A God you can depend upon

Joel 2:18-27


What are the things that you depend upon?

Well for starters I know that when I catch the train, I depend on the train driver to get me to the destination, I also rely on the engineers who built the train and that they knew what they were doing so that the train would stay on track.

Well, what are some other things do we depend upon? How about our water or our electricity? Or what about the truthfulness of what products claim?

And are these things dependable? How did you survive the last time when the power went out? Or when was the last time you bought a product and it didn’t work?

Well, tonight we come to the second halve of chapter 2 in the book of Joel. And if you remember last week, we saw that God was faithful to his promises to bring judgment upon his people for their disobedience in the form of the locust invasion.

Now just as God was faithful to his promises of judgment, we will see that tonight, he is also faithful in his promise to restore and to save; he is a God who you can depend upon.

And will we also see how we too, can benefit from that faithfulness, from that promise keeping.

So before we being looking at the second half of Joel 2, let’s begin by praying.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for making yourself know to us and showing us the way of salvation through faith in your son. We ask yow now to clear our minds of any distractions and to teach us through your word, so that we can be ready to serve you, for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Point 1 - God’s faithful character which leads to his abundant restoration

Well, I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like silence, I get agitated and feel really awkward.

For example, in the midst of a group of friends, after a long meaningful conversation, the conversation suddenly goes quiet and at its moments like these where my body just wants to scream out with noise.

Or what about waiting for that job interview, you have just sent off the application and the silence you hear before they get back to you is so loud that you can almost hear it.

Well it’s kind of like this for God’s people here in Joel. The priests, the spiritual leaders of the community, the nation cry out to God to spare his people from the locust army, to save them from the judgment that coming from God’s own hand, we can see this in v17, they cry out to God “Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations’.Here is a nation that is eagerly waiting for a response from God.

Well God remains true this character and does hears their call of repentance, and we start to see the turning point of the book Joel, from judgment to restoration.

So read with me from verse 18, “then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people” We see that Gods great reversal of the previous chapters is underway

Now does it surprise you that LORD became jealous? We generally tend to associate jealousy with something bad, don’t we? Like feeling resentment or being envious of others.

But God’s jealousy describes God’s passionate concern, his zeal, for his land, for his people and for his name. It is a precise attribute in God’s character which leads the priest, the nation in verse 17, urged by Joel to appeal in prayer and through their repentance, God’s love is stirred and he has pity on them, his people.
Now, the Israelites knew that God was a jealous God and that he was concerned about his land, his people and his name.

And this is why they cry out in verse 17 because the special relationship between God and his people was under threat, God name was being mocked among the nations and God’s honour and faithfulness was being questioned.

Well, we finally see the answer that God’s people were waiting for, in verse 19. God says “Behold. I am sending to you grain, new wine, and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations”God is reversing the sorry state of these three traditional products of the land.
In chapter 1 verse 10, we read that “the ground had dried up, the grain had been destroyed, the new wine had also dried up and the oil failed.”

But now, the Israelite nation will once again be able to enjoy the blessings of their covenantal relationship as God will restore, pay back what the locust army had taken away.

However, this isn’t just a simple restoration and reversal, but notice what God says in verse 19, he says that “you will be satisfied” and again in verse 26, “you will have plenty to eat, until you are full.”

Now, I don’t know if you ever been to a European family get-together, but I remember when I was growing up; there would always be an enormous amount of food to eat from, I was never left un-satisfied.

In the same way here we see that God’s restoration is abundant, the Israelites will have all that they need, and they will be satisfied fully.

Now, back all the way in Deuteronomy 11, we read that God promised his people, that if they faithfully obey his commands, by loving God and serving him with all their hearts and soul, he would send rain on the land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that they may gather in grain, new wine and oil. God will provide grass in the fields for the cattle, and God’s people will eat and be satisfied.
Indeed it is what we see here, God’s faithfulness to his promises and the nation’s repentance leads to God’s abundant restoration.

God does send the rain, in verse 23; he sends the abundant showers, both the autumn and spring rains, so that they may have new grain, wine and oil.

He does provide open pastures that are green for the wild animals of the field in verse 22, and once again the Israelite nation will be able to eat and be satisfied.
However, what good are new grain, wine and oil, if the locust, the Lord’s devastating army, who took these things away from them, is still around?

Well, read with me from verse 20, God says “I will drive the northern army far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land, with its front columns going into the eastern sea and those in the rear into the western sea, And its stench will go up; its smell will rise. Surely he has done great things.”

The same commander who gave the locust army their orders to bring destruction upon the land is now issuing orders for their destruction.
The invaders which have caused such devastating destruction are removed far from them, they are exiled; they are then split apart defeated, and are finally drowned in the eastern and western sea to their destruction.

These three curses of exile, defeat and destruction, which were promised if Israel was disobedient in Deuteronomy 28 will now be reversed and turned upon their enemy, the locust army.

