find yourself free. You’ve been praying and praying for this problem, this challenge, this struggle that seems insurmountable, and then suddenly it’s gone. You’re a free man or woman. What would you do then?

Now, I don’t know about you, but I think at this point, I would deserve a party! I would deserve something to treat myself. Or maybe Peter would say, "Let me just stay away for a while, go to another town, and rest." He would have deserved it—he was in jail for a long time!

But notice what Peter does. Are you ready? This is amazing.

The very moment Peter was freed, this is what he does:

When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. Peter was jailed because he was the leader of a church. The very second he realized he was freed, he went back to the church to serve the men and women whom Jesus loves.

This is the heart of Peter. No matter the persecution, he knew exactly what he needed to do—he needed to serve the God who rescued him.

Because of this, God did something amazing in the life of that church. In the final verses of Acts 12:24:

"But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied."

What happened to King Herod Agrippa?

He died. The Bible tells us this mighty king—Jewish himself—appeared before a crowd on a festival day, beautifully dressed. When everyone in the crowd said to him, "You are like God," he received the praise. That very moment, God struck him down.

Long after this man had died, the church that he persecuted continued to grow and multiply in that land, beyond that land, beyond that year, and beyond that century. Up until now, my friends, you and I are still worshiping the God of Peter. Amen?

This is why you and I need to pray for our church. There is power here—God is among us. And it only takes you and me to be true to our faith as followers of Christ, to be like Peter, doing the thing that we should do.

I have invited a brother of mine to share with us tonight his own journey of faith and why, for all these years, he has been serving in the church. Let’s welcome Paulo Calo.

Evangelize the Nations

Finally, let us be reminded of our CCF Vision. Do you know it? If you don’t know it, we will all recite it tonight. Are you ready?

Our vision is to see a movement of millions of committed followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, meeting in small groups and transforming lives, families, communities, and nations for the glory of God.

Friends, if we want to move this nation for the Lord, we start with ourselves. If we are faithful to God’s calling in our own lives, we will transform our families. What happens after that? Communities, and then the nation. It never works the other way around. If you and I want to change this country that we love, we must love Jesus. Amen?

So we will pray tonight and ask the Lord to bring to mind everything we want to give to Him about our church and our nation. And we will be expectant of what He will do among us.

Let’s pray:

Father in heaven, we just thank You, Lord, for allowing us this time and place to be with each other, Lord, and to focus our minds on the things that are important to You. Lord, we bring to You CCF Cebu, this church in the middle of Metropolitan Cebu.

Lord, we fall down on our knees and we pray to You, Lord, that You will look upon this church and do with it what You want to do. Lord, I pray for every one of us here, each one, Lord, to have a heart like Peter’s—to go back to the fight after every struggle we go through, to be expectant of how You will move despite the challenges we see in front of us. Lord, allow us to look to You and see infinitely more purpose and meaning than what we see for ourselves today.

Lord, we pray for this nation that we love. We pray for this nation that You love. Lord, give us the heart to care for our leaders and those that we live with in our community. And allow us, Father, to be faithful with our own families, to truly make an impact in Your name.

Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Who Am I In Christ?

This afternoon, we continue our series on the book of Colossians. We call our series Jesus: The Expression of God's Love. If you have been with us for the past few weeks, two weeks ago we started this series. Now, we are in Book Two, Colossians Chapter 2, and we will be going through everything that the Lord has in store for us as we study this important letter of Paul to the church in Colossae.

The title for our message is Who Am I in Christ? Who am I in Christ?

When we talk about who we are, we inevitably go into a question of identity. What makes us us? What makes you you? These are all questions of identity. The first thing we know about identity is that it is given.

Today, we celebrate our fathers, and often the fathers are the ones who give their family name to the children. Often, the wives even take on the family name of the father or the husband. In many ways, that means as we are born into this world, our identity is automatically given to us by our fathers. Isn't that right?

That means when you're seated there in front of me, you are not just people who existed out of a vacuum. No, these are people who are in many ways a combination of their fathers and their fathers' fathers, and their mothers and mothers' mothers, all rolled into one. The identities of all our fathers have been passed on to you.

Maybe you will notice in your family that you kind of talk the same way, maybe you have the same personalities, or you look alike. Our identity is given.

In his book Wild at Heart, John Eldridge puts it this way: "A boy learns who he is and what he's got from a man or the company of men. The plan from the very beginning was that his father would lay the foundation for a young boy's heart and pass on to him that essential knowledge and confidence in his strength. Dad would be the first man in his life and forever the most important man. Above all, he would answer the question of his son and give him his name."

Throughout the history of man, as given to us in Scripture, it is the father who gives the blessing and thereby names the son. This is a very important truth. It's so true, in fact, that no less than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, demonstrated this in His own life.

We are told in the Gospel that when Jesus first decided He would begin His ministry, He went to see His cousin, John the Baptist. He went to him and asked to be baptized. We are told from the Scripture that after He was baptized, He prayed. The Holy Spirit, in the shape of a dove, descended on Him, but then another thing happened. Do you remember? A voice was heard from heaven, and the voice said, "You are My Son, whom I love. With You, I am well pleased."

It is at this point that Jesus is given His very identity. That was to be His identity for the rest of His life and ministry: the Son of God. Not only was He called the Son of God, but God made it very clear to Him that He is well-loved and that the Lord is very well-pleased with Him.

Now, isn't it true that among all of us here, we long for the love and approval of our own fathers? We all want to hear those words: "I love you," and "I'm proud of you." Here, in the very life of Jesus, He's heard it, He's gotten it. He heard no less than His own Father, God, that He is loved, and God is well-pleased with Him.

