On May 22, I continued my series with the second sermon on God is my rock.
Israel was wandering in the desert for 40 years and in the desert they learned to rely on God. Now most of Israel is desert. It is uncultivated wilderness, a type of semi-desert (steppes, dry grassland) that with water will grow crops. There is another type of desert though that is both desert and wasteland. Nothing will grow in that land even with water.
Some see Squamish as a spiritual wasteland that will not grow and take seed. I say Squamish though a desert is not a wasteland and with God's water of the Spirit, it will become an oasis.
In the story of Exodus chapter 17, Moses is told to strike the rock to provide water for the people. He strikes the rock and out comes water which truly is life in the desert.
Forty years later in Numbers chapter 20, God tells Moses to speak to the rock and it will provide water for God's people. Instead Moses in anger strikes the rock and out flows water but God is not happy. Moses did not make it into the promised land for his hotheadedness.
You see Moses lashed out on the rock which is Christ. He struck Jesus in anger. Jesus wants to give us life. He wants to give us springs of living water flowing from within us. But we need to speak to the rock. To speak to the rock is to pray. Jesus has been struck for us already on the cross. To receive living water from him all we need to do is ask.
Dear Father, I am sorry for striking the rock. I am sorry for saying my way is best and I know better than God. I thank you for your Son who gives water and life who provides streams of living water in the desert. Please teach me Lord to provide life to my friends and neighbours, to pray by speaking to the rock and not to lash out in anger. In Jesus name. Amen
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
God is my Rock: Jesus is my foundation
This week I started a sermon series on God is my Rock.
Israel is a land of rock. Barren hillsides, dry wadis, stone mountains and a few lush valleys make up the nation. Rocks in the largely treeless nation are important.
They are used as sign posts, signs of rememberance, land markers, burial stones and covers.
As Israel learned over its history when troubles and war came, there was safety in the rocky hillside. These large natural fortresses provided security to the scared people and natural protection.
God is our rock; He is our firm footing and protection. He is security, a protection when storms arise and troubles come.
The scripture was Matt 7:24-29 on the wise and foolish builders. Both men built on level ground on dry ground away from any water. The wise man dug down deep and built on the rock. He made a personal decision for Christ and chose to live his life following Jesus.
The foolish man built on sand. He could not be bothered to dig and built out of convience. He did not make a decision for Christ but merely attended on Sunday. He was a listener but not a disciple.
But there was one thing he did not know, he had built on a wadi. A wadi is a dry creekbed that is level ground full of sand. In the dry season, it looks like desert but in the rainy season, it is filled with flash floods, torrents of water.
When the rainy seasony hit, both of these houses were hit. The rains came down and the floods came up. The house on the rock stood firm. The house on the sand collapsed and its destruction was complete.
Like these men who both faced the wall of water and rain, we do not know what the future will bring but only a life built on the rock will stand.
All of us will face storms and troubles in our life. There is a choice involved we can live for ourselves or we can live for Jesus, taking him as our foundation as our rock.
We ended with a song on Christ the solid rock I stand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQgD_Wg9DG4
Israel is a land of rock. Barren hillsides, dry wadis, stone mountains and a few lush valleys make up the nation. Rocks in the largely treeless nation are important.
They are used as sign posts, signs of rememberance, land markers, burial stones and covers.
As Israel learned over its history when troubles and war came, there was safety in the rocky hillside. These large natural fortresses provided security to the scared people and natural protection.
God is our rock; He is our firm footing and protection. He is security, a protection when storms arise and troubles come.
The scripture was Matt 7:24-29 on the wise and foolish builders. Both men built on level ground on dry ground away from any water. The wise man dug down deep and built on the rock. He made a personal decision for Christ and chose to live his life following Jesus.
The foolish man built on sand. He could not be bothered to dig and built out of convience. He did not make a decision for Christ but merely attended on Sunday. He was a listener but not a disciple.
But there was one thing he did not know, he had built on a wadi. A wadi is a dry creekbed that is level ground full of sand. In the dry season, it looks like desert but in the rainy season, it is filled with flash floods, torrents of water.
When the rainy seasony hit, both of these houses were hit. The rains came down and the floods came up. The house on the rock stood firm. The house on the sand collapsed and its destruction was complete.
Like these men who both faced the wall of water and rain, we do not know what the future will bring but only a life built on the rock will stand.
All of us will face storms and troubles in our life. There is a choice involved we can live for ourselves or we can live for Jesus, taking him as our foundation as our rock.
We ended with a song on Christ the solid rock I stand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQgD_Wg9DG4
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Humility? what's that?
On Palm Sunday, I was preaching on Philippians 2:1-11. My subject was humility.
On the Saturday before the sermon I was coming back from Richmond having just met with bishop Silas. I realized I needed gas so I pullled over to the nearest gas station to get some. I took my keys out of the ignition, closed the door, locked it and took out my interac to pay at the pump. After filling up, I went to get back in the car but it was locked. No problem.
I reached into my pockets and then noticed the keys lying on the seat in the sealed vechicle. Okay, I thought, I'll phone my parents they can help. But as many of you know, gas stations and cell phones don't mix and I had left my cell phone in the car as well. This is a problem, I thought. What do I do? So I a state of shock I stumbled over to the store section of the gas station. "Could you help me I locked my um.. do you know where a phone is?" I asked As he started to tell me where the nearest pay phone was I humbled myself and admitted my foolishness. "I locked me keys inside my car." Thankfully he took pity on me and let me borrow their phone. I then had to humble myself again and ask for help from my parents who agreed to meet me with the keys in 30 minutes. Then when they arrived, I humbled myself again by telling them the story and thanked them for their help.
We rarely chose to humble ourselves and yet Jesus humbled himself willingly for our sake by taking up a shameful cross and dying in our place. He asks us to take up our cross and follow him.
For he who humbles himself is exalted.
Humility is putting Jesus first and being thankful. It is not self-depreciation but shifting our focus from ourself.
As J.I. Packer put it to have true JOY, you must put Jesus first, Others section and Yourself last.
Jesus
Others
Yourself
This is also true humility.
Please enjoy this song about Christ's humilty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjYiEyu8Si8
On the Saturday before the sermon I was coming back from Richmond having just met with bishop Silas. I realized I needed gas so I pullled over to the nearest gas station to get some. I took my keys out of the ignition, closed the door, locked it and took out my interac to pay at the pump. After filling up, I went to get back in the car but it was locked. No problem.
I reached into my pockets and then noticed the keys lying on the seat in the sealed vechicle. Okay, I thought, I'll phone my parents they can help. But as many of you know, gas stations and cell phones don't mix and I had left my cell phone in the car as well. This is a problem, I thought. What do I do? So I a state of shock I stumbled over to the store section of the gas station. "Could you help me I locked my um.. do you know where a phone is?" I asked As he started to tell me where the nearest pay phone was I humbled myself and admitted my foolishness. "I locked me keys inside my car." Thankfully he took pity on me and let me borrow their phone. I then had to humble myself again and ask for help from my parents who agreed to meet me with the keys in 30 minutes. Then when they arrived, I humbled myself again by telling them the story and thanked them for their help.
We rarely chose to humble ourselves and yet Jesus humbled himself willingly for our sake by taking up a shameful cross and dying in our place. He asks us to take up our cross and follow him.
For he who humbles himself is exalted.
Humility is putting Jesus first and being thankful. It is not self-depreciation but shifting our focus from ourself.
As J.I. Packer put it to have true JOY, you must put Jesus first, Others section and Yourself last.
Jesus
Others
Yourself
This is also true humility.
Please enjoy this song about Christ's humilty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjYiEyu8Si8
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