All that will remain of the army, that had ravished the land, is rotting flesh and his people will be saved because God is faithful.

Point 2 – The response to God’s faithfulness and its implications

How then should they respond? How then are they to react to this God, who is doing all these things for them?

Well, the Locust army had done great things, but this is certainly not a reason for further fear because as it says in verse 21, “the Lord had done great things”, indeed, we only need to turn to the first few pages of the bible, in creation, to see know this, and what about God continuing faithfulness to save his people in Israel’s history, it certainly a time to be glad and rejoice.

So firstly, the land is to respond as we read in Verse 21, “Be not afraid, O Land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things. Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.”

The animals of the land should not fear when such a God is at work to restore the land, they are to fix their eyes on the Lord’s activity, of his faithfulness and restoration as the open pastures are becoming green, as trees are bearing their fruits and as the fig tree and vine yield their riches.

Secondly, what about God’s people, how are they to respond?
Well verse 23, “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.” Verse 24, “the threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.”

Just like the land, we see that the people too, are to be glad and rejoice.
Why? Because by sending the rain God is demonstrating his righteousness, that he can be trusted to keep his promise of restoration to his people.

Now, living in Sydney, I don’t think we count every rain drop that falls from the sky as say a farmer would out west.

We don’t wonder if the rain is going to be enough, or if it’s going to come at the right time. But unlike us, the Israelite nation was a nation that was totally dependent on rain for not only their finances but also the very food they ate.
So you can imagine what a promise of abundant shower was like for them.

However Israel is to respond because of what God has done for them, they are to be glad and rejoice because the Lord is a jealous God who took pity on his people to save them.

Well, so far we have seen that God was a God who Israel could depend on because he was a faithful God who kept his promises to bring restoration and to save them from his judgment.

In verses 25-27, we see that God now makes three promises to his people, the Israelites.

So pick it up with me from verse 25, God says “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten – the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm, my great army that I sent among you.”

What does God promise them? Well we see that the truth about the locust army is finally made apparent to the Israelites that God sent the locust army. And they are assured that the devastation brought by the army over such a lengthy period of time will be repaid to them, will be restored.

Secondly, God promises in verse 26, that “they shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD their God, who has dealt wondrously with them. And God’s people shall never again be put to shame.”
No longer will Israel be put to shame. No longer will God’s name be mocked among the nations as it was in verse 17.

And finally, in verse 27, God says “You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.”

The Israelites will once again know God and never be put to shame because God will be in the midst of his people.

Now, one of the blessings of the covenantal relationship between God and his people if they lived under his rule was that God’s presence would be amongst his people and God’s promise here is that they will once again be able to enjoy the blessing of God’s presence amongst his people.

Now, next week, we will see that there is also a greater promise in the next few verses, one that involves God pouring out his spirit upon his people, but we will leave that to next week.

Point 3 - The Implications for us in light of the coming day of the Lord

Well we have just looked at Joel chapter 2, and we have seen that God was faithful in his promises to bring restoration, but what about Joel today, Is God still a God who is faithful and is he still a God who we can depend upon.
Well, the big theme that we seen being developed in the book of Joel is the day of the Lord.

We saw in the last two weeks that that the day of the Lord was a day of judgment, a day of condemnation, of punishment, of destruction and devastation.

However we can also see as we saw tonight, that the day of the Lord is also a day of salvation, a day of rescue, as God’s wrath and judgment of Israel was turned upon the locust army. It is also a day of replenishment and a day of abundant restoration.

Now the day of the Lord wasn’t just an event which occurred during the time Joel was written but as Joel 2 verse 31 also hints, there will also be a final day of the Lord where “the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood”.
The New Testament describes this day as when Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead.

Now, even after God’s demonstrated his faithfulness in Joel, Israel continued to rebel against God.

In fact by nature all of man-kind has rebelled, even you and I have rebelled against God, trying to live our lives our own way.

However, the punishment of Israel’s continued rebellion and our rebellion has been dealt with in one man, Jesus Christ, who took the full judgment and wrath of God to save us from our rebellion, from our sin.

The wonderful thing for Christians, those who have trust in Jesus as Lord, is that we are able to stand bold today.

It is because of Jesus we are able to stand fully absolved of the guilt and judgment we deserve for our sins.

And it is because of God’s faithfulness to restore us, to save us, which the whole Old Testament promises pointed to and which find their yes in Jesus as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:20.

Now, God hasn’t just saved us from his judgment but he has also abundantly restored us into a relationship with him.

Therefore, we read in Romans 5 that he has reconciled us by the blood of his son and in Ephesians 1 that he has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Also, as Christians we have a great hope, we read in Revelations 21, that there will be a new heaven and new earth where God’s dwelling place will be with man, he will dwell with them, and they will be his people.
We read that he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former thing will have passed away.