Our study of Colossians 2 takes us to three main points. The first point is this: Who is Christ? Can you say that with me? Who is Christ?

You know, the question is very important. Pastor Peter always makes it a point to remind us of this verse in John: "They know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." This is eternal life—that we know Jesus.

Paul, in his letter to the church in Colossae, makes it, in fact, his primary goal. He says, "My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

So, in order for Paul to make the church understand who they are in Christ, he needed to go back to the question of who Christ is. Paul tells them in a beautiful verse in Colossians 2:9: "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority."

Paul is saying, Jesus is God. All the fullness of the Deity is in Him in bodily form.

Now, if we do not believe Paul, let us ask Jesus Himself what He says about who He is. There's an interesting scene in the Gospel where the Jews ask Him plainly, "Who are you?" In John 10:24, they asked, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."

Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe."

My friends, is it possible that Jesus Himself could tell us who He is, and yet we will not believe? Is it possible that many times in our lives, God has made Himself known, and yet, for some reason or another, we don't believe? Or worse, we don't care?

Jesus continued, "The works I do in My Father's name testify about Me, but you do not believe because you are not My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 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."

Jesus has made that claim Himself. Do you know this for yourself? All the prophecies of ancient Scripture have pointed to Christ. This is the Jesus who lived, died, and lived again. He is God.

Do you know this to be true? Have you made the same conclusion as Paul?

Now, early on in my family's life, God showed us in a very special way who He is, and I'd like to share a story with you. My wife and I, we got married, and like many young couples, maybe there are some here, we were very excited to have our very first child. So, we waited. We felt like it took a very long time. One year, back then, felt like a very long time. We were already very anxious.

If there are any young couples here, don't be anxious.

Anyway, we prayed, and we got our prayer request. A year after getting married, we finally got pregnant. We were so excited! It was going to be our first child. Even before that child got to the first trimester and the second trimester, we already had the clothes picked out. That's how excited we were.

Everything went smoothly. We were very happy—until we got to the third trimester. During this time, like many mothers know, you go through routine ultrasounds. We went through an ultrasound, and that was when we found out the news.

The ultrasound results showed us that there was something wrong with the baby we had been praying for. For some reason, the bones of our baby weren't measuring correctly. The left side of her body was measuring differently from the right side. We had the results read by our doctor, and the doctor said, "This is skeletal dysplasia." We went home.

At about that time, we did just about the worst thing you could do at that point—we Googled what it was. We went to Google, and we researched what it meant. We found out that "skeletal dysplasia" is a catchphrase for around 300 types of abnormalities. These abnormalities can range from something like the child having deformities, to dwarfism, or at its worst, internal abnormalities in her skeletal structure that, at the point of birth, she would grasp her first breath and die. It is likely that the rib bones could puncture the lung, which would be very fatal.

So there we were—first-time parents, very newly married, and we were hearing and reading about all these possibilities. Honestly, we didn't know what to do. At that point, we asked for prayers from our d-group, from our d-group leaders, and just about anyone who could pray for us. We asked them to pray for us.

You see, this wasn't part of the plan. That baby was supposed to be born, and everything would be happy.

We went to another doctor and another ultrasound machine. We were very hopeful—maybe it was just a fluke, maybe it wasn't really true. So we went to another ultrasound machine and another doctor, and we got the results. The results showed that it was even worse than what we expected. For some reason, the baby was really very different. Her long bones weren't measuring correctly.

I felt so defeated. We were very depressed, very sad.

If you know my wife, she's a very brave woman, and she would always put up a very strong front. But at night, when she thought I'd be asleep, I would hear her cry, because it was just too much.


I remember my wife wrote her sister a letter around this time, and the letter mentioned something like this: "If it turns out that at the point of her birth, our baby would pass away, it would be all the more reason to look forward to heaven." She was trying to see the positive side of it, but of course, it was very hard.

It was at this stage that I figured out I needed to be strong for my wife. Dads, you all know this, right? You need to be strong for the mom, for your wife. And I knew that the only way I was going to be strong for her was if I were weak in front of God.

So I decided that I would allot one week of prayer and fasting. At night, I would not eat, and I would lock myself in the room and pray. I would ask the Lord, "Lord, please, You can't do this. Is it possible, Lord, for us not to go through this?" Of course, I asked the Lord for what was really in my heart. But at the very end of that week, I knew very clearly that the Lord was telling me something. It is this verse in Proverbs: "In their hearts, humans plan their course, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

I knew in my heart that the Lord was telling me, "You know what, Bri? I’m going to be doing whatever it is that I want to do."

God, I realized at that point, wasn’t a genie. He wasn’t someone that I could just ask for my wish and expect to get it. God wasn’t a dog that I could put on a leash and lead around wherever I wanted. He was going to be God, and I was not.

To many, this might sound very depressing, right? But you know what, friends? In my heart, I knew that God was good. And for some reason, I knew that because He was in control, and because He was good, I could be at peace.

So I learned that very early on—that the God I worship is a God who is in control. He's got this, and I was not.

So, of course, it was time for the third ultrasound, and of course, we went to another doctor and another ultrasound machine, right? Maybe this time around there would be good news. Maybe it wasn’t really something bad, maybe it was just a mistake.

We were prepared for good news during the third ultrasound, but there was none that day. In fact, the ultrasound showed that it had gotten even worse. The deformities were becoming clearer, and the bones were all sorts of wrong. I can even remember one of the doctors telling us during that time, “You know what? It’s okay. A lot of people go through this, and dwarfs can have a very happy life.”

We were just listening to the doctor, half-nodding and half-shaking our heads. It was very difficult, but we had peace at that point. I resigned myself to the fact that the Lord would have His way.