However we are not there yet, Jesus hasn’t returned yet and we still live in a fallen world, a world which is effected by sin and suffering.

So, as Christians who have a great hope but currently live in this fallen age, let me ask you
Do you trust that God will continue to be faithful, that he will save you on the last day in the same way he was faithful to his promises in Joel? Do you depend entirely on God for your salvation? What about when you are faced with hard ship and trials, do you still depend entirely on God?

Well, turn with me to our second reading Romans chapter 8 and let’s pick it up from verse 31
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

If God is for us, who can be against us when we have such a great God, a God who has done great things as we read in Joel 2, a God who was faithful in his promises to abundantly restore and to save his people from the locust invasion, a God who has saved us and justified us through his son who died for us, who was raised to life and who is interceding for us.

Our God indeed is a God who you can depend upon because he is a faithful God who has done great things, so let us rejoice and be glad in the Lord.

So let me ask you again, do you depend entirely on God? If you do, then let me ask you, do you listen to his voice in his word? Do you thank him for all things through pray, do you rejoice and be glad in the Lord and are you concerned about the salvation of your non-Christian friends from the coming judgment?

Well, let me encourage you to depend on God, because as we have seen tonight, God is a faithful God who has kept his promises. And he will continue to keep his promises.

So let me finish with this great assurance that we have in Christ Jesus as we wait for his return in Romans 8:38-40.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Amen.

The time is short

So finally, I've come to updating my blog. The delay has been a case of both busyness and laziness, but nonetheless here I am updating it.

What's been happening, well a lot has actually been happened and I can't remember every detail. However it has been a time of testing and perseverance. As my uni degree is closing to a end many issues have come up like, where am i going to live after uni? what am i going to do? PhD or job? in which situation will i be able to serve God the best? what about work placement, can't graduate till i complete 5 more weeks?, How will getting a job or PhD effect my longer term vision of full time ministry? Well in one sense these issues still remain as I am limited to skills in planning, but am slowly working to deal with those struggles.

However, I am persevering and serving the Lord, and hope to do so with the power of prayer and with God's help. Emu Plains Church has been going well, I am encouraged that the clergy are pushing towards mission minded and being a welcoming church. The preaching is faithful to God's word and is provocative in a good way. We recently got a new student minister, and his faithfulness and zeal has been an encouragement. It is truly amazing and thank God that we have partnerships in the Gospel.

Uni ministry has been going good, lots of committed first year student which once again is just great. The staff workers as well have been putting all there energy to growing, training and telling people the Gospel, which is another thing to praise God for. Let they continue is all i can say. Our training time has also been good, we have been looking at the reformation history period, some followup training and biblical theology. I've been really excited to teach biblical theology this semester, and even though the numbers are low, it brings great joy to see those guys developing a better grasp of the bible as whole, the kingdom of God. It has also been really encouraging to meet up with two guys one-to-one to encourage each other and disciple.

Scripture and Youth group have been going well. We started up a Youth group this year and it has been going well. The core group that is there is really keen and excited to look at God's word, we looked at biblical theology last week and the kids were really excited to see God's faithfulness in God's big picture that is found in the bible. I've also been going along to one of the bible studies at church, which has been really good to get to know some people from Church as we fellowship around God's word. God has been faithful this year in giving me opportunities to serve using God given gifts to build the church up in love. I have been really enjoying leading church, in particularly focusing people's on God's word. I also have another opportunity to preach in a few weeks on Joel 2 which i will have to start preparing this Sunday, so come and join me for it.

Now from the different things I do, one might ask, how do i get any uni work done, and besides that fact, i actually do get quiet alot done. I finished last year with first class honours, a GPA of 6, and in the to 10% of uni. However study as never been a real joy for me, and it is a struggle as it gives me a limited time to take all the opportunity for ministry. Nonetheless a balance is life under Christ is wise.

To those who have been reading my blog, know the struggles i had last year, such as the breakup, family situation and etc. However these small struggles are nullified when i think of God's grace and love. Oh i also got a ps3, its great fun. I hope someone still reads this blog.

Anyways, If you would like to pray for me, please pray for continued growth in Christ and trust in Jesus as Lord and pray for the different struggles that i mentioned in the Blog.

There is so much more that i can write down, however much time and many pages would be used to which will most defiantly weary your body reading it. So please do say hello next time you see me, and we can share some time encouraging and praying for each other.

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is Gain." Phil 1:21
God Bless,
Laurence

There is a time to laught and there is a time to weep

It has felt like it has been a while since last time i posted, yet i write in the hope that someone is reading my blog entries and praying with me in the many challenges that living in the fallen world brings.

As Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a time for every matter under heaven. I realise that i often put on a smiling face and at times to cover up sadness and sorrows however there is a time to be sad and express it through weeping, it is right to do so.

I've been away at National training event and mission at nowra for the past two weeks and it has been great. It is great to be reminded of God's grace, purpose, love, judgment and to be challenge to delight to God's word.