During that time, I remember many of our friends would ask us, “Why are you still smiling? Why are you still here in the group meetings?” And we couldn’t explain it. We just had peace. It was, I think, what the Bible calls “the peace that is beyond understanding.”

One week after the third ultrasound, my wife went into delivery. It was going to be showtime. So we drove to the hospital, and like many dads here and many dads before us, I waited there in our room—uselessly—waiting for my wife to have her labor. Dads, remember this moment, right? You don’t know what to do. You count your fingers, you don’t know what to do. So I was just waiting and waiting.

Then, I got a call. The call was from a very good friend who was the husband of our pediatrician. His wife was there in the delivery room, and she saw our baby. She called her husband, and her husband called me.

“Bri,” he said. “Yes, po,” I replied.

He said, "The baby is beautiful."

I couldn’t understand this—it wasn’t registering in my mind. So I took my mother-in-law, and we ran all the way to the nursery room. We peeked in that window, and there I saw her for the very first time. The doctors all looked at her, examined her, and they could not find anything wrong with her.

I don’t know what happened. I wish I could tell you—I really don’t. But one thing I know: that baby wasn’t okay, and then the baby was okay.

Is it a miracle? For sure it is! How else could I explain it?

So I learned another thing about God that day. I knew that God was in control, but I also know that God answers prayers. And since then, at the very early stage of our married life, my wife and I decided that this is going to be the God that our family will worship. He is a God who is in control, He is a God who is good, and He is a God who answers prayers. And no one here can convince us otherwise.

This is now Sarah. She’s 11 years old. This is her beauty queen pose, and I always remember that story every time we see her.

The second thing that we will learn today from Colossians 2 is this: Who am I in Christ? I know Christ is God, but what does it mean for me to be a Christian?

You see, the word Christian means different things to different people. That’s why I always hesitate to use that word because I don’t know how you understand what that word means. So, I always say "follower of Christ."

I remember a story about a man who was being chased by a lion. Do you know that story? A man was being chased by a lion, and he was so afraid that the lion would come and eat him. So he ran and ran and ran. Eventually, he grew very tired, and he asked the Lord, "Lord, can You turn this lion into a Christian? Can You turn this lion who is chasing me into a Christian?"

The Lord answered his prayer, and suddenly he realized that no one was chasing him anymore. So he looked back, and there he saw something amazing. The lion was bent on his knees with his two paws pressed together, eyes closed and lifted up to heaven. He was so surprised. “My goodness! The lion turned into a Christian!” He couldn’t believe it. So he went nearer to the lion. He wanted to understand this. As he went nearer and nearer to the lion, he heard the lion’s prayer: "Bless us, O Lord, for these Thy gifts which I am about to eat from Your bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen."

Those were the last words he heard before the lion devoured him!

So, what kind of Christian are you? Are you a prayerful Christian, or are you a prayerful Christian before you eat your enemy? You don’t know, right?

Christian means different things to different people, and so we go back to the Bible, and we will find out how Paul describes what a follower of Christ is. Do you want to hear it? Here it is in verse 6: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him."

The very first thing we realize about a follower of Christ is that he receives Jesus. Receives means that this is something given. It isn’t something stolen, and it isn’t something you claim for yourself. It isn’t even something inherited. It has to do with a personal decision to receive Jesus Christ.

My wife and I have three kids now. We had Sarah, and we have a boy, and then another girl. Our boy, Ethan, is a very special boy. He’s very friendly. He likes to talk to people, and he likes to have friends. In our little neighborhood where we live, he’s gained for himself a lot of friends.

He’s at that age in his life when he starts to be very conscious about the differences between him and his friends, and his family and his friends’ families. One day, my wife tells me, as Ethan was washing the dishes, he asked her a question. He said, "Mama, how do I know whether what I believe in is real? How do I know whether what I believe in is real?"

You know, it’s moments like this that I praise God for making us decide to homeschool them. You see, our kids are always watching us, and they have a lot of questions in their heads. My wife and I wanted to make it clear that when they start having these questions, there would at least be either one of us there who can answer that question for them before they find that answer out from anyone else.

So my wife, bless her heart, told our son Ethan, "You know, our family believes He is real—Jesus is real—because of the many, many times in our lives when God has made Himself real to us."

She shared, of course, that story I just shared with you, and many others. My son listened to this. He nodded his head, and he appreciated it. He understood. But then he said something very curious. He said, “But you see, those things only happened to you. They never happened to me.”


"But you see, those things only happened to you. They never happened to me."

That sentence lingered in the air. My wife realized the profundity of what he said, and she just grew emotional. She comforted him, and they prayed together. For a mother, that’s a very rare thing to witness. It was the very beginning of our son's journey of faith.

Ethan’s question is as important to him as it is to us. When we think about being a follower of Christ, we need to realize that we must get to a point where we understand that it is a gift from God that we must experience for ourselves. First, you hear about Christ—this is the time when someone who loves the Lord shares Christ with you. Here in CCF, we have a strategy called Pray, Care, Share. We intentionally pray for all the men and women we know, and we care enough for them to share Jesus with them.

Dads, I want to talk to you personally today. Are you making Christ known to your own family?

Romans 10:14 says, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

The very first thing that needs to be done is for a person to hear about Christ. The second thing is that the person must accept Christ. But what do we mean when we say accept Christ? How does that happen? It really means accepting what Jesus says about who you are and believing that it is true. It is accepting your own human condition as described by Jesus.

Now, what is our human condition? The truth of the matter is that no matter how good a person you are, at the core of your heart and mind is a tendency to mess things up. Do you believe that? Do you agree? The Bible calls it sin. It is our own tendency to mess things up.

In fact, Paul says it eloquently in Romans 7:14-19:

"We know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing."