God's word written for God's people written by his Holy Spirit about his Son. God has spoken to us through his word even though our sinful nature cannot co-exist with God's Holiness, he choice to make himself known and to call us and make us his own people. God came down to our level and spoke to us in human words, he wants us to know him by reading his word. God has spoken covenant words, powerful words, true words, perfect and eternal words, let us delight and receive his word with faith, obedience and love. It's interesting to note the relationship in the trinitarian Godhead in the revelation of the word and in our own salvation. God's word written for God's people written by his Holy Spirit about his Son. The Gospel of Jesus is the heart of the Revelation of the spirit. The father has given the son everything, the son seeks the father's glory and the spirit seeks the son's glory. This mature self-giving in the trinitarian Godhead make possible knowledge of him through his word and make possible our salvation in Jesus Christ. God's word also changes us, it conforms us into the likeness of his son, it transforms us so effectively to do God's will even without us realising. Therefore continue reading God's word the bible, delight in it, love his word, listen to his voice.

We were also encouraged to preserver. We are greatly encourage in Romans chapter 8 that we are secure, God has called us into his kingdom and nothing can snatch us away from his hands. However the warning are real in Hebrews, The Hebrew Christians were struggling in this issue of falling away. Make sure your faith is genuine. The mark of a Christian is not that you have faith now, but if you die as a Christian, therefore make sure again that you delight in God's words, love his word, listen to his voice. And as God's people, let us encourage, challenge each other to do so, let us be accountable to each other, let us prayer about it.

I've also been challenge about the doctrine of work in the bible. I did strand 4 which was using the tools learnt previously, biblical theology and systematic theology to derive doctrine and ethics from the bible. Work is our participation in God's purposes, either for creation, or in redemption. We are God's fellow workers as we see in creation, Man was created to subdue and have dominion over the earth, work was good. Now we may ask, how does the fall effect work? well we see in Chapter 3 that work is much harder, tainted by the effects of the fall. In Ecclesiastes chapter 2 that work is futile, it's vanity for there is nothing to be gained under the sun. However we need see how that fits into the full framework of the bible and when we do that we see that work is still good. The Psalms reminds us that the blessings of work is the enjoyment of the fruits of that labour and we are reminded again and again in the New Testament not to be lazy but obey our heavenly masters. Let us not also forget in John's gospel that Jesus came to do the fathers works, the father is still working. He is calling people into his rest, into his kingdom. Also in the resurrection of Christ creation is restored and the kingdom of God dawns. We see the reversal of the fall however we are in the not yet period. Therefore Ethics which starts from the resurrection of Christ may sometimes emphasize the newness, sometimes the primitiveness of the order that is there affirmed. But it will not be tempted to overthrow or deny either the name of the other. There is both continuity and discontinuity in our fallen world and the new creation to come. There will be work in the new creation, however secular work will be burnt away on the last day. Gospel work on the other has eternal consequences for God's people will be in the new creation.

It was also encouraging to talk to people and challenge the new guys in our campus Christian group during the free times at the conference. Next we went to mission at Nowra Baptist which was really good. I'm am encouraged that many took on new roles and ministry opportunity's during the mission. We helped with the primary and high school scriptures, youth group, Sunday services, door knocking and nursing home. Each ministry having its own challenges and opportunities to grow. It was also great to spend time getting to know each other on the mission team and working in partnership to proclaim the Gospel. I was also very encouraged by the host I was staying with. They were a lovely couple who offered their house freely to us and really loved God and his word.

Now back to my introduction, I’m very sad but persevering in my bad start to the holidays. Due to partly my own sinfulness and the nature of relationships, my girlfriend has decided to part ways in our journey. I hoped that things would not end this way but all things are in God's purposes, I need to trust in him. However I am really sad still and do need prayer. I also need prayer just persevering. One of the hard factors about living in a non-Christian European home that I am finding is just to negativity against Christianity. I get constant threats of cutting connections and disowning if I move into the possibility of full time ministry. This worries and scares me, and adds to me being sad, however honouring your parents includes first giving glory to God. This can be a hard. So please do prayer for me in these struggles.

1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Anyways it is getting late, and my words are starting to mumble up. Do continue strong in the Lord, persevering, delighting in God's word. Not sure when I’ll post next, seems that facebook has been more popular these days.

God Bless
Laurence.

Jesus is the Life of God

Finally an update, Yes Laurence is still alive. And a lot has happened over the past 2 months.

Church:

Emu plain Anglican has really been pushing people to think mission, to think 10%, to think connect 09, after the great presidential address by Peter Jensen this past synod. If you have not read it, go and read it now.

Emu plain's Anglican has also been actively involved in telling people the Gospel, such as men's dinner event where men can invite their non-Christian friends along to hear a talk on success. They have been involved in teaching God's word and also involved in equipping people to serve.

Scripture has been going well, the kids thanked us for our lessons before the holidays, that was nice, and its amazing how much they remember from our lessons. I pray and trust God will convict them to know him.

Sunday school has been going well. It's amazing how much energy those kids have, and wow, they are amazing prayers. It’s been encouraging to see them having a heart to open God's word; they love to bring their bibles.

I've also been actively involved in the evening service. Serving in ways as prayer, bible reading, leading and i preached yesterday on John 11. I've included the sermon on the bottom of this post.

CBM (Campus Bible Ministries):

CBM has been going well. We have been quiet busy in the past 2 months with mission week and various other things. Mission week was great, we looked at the book of Ecclesiastes, Highlighting the two main ideas, Vanity and Eternity. We made crosses with those two words on them and placed them around uni. We wrote up on a big chalk board 4 chapters of Ecclesiastes. Most of all, almost everyone did walk up and we had a few good conversations with people. It was interesting to see student's views on vanity, eternity and life.



The other big thing we did was the atheist debate, which went okay. We create a website, with discussion boards and the debate downloadable here. It was a bit uncertain if the actual debate was a worth while thing to do, however it is encouraging that they continued coming to our next meeting which was a normal meeting and spent most of the afternoon talking to us. Please pray for that, as it seems like a great opportunity.

CBM has been training Christians up in our training hour looking at the Cross of Christ, Why did Jesus have to die? What actually happened at the Cross? Etc, and also the students have been trained up in apologetics. These following four weeks CBM has been encouraging student to write their own bible studies on Colossians, providing they have done the growth group course. We also have the ball coming up in the distant future as well as NTE.

Uni

Uni has been going okay. Submitted my thesis draft, got a paper published in IEEE, going to a Engineering conference to present the thesis paper. All the fun! My supervisor and parents have been pushing me to do post-grad, but I think I will decline the offer. My course work has been going okay, having put much effort into them, but seem to be doing fine.

Other Parts of My Life

Well, my exciting news! I've have a lovely girlfriend, who has a heart to grow in her knowledge of God and telling her friends about Jesus. She is a shinning light in my heart :) And i thank God that she knows Christ as Lord!

I also went to challenge conference a few weeks ago. It was a great encouragement to seek God's kingdom first. We looked at the theme of the kingdom throughout the bible, we looked at the Lord's prayers, which the kingdom should characterise our prayers, we looked at what a productive person in the Lord should be doing and we looked at the full time ministry option. It was also encouraging to have a few of my friends come along. We had great conversations over food times and night sessions. One encouragement was to encourage our local ministers, as Ministry is not an easy thing to do. So Challenge was great.

Please pray for my Quiet times and prayer life, as usual its a rollercoaster. I think i need to plan to have a reading plan. Please also pray for my witness and perserverance with my parents.



John 11 – True Life Sermon

We all have hopes and dreams and expectations in life.
We all have a view of what life should be like.
I remember when I was growing up; I always wanted to be a scientist, because that’s what I thought life was about, I thought life was about being successful, about doing something that people might be proud of.
And I remember doing just about anything, to make that dream come true.
For example, as a 12 year old, I remember trying to make some sort of new fertilizer using a coke bottle, different types of minerals and even went into the effort of using some of the neighbour’s flowers.
Now that example might be a little childish, however where do you put your hopes and dreams and expectations into, what do you see as true life?
Well to help to us to understand what true life is and in particularly what God tells us true life is, we are going to turn to John chapter 11.
And to give you an idea about what I am going to talk about, I’ll be covering four main points in my talk.
Firstly the prologue of the Lazarus story
Then the Two meeting Jesus has
Followed by the account of the miracle itself
And then finally what does Jesus offer.
So before we being looking at John 11, let’s begin by praying.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for making yourself know to us and showing us the way of salvation through faith in your son. We ask yow now to clear our minds of any distractions and to teach us through your word, so that we can be ready to serve you, for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Point 1 – Prologue 11:1-16

Verse 1 – ‘Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.’
Verse 3 - ‘So the sisters sent word to Jesus saying “Lord, the one you love is sick.”.

We see here that a great need is portrayed by the sisters. A family circle is threatened by the possibility of a death and a desperate request is made to Jesus.
If you ever had a serious illness in your own family or even in a close friend, in these situations you do tend to get desperate.
And you can see here people, who are friends with Jesus, in fact we are told specifically in verse 5, that Jesus loved them. It was a desperate request.

Now, when you send a request to a friend, what sort of reply would you expect to receive?
Well I suppose it would depend on the seriousness of that request.
If you needed to borrow your friend’s lawnmower, would you expect them to come right away? Well not really.
However if you lived on a farm and someone in your family couldn’t breathe properly, Say you had a friend who was a doctor and only lived 10 minutes away. It would be fair to think that the friend would come immediately to help, wouldn’t it.
Now Mary and Martha had this kind of hope, they hoped that Jesus would come quickly.