Isn’t that relatable? Is this true for you as well? Let’s not even talk about sin yet—let’s talk about your exercise plan. How is it that the things you want to do, you don’t do, and the things you don’t want to do, you keep on doing? Why is that? It’s the sin that lives in you and me.

My friends, if you continue to believe that you’re okay, you will never get to the point of needing and accepting Jesus in your heart. We all need to realize our own sinful state in the face of God.

So what does God do? What does He do about this situation? What does He do about all of the suffering that He sees from all the men and women—past, present, and future—with all the sinfulness that lives inside of us?

God looks at this and says, "Enough. I will do something about this."

And that is the reason why He concocts a strategy that will be our point of salvation. Paul says in Colossians 2:13-14:

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."

On that cross, my friend, God says, "Enough. There is absolutely nothing these men and women can do to pay for whatever sin there is inside of them." It would take a God. It would take Jesus—Jesus Himself—to pay for that.

In fact, it is so serious that this is what Paul says about what Jesus did:

"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."

Up there, when Jesus was nailed to that cross, He was thinking of you. And it wasn’t the cute version of you. It wasn’t the version of you that was very lovable. Jesus knew exactly who He was dying for. He knew your sins—past, present, and future—and, despite that, He chose to love us enough to die for us.

Praise God! That is the good news of our salvation.

But you see, Jesus did not just die. Paul said, "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." This Jesus, this very God, did not remain dead. On the third day, He rose again, and He is now even more alive than you and me. He has triumphed over sin. He has made a public spectacle of it. And now, my friends, He offers this to us—His gift of salvation.

Receiving Christ in our hearts means we hear about Him, we accept what He says is true about us, and we surrender our lives to Him. Paul makes it very clear that we do not only receive a Savior; we receive a Lord. You see, to be saved is one thing, but to make Jesus the Master of our lives—that means we have accepted and received Him as Lord. And He can only be Master if we obey Him, right?

We hear about Christ, we accept Him, and we surrender our lives to Him.

As a dad, I think about my three children, and it is the prayer of my heart that at some point in their lives, they will come to that decision for themselves. Because that is not something I, as their dad, can make for them. It is not something automatic. It is a decision they will have to make for themselves.

Meanwhile, what can we as dads do? We can live our lives true to our calling as Christians. We live our lives intentionally, putting hedges around our family, and allowing them to see that it is possible for a Christian to live in this world right now, walking in faith with Christ.

Dads, if your children see that it is important to you, it will be important to them, and it will make that decision so easy for them to make. It’s a decision we all make for ourselves, but dads, we can model the life of a true Christian to them.

I would like to invite a friend of mine to share with us his own journey in faith. Let’s welcome Jerylle Balwit.

The third thing we learn from Colossians 2 is this: I am free in Christ. Can you say that with me? I am free in Christ.

The third thing we learn from Colossians 2 is this: I am free in Christ. Can you say that with me? I am free in Christ.

In verses 20-22, Paul writes:

“Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.”

What Paul is trying to say is that even if we have chosen for ourselves and received the gift of God to become followers of Christ, even if that is the identity we receive, we are still in the world. The world will try its hardest to convince us that we can be someone other than that.

We read this very interesting summary in 1 John 2:16:

“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”

These three categories of lies are the ones that continue to entangle us in identities that are different from who we really are. Let’s break this down.

When we talk about the lust of the flesh, this is the lie that tells us we are defined by our sexual nature. It promises us infinite pleasure, but the result is only confusion and despair, especially among the young. This is a lie that tells a father it’s okay to go through infidelity because "that’s what dads do." But what is the truth? The truth is that you and I are already complete in Christ. That is the truth of our identity that we must live out.

The second category of sin is the lust of the eyes. Here, it’s talking about greed and the love of money. It tells us a lie that money is the ultimate pursuit in life, and as long as you have money, your life will be limitless. Of course, it's only as limitless as your credit limit, right? This lie has driven many of us into financial bondage.

This category of lie is something very true for me. Long before I met Christ, I believed a lie about myself—that I am a spender. My very first salary, I went on a shopping spree. I didn’t care. I believed if I had the money, I had to spend it right away. Until something happened: I heard a sermon by Pastor Peter, and there he talked about tithing and giving. He made me realize one thing that is very important—that there is nothing that I own that is not of God.

And so, I made a decision that day—I would give Sunday after Sunday, I would give. I wish I could tell you that all of a sudden, ten million pesos miraculously appeared. I wish that were the case, but that’s not what happened. What instead happened was that my mind changed. I gave my 10%, and then I looked at my 90% and told myself, "I better take responsibility for this."

That decision I made when I was still single broke generations of sin in my own family’s life. Could you imagine if the Lord had not taught me that lesson and I got married? I would have brought into that marriage so many problems. But the Lord has freed my wife and me from that, and I praise God for that freedom He offers to every one of us here.

Now let’s talk about the third category of lie: the pride of life. As you go out of this place, you will realize that a lot of people not only celebrate Father’s Day this month—they also celebrate Pride Month. And of course, we can talk about gender identity, but what Pride Month is really saying is that "I, as a man, can set for myself a destiny that would be right for me." It says, "I can make up my own rules, and I can be whatever I want to be."

You know what? This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when the serpent told the woman and the man, "You will not certainly die if you disobey God." The serpent said, "For God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

That is the lie that says, "Go ahead, do whatever you want. Find every possible means to get power for yourself." But what is the truth? The truth is that we are not God. God is God, and we are not. Our application to join the Trinity is rejected.

He is God, and we are not. Only when we realize who we really are in the face of God can we truly be free.

Jesus said in John 8:34-36:

“Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Amen. That’s what Jesus is telling us today.

Last Wednesday was Independence Day. We celebrated our what? Freedom. You know, there’s a beautiful Tagalog word for independence—it’s this word, kasarinlan. Do you know what that word means? We’ll have a third service in Tagalog, so we better shape up on our Tagalog skills! Kasarinlan—independence. The root word of kasarinlan is sarili—which means self. This beautiful Tagalog word is making a comment about what it truly means to be free. It is to be true to who you really are. And who you really are is this: you are a son of God, you are a daughter of God. Any other identity you give yourself, other than that, will only entangle you in sin and put you in bondage.

And my friends, we don’t want to be there. We’ve seen enough of the destruction, the hate, and the many broken families left in the path of people who have entangled themselves in sin. Generations and generations of families have fallen. Will it end with you? Will it finally be broken with you? Dads, will your family be the start of something new?

Because it’s Father’s Day, I thought it would be very fitting for us to close with a story from the Bible. It’s a very familiar story, of course—the story is entitled The Prodigal Son. It begins in Luke 15:11:

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’”

You know, it’s true then as it is now, inheritance is given to you after the father has died, correct? Now, the younger son says, "Give it to me now." What he’s really saying is, "I wish you were dead, because I want my share."

He didn’t care very much about his own father. So what does the father do? He divided his property between the two sons. Not long after that, the younger son got together all that he had, and then he set off for a distant country. There, he believed a lie. The lie was this: that you are a man whose pursuit is pleasure and happiness. He squandered his wealth in wild living.

Of course, it’s bound to be spent—all of it. And after he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed what? Pigs.

Now to a Jew, this is just about the worst thing that can happen. You see, Jews don’t eat pork. Pigs to them are unclean. To be a man who has fallen so far from grace, and now finds himself a servant to pigs, that just about brought him to his lowest point.

And so he does something interesting. He says to himself, "I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.’"

You see, this man has gotten so low, believing in himself that he is a servant—that’s all he believes he can be. He can only be that—a servant. And when he thinks of himself as a son of his father, it doesn’t make sense to him anymore. He isn’t worthy—that’s what he said.

He goes home, and something interesting happens.

While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.

I ask many people, "Do you ever remember your father running?" Many people would say no, because, you see, fathers don’t run. Especially the very senior fathers—they would walk, very slow. Fathers only run when there’s something really, really urgent, maybe an emergency. But see the heart of this father—right from afar, he sees his son. That means he spent all this time just looking out, waiting for that son to come home. And when he finally did, he saw him, recognized him from afar, and he ran, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.

Then, what does the father say? He says, "Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate, for this son of mine"—not this servant—"this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found." And so they began to celebrate.

While they began to celebrate, the father was overjoyed because his son, who was lost, had returned. This story of the Prodigal Son is one of the most beautiful illustrations of God’s love and compassion for us.

My friends, where are you now in your journey of faith? Have you run away too long from the Father? Today, I want to say a prayer, and if the prayer is true for you, I encourage you to pray it from your heart because there’s no mistake and no accident—you are here today, on Father’s Day, hearing this message that tells you, the Father loves you.

Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Lord, I am here this afternoon, and I wasn’t really thinking about what’s going to happen. But Father, I am hearing this message that says, You love me. So, Lord, I think back to all those times in my life that I am not proud of. I think back to all the mistakes I have made. I have believed the lies that the world has told me about who I am.

And now, Lord, I hear that You, for reasons only known to You, love me enough to die on that cross so that I can have a chance to be another kind of man. Lord, I don’t know what this means. I know in my heart I am not worthy. Like the son in the story, Lord, I can only think of myself as a servant to sin. And yet, here You are, waiting for me from afar, running toward me right now to call me a son.

Lord, is this true? I see it happen in other people, Lord—I hear their stories—but, You know what, Lord? It only happens to them. It never happens to me.

Lord, will You reveal Yourself as real to me too? Can I have, Lord, that freedom You are promising to so many?

Lord, can today be the start of something new—not only for me but for my family as well?

Lord Jesus, I come with nothing, nothing at all, but only faith that this is possible. In Your name, I pray. Amen.

Friday, December 22, 2023

Jesus: Hope for the Community

 Introduction


Merry Christmas, everyone. There are now 8 days before Christmas and already you can feel the full brunt of Christmas traffic. It’s the time when many families come together to celebrate. Christmas parties are happening everywhere, and the season is not yet over! Based on the social media posts I see, I guess it is still true, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.


Loneliness Survey


But let me share with you something interesting. From June 2022 to February 2023 this year, Gallup research and Meta joined together for a study on social connectedness and loneliness. They surveyed 142 countries all over the world of which the Philippines was one of them. The results of this survey were published in a paper called The Global State of Social Connections. The results were staggering.



The Philippines ranked second in the world for having the highest score of self-reported loneliness. Every other person I share this information with always gives me a skeptical look. It can’t be! Maybe they just did an online survey that just pops out of Facebook so self-selecting more or less an already lonely group of people. But I reviewed the methodology, and it looks like it holds. They did face to face interviews and the sampling was random and stratified. Could it be that we are just very good at hiding loneliness?


If the survey is correct that 3 out of 5 among us are fairly or very lonely, we are in trouble. Loneliness is defined as a state of solitude or being alone. It is a state of mind. So even if you are surrounded by people, you can actually still be lonely. Chronic loneliness is also a rather serious medical condition, and it can lead to more serious diseases.


Independent Living


In one of my projects as a software engineer, I had to make a system for social carers in a Western country. Now the culture of this country, like many in the first world nations, puts a high premium on “Independent Living”. That means that the culture thinks it is important that citizens must be able to maintain a lifestyle of not having to depend on anyone - being able to live alone - even at an advanced age.