However, what does Jesus do?
Verse 6 – ‘When Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was’. He deliberately delayed going to their help.
Now you can imagine how puzzling this must have been for the sisters, I’m mean, they had been terribly worried and all they can do now is watch their brother deteriorate to the brink of death.
A long, devastating day goes by and then the next day Lazarus flat-lines. Is Jesus all of a sudden being selfish and unloving? If Jesus had the power to heal Lazarus, why doesn’t he reply instantly?

Now Lazarus’ death might have taken place before the messenger reached him, or perhaps Jesus deliberately waited for Lazarus illness to be unrecoverable so that he could perform his miracle.
However, regardless of the reason, we are reminded that Jesus is not moved by external forces; he does everything in God’s time and according to God’s will.
Jesus had divine foreknowledge and wisdom in the reason why he delayed his help, even though this may not fit our human expectation or view of suffering.
However we are told in verse 4 that this whole situation with Lazarus is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified.

Therefore verse 7, Jesus announces his decision to go into Judea again.
However, the disciples in verse 8 make it quiet plain to Jesus that the Jews would not let him get away again.
We saw in the previous chapter that the Jews ever tried to stone him. You can see why the disciples were concerned.


Now the disciples were quiet ignorant of the situation and John shows their ignorance. And we can see this firstly in their misunderstanding of what Jesus meant by sleep in verse 11.
Jesus was speaking of Lazarus’ death but the disciples did not understand, they though he meant that Lazarus was just sleeping.
In the New Testament, the death of Christians is often spoken as sleep.
Now death is horrible thing and just by looking at the world around us, we can see that people fear death.
But for Christians, the mention of death as sleep reveals our hope, that death is no longer a foe we should fear. We will see why this is the case later.

Secondly, Jesus tells his disciples plainly in verse 15 that – ‘For their sake, he is glad he was not there, so that they may believe’.
Now again Jesus had divine foreknowledge of what he was going to do, he was going to perform the seventh and most climactic sign in the gospel to reveal his glory.
His joy for the disciples is that they may believe in him.

Well, let see what happens when Jesus finally arrives at Lazarus tomb, we are told in verse 17, that already four days had past and Martha in verse 39, comments that the body would have an odour by now.
Now before we see Jesus actually acting out his great miracle, we see the two meetings.

Point 2 – The Two Meetings

These meetings happen when the two women, Mary and Martha come running to meet Jesus and these two meetings help us to understand who Jesus is, and they reveal him in a remarkable way.

So verse 20 – ‘When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died”.
How did Martha feel? Well she was upset, perhaps even disappointed at Jesus.
But Jesus respond, verse 23 –‘your brother will rise again’.
Was Jesus speaking about the general resurrection at the last day as Martha thought?
Well if Jesus was merely a prophet or rabbi, he would have agreed with Martha’s word.
However let’s see what Jesus says about himself.
Verse 25 – ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

Jesus is more than a mere prophet, he is the Son sent by the father into the world.
Jesus began with ‘I am’, this statement being the same statement God revealed to Moses in the Exodus, he is claiming to be God, and therefore he is the creator and redeemer of your life, both your spiritual life and your physical life.

Martha responds to Jesus, verse 27 - “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
What does Jesus reveal about himself to Martha? Well he reveals himself as the long-awaited deliverer, the One sent by God to accomplish his will perfectly,
He has also reveals his deity, his divine power, that he is the resurrection and the life, that he has the keys of life and death, the power to call the dead to life and that he is God.
This is what Jesus is showing us from his first meeting with Martha.

What about Mary, what happens when she meets Jesus?
Verse 31 – ‘When the Jews who had been with Mary in her house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”’.
We see that her response is similar to Martha’s response. Indeed both the women were upset. Jesus, seeing her weeping and also the Jews weeping, is deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
Jesus sees the family’s grief; he understands the bitterness of death and is deeply moved by the wages of sin.
Jesus has come into the world to conquer the last enemy, the sting of death. And verse 35 - “Jesus wept”.
Jesus is indignant at sin, illness and death which are the results of our fallen world, yet the world that is at enmity with God is also the object of God’s love. And therefore it is not surprising that Jesus wept.

Well the Jews respond in verse 36 saying, ‘See how he loved him’, ‘could not he who opened the eyes of a blind man have kept this man from dying?’
Well the Jews just don’t get it, all they seem to see in Jesus’ tears, is a mark of love that he bore to Lazarus.
However what does Jesus reveal about himself to Mary and the Jews around her? Does he reveal his divine power as he had revealed to Martha?
Well it’s not so much a revelation of his divine power, but a revelation of his humanity. Jesus is God in flash, and if he is God, he must have the power to do something about the grave, but he is also fully man.