I was tasked to help design an automated payment system for social care workers for the elderly. One of the items that struck me was a payment item called “sitting and befriending services” - with a rate of - in pesos - 700 to 1,000 per hour. For this service, the carer was expected to do nothing but sit with an elderly person, strike up a conversation with the goal of starting a social connection that will hopefully translate to friendship. Once the time is up, the carer picks up her things and goes home. The elder remains there, alone in her apartment, ready for the rest of her day. Why do they do this? Because studies have shown that without social connections, the elderly suffer more from diseases that come along with old age.


The great American thinker Britney Spears is right:


“My loneliness is killing me.”

  • Britney Spears


Now why am I being a downer and talking about loneliness during the Christmas season? Because this sets the backdrop of our Biblical verses this morning. In the previous Sundays, we talked about Mary and the grace she received from God. Last Sunday we talked about Zechariah, Elizabeth and John. This time, we jump a few verses forward and we look at a time shortly after the birth of Jesus when he was just a small baby. 


<prayer>


The title of our message today is Jesus: Hope for the Community.


Our message today has three simple points. The first one is this:


1. Humble Yourself

2.

3.


We begin our story from Luke 2:21:


Luke 2:21


21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.


Theophany


I was talking to the kids in our homeschool group, boys and girls from 3-11 years old. I asked them a question - If you are on a mission to save the world and you can be anything you want to be, what would you be? They gave the familiar and the obvious answers - the super heroes they admire at the moment, a big robot, or someone with powers. But you see it’s logical isn’t it? If God was on a mission to save the world, wouldn’t you have expected him to appear as a giant mechatron floating from the sky?


In fact in many parts of the Old Testament, God has revealed himself in different ways to humanity. This is known as Theophany, or a physical appearance of God to people:


  • A burning bush to Moses (Exodus 3:2)

  • A pillar of fire and cloud to the nation of Israel (Exodus 13)

  • Melchizedek (Gen 14)


But here in our story, God revealed himself as a baby. God was on a mission to save the world. Because he is God, he can turn himself into anything he wants to be. And he chose to turn himself into the most dependent, helpless, vulnerable thing there can ever be in the whole world - an infant! 


It is at this point that homeschoolers will look at you and start to wonder if it’s better if they should go to a regular school and learn from a teacher who can make better sense.


Baby Savior


It is a mission plan that only God could have made. It’s so ridiculous it has got to be true. There you are God of the Universe. The very word of God - in whom and through whom the creation of the Universe took place. And here you are, an infant, and all you can think about is that you are hungry. You also can’t say you are hungry so you cry. You cry too when you feel gassy. And until this lady whose name was Mary puts you upright and hugs you a little tight, you can never feel better. So you cry, and she picks you up. And finally, you give out a holy burp.


Eight days into this routine you wake up from a short nap because your dad, Joseph, needed to do something to you. It was too late for you to realize that he was now holding your little thing there in his hands. Suddenly a shiny knife appears. And before you object, he circumcises you in obedience to the law of Moses. It of course hurts! So you give a sharp cry! There is nothing you want more than to be held and comforted. Preferably by that lady Mary. So she does. And you drift back to sleep.


Be Humble, Seek Others


The point is this, humble yourself. You cannot be alone. Admit your need for another. The great Jewish philosopher Barbara Streisand is right:


“People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”

  • Barbara Streisand


My friends, let us be very clear. When you and I pursue independent lives away from the mercy of people, when you and I work our hairs off just to ensure that we are self-sufficient, when we in the end suffer from the feelings of loneliness because of these walls we build around us, Jesus - God himself - chose to begin his mission on earth by being born into a family. He willingly subjected himself to the care and dependence of other humans.


What does this mean for us today? It means that we must not be so proud to think that we do not need other people. We are creatures designed for a family, for people we can depend on and love. If Jesus showed us by his example that he can be so humble as to accept and receive the love of a family, then we should be too. In fact if you are seated next to a family member right now, can you look them in the eye and say in a sincere way: I need you.


Dysfunctional Families


Now, it is not lost to many of us that there are those who have never had the privilege of being born into an ideal family. Well, it would surprise you that the family that Jesus was born into, the very ancestry of Christ, is full of men and women who are less than stellar in the character department. 


In the account of Matthew of the genealogy of Jesus, he includes the following people:


  • Tamar - who tricked her father-in-law Judah to sleep with her (Genesis 38)

  • Rahab - a Canaanite who was a prostitute (Joshua 2)

  • Solomon - whose mother was Bathsheeba, Uriah’s wife (2 Samuel 11)


There were many from the family tree of Jesus that you can consider as moral outsiders. Members of what can only be described kindly as “dysfunctional families”. And yet the Bible has not shied away from identifying them as the ancestors of Christ. God himself chose these groups of men and women, warts and all, to usher in the birth of the Savior of the world.


My friends, let me tell you something. No family is perfect. And I do not minimize the hurts and pains that many of us go through on a daily basis, coping with the realities of heartbreaking family lives. But let me tell you something: Through this family life - no matter how hopeless it may be to you and me - God is able to bring out something so extraordinary. You can choose today to come to God, to lift up your family, and allow him to work through you and your loved ones, something that only He can do. To break the chains of generations of hopelessness, and change the course of your family’s destiny.


The next point that we learn is this:


1. Humble Yourself

2. Join the Community

3.


We continue the story:


Luke 2:22-24


When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”


Not only is family important to Jesus, God himself made it clear that his plan for salvation included Jesus being born into a community of men and women, in this case, the nation of Israel.


What is a Community?


Community is a beautiful word. 


Community - a group of people living together having a particular characteristic in common


It means a group of people living together having a particular characteristic in common. This means that a community must be distinct. Otherwise, you will not be able to tell a community apart from other communities.


Nowadays, young people will easily identify themselves with communities who share their love for certain artists, for example. Among us there are Swifties, there are Potterheads, or Marvel Universe Fans. You can also choose to belong to communities who share your particular lifestyle choices - vegans, crossfit groups, basketball players. Or maybe clubs for playing golf, having coffee, camping or biking. Take your pick, there are communities for anything you can think of.


Whatever community you belong in, one thing is sure, there are certain expectations the community demands of you. If you are in a vegan community, you can’t join the next meeting bringing lechon for potluck. Or if you are a KathNiel fan, you have to at least feel some level of sadness for what happened recently (if you know, you know). It is the laws of the community that make the community distinct.


A Community of Laws


But here, we are talking about a different kind of community. The Jewish nation is not a community built around shared hobbies. It is not a mutual appreciation society. In fact it is a different kind of society altogether. It is a community devoted to set it apart and make it distinct for the purpose of worshiping God. A community made holy for the Lord.


In order for the community to be distinct, it required members of the community to live out certain expectations embodied in laws. These laws have been passed on from generation to generation. They were there to set the community apart from the rest of the nations and people groups that surround them. We see the laws that Joseph and Mary followed in Leviticus 12:


Leviticus 12:6-8


“‘When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. He shall offer them before the LORD to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood.


“‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean. ”


Here we notice how Joseph and Mary have faithfully obeyed the laws and regulations of the community that they belonged in. In fact we notice one other thing: The birth of a son actually required a sacrifice of a one year-old lamb. We begin to see the financial status of Joseph’s family - they couldn’t afford that. So they brought instead two doves or two young pigeons.


This tells us that despite the obvious financial constraints, Joseph and Mary endeavored to keep to the regulations of the community, even at great personal sacrifices. The very model of Joseph and Mary gives us a glimpse into the fact that community - belonging and and adhering to it - is important to Jesus.


Persecution and Hope


Because Israel was set apart from other nations, they have been persecuted many times in their history. The persecution of this community has been long and hard:


History of Jewish Persecution:

  • Neo-Babylonian Empire - 605 BC

  • Seleucid Empire - 167 BC

  • Roman Empire - 117 AD


Even today, we see Israel still at odds with its neighbors around them. It is interesting that at this point of history where Jesus was born into, this struggle has been met by God with silence. Last Sunday, Ptr Peter made a point to mention that during this time, God has been quiet to the nation of Israel, sharing no revelations or raising no prophets.


So the whole nation put their hope in someone who was yet to come - the Messiah. The one that will deliver them from their difficulties. It is this hope that sustained the community all this time.


But it is not easy to wait, isn’t it? Especially if you do not know when the one you are waiting for will start talking.


<silence>


It’s awkward, right? And for many of the Jews in the community, they have lost hope. But not so with everyone.


Simeon


Here, we meet another character in our story. 


Luke 2:25-32 


Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.


Here, we see that the righteous and devout Simeon did not lose hope. And because he did not, God through the Holy Spirit gave him a special favor. That he would not die until he met the Messiah that the whole nation was waiting for.


Simeon refers to this Messiah as a consolation. It might sound weird in our ears now because we always associate consolation as in “consolation prize” - a palubag luob. But Consoler is a Messianic title.


The community is looking for a comforter


700 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah wrote:


Isaiah 40:1-2 


Comfort, comfort my people,

    says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,



Even today, Jews pray "menachem aveilim” which is asking God to bring comfort to His people. The “consolation” or “comforter” (menachem) is here primarily highlighted as the ministry of Jesus. 


The comforter is the savior


But to comfort them from what? Isaiah sees it very clearly - to comfort them from the guilt of their sins. 


Isaiah 40:1-2 


Comfort, comfort my people,

    says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

    that her sin has been paid for,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

    double for all her sins.



You see, the longing that you and I have for comfort is not an emotional problem. As far as Isaiah is concerned, it is a sin problem.


If you are listening today and have always felt within you a deep sadness. If you have pursued so many things just to find some level of comfort and peace. My friend, what you really are looking for is not something that can just numb the pain of hopelessness, you need someone who will save you from your sins. 


As far as Simeon is concerned he is Jesus. In fact, he is more than just a comforter - he is the savior. 


Luke 2:25-32 

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:


“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, 

you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 

For my eyes have seen your salvation, 

which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”


True salvation requires “pain”


How does Jesus save us from our sins? The next part of the story is very revealing - 


Luke 2:33-35 


33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”


What a remarkable statement from Simeon. The comforter - the one who saves you and me - will reveal the thoughts of many hearts. And in the case of Mary - the one who in the end will prove to be one of Jesus’ most faithful followers - will pierce her own soul. Timothy Keller talks about this seeming contradiction this way:


“How does a surgeon bring peace to your body if it has a tumor in it? The surgeon spills your blood, cuts you open, because that is your only path to health. How does a therapist help a downcast, depressed person? Often she does it by bringing up the past, getting the patient to confront painful memories and terrible feelings. The surgeon and therapist often have to make you feel worse before you can feel better.”

  • Timothy Keller


The salvation that we are looking for requires a recognition that you and I are sick and that we require a healer other than ourselves. We must get to the point that we recognize our need for a savior. We must recognize our own sinfulness. That can be an uncomfortable experience, but that has to be done.


Everyday we must confront our sinfulness. And everyday we must allow the Savior to reveal the hidden thoughts of our hearts and pierce our very soul.


Why do we need to take part in community?


So the nation of Israel was set apart for God. And the nation of Israel shared in the hope for a savior. What does it mean for us today? As followers of Christ, the expectation to continue to be set apart from God - to be holy and distinct for God - continues to stand. Paul said so himself:


Romans 12:1-2 


​Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.