Point 3 – The Account of the Miracle (11:33-44)

So Jesus gets to the tomb, he tells them to take the stone away in verse 39, we see Martha commenting that there would be an odour by now as Lazarus is truly dead.
Jesus tells the sisters “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” Jesus then lifts up his eyes to his father and says “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
I know that you always hear me, but I said this on the account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Jesus is speaking to his father, showing the crowd around him, that he does nothing on his own accord, but does everything in accordance with his father, the one who sent him so that they may believe.
Verse 43, Jesus summoned the dead man. He cries out a loud voice, he addresses Lazarus directly by name and calls him out of the tomb. Lazarus is alive!

The only person who can speak to the dead and give them life is God. Jesus is the resurrection and the life; he is the life giver, the one who has power over the dead.

Point 4 – What Does Jesus Offer?

So what is true life? Where do you put your dreams and hopes and expectations into?
Is it success, or is it fame, or is it wealth, or is it simple just having a house, a car, being married and having kids?
Well the preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes had experienced all his desires yet he tells us in Chapter 2 of Ecclesiastes that ‘I have become greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom has stayed with me.
I denied my self nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labour.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun’
The preacher had it all, yet he struggles because he fails to see what the point of it all was.
We can pursue all our pleasures like he did, yet we all share a common destiny, that we are all going to die one day.
Death is the great robber of life, as we saw in Lazarus family. It brings great grief in family members.
We need to take death seriously because death in the bible has to do with judgment; it has to do with us, facing the consequences of our rebellion against God.
Well if Jesus is the God man, the life giver, the one who has power over death, what does he offer to us?


Well verse 51 – ‘Jesus came to die for the Jewish nation and not only for the nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.’
Jesus had come to die to take upon himself the penalty of our sin so that he can gather Christians, that he can gather the church.
Jesus has conquered death in his own death and resurrection and unlike Lazarus, who ended up dieing again; Jesus will raise us up from the dead to live with him forever. This is why as Christian; death is no longer a foe we should fear.

Now Jesus wasn’t just the resurrected one, but he himself was the life of God, the resurrection and the life. And when he died for our sins, nothing could hold him down, he has been raised up in the glory of God, having paid for our sins, and he is alive now.
Do you believe that Jesus is going to raise you from the dead? Do you believe he is going to give you the resurrection life that he talked about, the true life, the life of God, the life of heaven, which is eternal life?

John also tells us in 1 John 5:11 – ‘God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He who has the son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’
This is where our hope as a Christian lies, to know that we have life beyond the grave, a life with God, where God will not abandon you to the grave because the grave will not have a final say in you.
Therefore do you live for Christ, Today? Do you believe in the one whom God has sent? Well let me close with Jesus’ words.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Well to next time, God Bless, Keeping Trusting That Jesus is Lord.
Laurence.

I will Rejoice in the Lord!

'Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.' - Habakkuk 3:17-19

This week has been a difficult and good week for me. The constant struggles of the flesh, the feelings of failures in ministries and the laziness to remain productive in work. However, I find utmost joy, that we can be part of God's work in the world, the building of the church under the Lordship of Christ. I thank God, most utterly, Its such a encouragement to see him working in people's lives, growing them in Christ likeness of Character as they actively have a zeal for growing in their knowledge of God. It's even more of a Joy, when God's elect is called out, God reconciling them back into relationship with him. I thank God for the strong friends i have, that have encouraged me so much, you know who you are!
Anyways (Thanks Jase), I have been reminded of Habakkuk 3:17-19, No matter what happens, where i end up in life, The Lord is our strength, in him do we rejoice!

Laurence.

Ekklesia

Time for an update :),
really i have nothing better to do, the joys of the life of a single man.

Two week ago i went to MYC (Mid year conference or Meet your companion) , and we looked at Ekklesia (Church). This is really testing my memory, here's what the conference had to say.

The End of our life is church, in the meantime we are building the church because Christ empowered us to build the church, He builds the church through us, by giving us gifts. We have many gifts from God, not for self purpose but so that we can build his church. Therefore we should not waste them rather, we should use them for the common good, for its original purpose.
We need people in whatever gifts they have to build the church. Thus is fundamental to our Christian living. The Church is eternal and it is what God is doing in the world. Therefore it is a great privilege for us to participate in building his church.
How does the kingdom of God grow? It grows by Christians using their gifts in love for the building of the church. Therefore the preaching of the Gospel must continue because the gathering of Christians listening to God’s word is what the church is about.
Some have the gift of expounding God's word, however all Christians should be ministers, to live in a way that maximizes the preaching of the Gospel. Therefore make decisions on the basis of Jesus’ Lordship not worldly materialism. Base everything to the building of the church. This is the mindset we need!

I think one of the main things that was really emphasised was the importance's of the public reading of scripture in Church. Over the past few years, i speak of the denomination I'm familiar with, Sydney Anglicans, the public reading of scripture in the church meeting has declined. The old prayer book used to start off with Psalm 95, every Sunday. Today, if you would only hear the word of God, do not harden your hearts as Israel did in the wilderness. Today, when you hear the word of God, what are you doing? what is your response to the word of God?