As we struggle not to conform to the pattern of this world - the thinking and characteristics that are not of God - we stumble upon something. We stumble upon other people who believe the same truth that we do and walk the same journey that we do. 


1 John 1:5-7 


This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.



CS Lewis said it beautifully:


“You cannot believe alone”

  • CS Lewis


We go to heaven in groups.


What is a DGroup?


This fellowshipping with each other as we walk in the light of God is the Christian community. In our church, we call this the discipleship group or the DGroup. Now this is a big group, and our sincere belief is that there is very little opportunity for us to have deep and meaningful relationships with each other in a big group such as this. So there are small groups that meet not just on Sunday but across the week to share lives with each other, pray for one another, hold each other accountable in the area of obedience to God. As the bigger church grows in size, we need to make sure that all of us belong to smaller groups of men and women to find a richer, more full experience of what a Christian community is. Many of our small groups are groups of maybe 5 or 6 single men, or single women, or couples. They meet across the week, every week, in different homes, coffee shops, and schools all over the city. 


These are not social clubs or mutual admiration societies. Just like the community that Jesus was born into, these DGroups are there to set the Christian apart from the rest of society by honoring God in our thoughts and actions.


Here, we take the opportunity to minister to each other by sharing our lives together. We pray when someone needs prayers, we rejoice in their victories big or small, we encourage them when they need encouragement. We read the Bible together and find points of obedience, and we hold each other accountable for our obedience.


You see friends, I think there are many among us who are truly looking for the consolation, the comforter, the savior. I will be the first to say that this is an imperfect church. But this is a church that will welcome you just as you are. You will find a home here, a group of men and women, just like yourself, who are in their Christian journey. You cannot be a Christian alone. And my prayer is this - that you will belong to a community today. See us at the Welcome Center. Tell us about your story. It might take a while, so please be patient. But we will find a small group for you.


Anna


We now go to the third and final point:


1. Humble Yourself

2. Join the Community

3. Serve the Community


As we continue the story, we meet another character Anna.


Luke 2:36-38


36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.



Unlike Simeon, Luke tells us a little bit more about Anna. We see here that she is quite advanced in years. We also know she is like Simeon, a faithful and devout Godly woman - she worships daily, fasts and prays. But what I really want to highlight in these verses is the progression of Anna’s journey as a follower of God. In her advanced age, the moment she realized who Jesus was, she did not wait another hour, but that very moment - she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking for him.


I think at the heart of our belonging to the Christian community must lie the desire to serve the community. And at the core of every service is to point others to Jesus. You see Anna knows that there are many people who are looking for a savior. And having found Him, the best way to help the seeker is not to humor them, or make them feel good, or drive them elsewhere. The best way to help a seeker is to to point them to the sought.


How to serve within a DGroup


Many people don’t realize that serving another Christian can be as simple as listening to them. I find it remarkable that many people can actually spend one whole week without having someone really listen to them. You can always tell, they are the ones who really talk. But for you to actually allocate an hour or two hours of your time in a week, to intentionally show up in a DGroup meeting, sit there and give your attention to a brother who is having a bad day, or a sister who is just thankful for God’s blessings, no matter how small, is service. All on its own, it is a ministry. It is a ministry that we can do today, with the people closest to us, beginning with our family.


It works the other way too. My wife and I have been DGroup leaders for more than ten years now, but just recently we were having a rough patch and we had our DGroup there to just listen to us and pray for us. Our DGroup always say they are grateful for us but the truth is they will never know how immeasurably they have been more of a blessing to me and my family.


Listening and being listened to, encouraging and being encouraged, holding a brother accountable and being counted on to obey God is what a DGroup is. 


How to serve in Church (for DGroup Leaders)


If you are a DGroup Leader or thinking of starting a DGroup, let me encourage you. Your own DGroup is the Christian community that God has given you the privilege to take care of and be responsible for. Here is your unique opportunity to honor God by not only being responsible for those under your care, but to open your small groups up to many others who are seeking Jesus. Every week, we get around 15-20 seekers on average who are looking to join a DGroup. I encourage you to go and serve in the Welcome Center and help serve the seekers. I pray that we do not lose sight of the reason why we have DGroups in the first place. 


How to serve in Church (for DGroup members)


If you have been a part of a DGroup for a while now, my next encouragement is this - take part in the many other ways for you to serve in the Sunday program. Here are the many ministry opportunities:


  • Live Prod

  • Music

  • Hosting

  • Parking

  • NextGen, etc



We make sure that all of these ministries are designed to point a seeker to the one he is seeking - Jesus. 


Testimony


<JD and BJ Sulit>


<Prayer>


Closing


As we close we continue the verses in Luke 2:


Luke 2:39-40


39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.


We started our time together with a question I threw to a few homeschooled kids. If you were on a mission to save the world, and you can be anything you want to be, what would you be? God turned himself into a baby. Paul contemplated on this very fact and writes this in 2 Corinthians 8:9:


2 Corinthians 8:9


For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.


The very thing that Jesus did, he did so you and I - if we accept him as our Lord and Savior - can have the promise of eternal riches. And while we are still here on earth, to avail for ourselves the riches he offers in the relationships formed within the community of believers.


Will you humble yourself, join the community, and serve?


If you are here today and you don’t know Jesus yet. Maybe you are going through something, I don’t know what it is. But surely it is something real and pressing in your heart. If you are looking for comfort. Let me share with you a verse:



Isaiah 57:15


For this is what the high and exalted One says—

    he who lives forever, whose name is holy:

“I live in a high and holy place,

    but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly

    and to revive the heart of the contrite.


God is close to you right now.


<closing prayer>


Merry Christmas!