Theirs a lot more that was said, but that is basically the summary of it. I also went to an elective called "Working in the church" which was very good and made me rethink my future. If you imagine a triangle with three pieces in it. Purpose at the top, industry in the middle and existences at the bottom. Someone ones defined three types of works. Job, career and calling (not the biblical sense of the word). A job is what a person merely does to support their family and they are moderately happy. A career is where a person strives for nothing except advancement and they are profoundly unhappy. A calling is where the person is not interested in money or advancement but loves the job. Having a job keeps the three pieces of the triangle evenly spaced while a career minimizes purpose and existence. The dangers of uni students and careerism is that the advancements and bigger salaries become so appealing to the point where purpose gets smaller and smaller, and eventually God is out of the picture or only a small part of life. Christians should be aiming to increase the purpose in life while minimizing industry and existence. That means organising life in a way that maximises the preaching of the Gospel. What about full time paid ministry then? Well there is three main things Christians should have in teaching roles. Conviction, character and competency. trained theologically and absolutely convicted in the truths of the Gospel. Your christian living should reflex your convictions. We must be committed to living to what we preach. Last of all we should be able to teach. We need Men in public mission today to willingly sacrifice their lives to take leadership. I think this really made me think, am i fully convicted in the truths of the Gospel, is it changing my character, i know like all of us, I struggle at working on my own Godliness. Am i able to teach? Do i take lead? Am i clear? Things i defiantly need to continue working on however why do anything else in life then devote my life to the preaching of the Gospel!

Another thing i went to was an elective on mission. They made a very good point which challenged me. One of the big things missionaries face in the first year of mission work is their personal bible reading and prayer. Unlike here they don't have that constant encouragement and bible teaching from fellow Christians because they don't understand the language. So personal Godliness is very important, i know it something i have to really continue working hard on. The other things we had during MYC was seminars where we looked at the elements of church such as order and what needs to be in a church meeting. We looked at the idea of Ekklesia and the development of covenants throughout the scriptures. We also had bible studies where we wrestled with 1 John.

It was very encouraging to see so many first years come this year. It was even more encouraging to see first year being challenged by the word of God and willing to get more involved in CBM this coming semester. The classic quote, I released their just so much i don't know about God, their so much i need to continue learning. It was very encouraging to hear people say that.

Therefore MYC was a great time to share in fellowship with each other, real fellowship lol, hearing God's word together and challenging each other even during lunch, supper and even compulsory fun time :)



My ministries for the rest of this year have exponentially increased. I am now on two CBM committees, the penrith and cross-campus committee. Last week, i lead my first service at Emu plains Anglican, got some positive feedback. I was apparently too wordy, even started the service with Psalm 95. But from thinking over the questions from MYC, i was very encouraged to get feedback from people telling me i was very clear. I've also taken up to help with Sunday school. I'll be continuing in the scripture ministry. I'm down to preach on the 7th of October on John chapter 11. I'll be beginning my exegesis on Monday hopefully. Hopefully Mike can challenge me with all sorts of questions :) At CBM so far it looks like I'll be leading a biblical theology training strand on Mondays which i'm very excited about :). So I ask for prayer to be effective in those ministries, and that i might do all those ministries for the glory of the Gospel, for the glory of the kingdom.

I've ran out of places to explore Emu Plains. Some nice spots around the plains and at the foot of the mountains. Haven't done really any work over the holidays on Thesis, so i have to get back into it next week. Last semester i ended getting a HD and a D and i passed my Old Testament exam. What else? I saw the movie Amazing Grace yesterday. Was good, i would of liked it if they explored the struggles of William Wilberforce with God's word. However it was still a good movie. I've also been blessed to have some close friends nearby where i can meet up with them, and encourage each other in God's word.

Heres the latest conundrum to think about, the first question may be obvious.
The church is for the Christian, God’s gathered people listening to the word of God. This raises the question, then what about the non-Christian? 1 Corinthians 14:24 tells us that if all prophecy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship and declare that God is really among you. Therefore if we faithfully proclaim the Gospel, the power of Gospel will convict the unbeliever or outsider if it’s in God’s will.
However we should not neglect to welcome unbelievers or outsiders during and after the church meeting. In my old church, we changed some of the pews to chairs, so that the service would be much more loving to de-churched (generation who have not been bought up in church) people.

My questions is then, is there a fine-line in how much we can change our church meeting to make it more appealing to outsiders before it hinders the preaching of the Gospel. The Gospel still might be preached faithfully, but may hinder the churched people, particularly the older congregation members. And finally what is that line.

My next questions is, which in some way relates to the first, should we be using words such as fellowship, sin and service in a church meeting, When even the Christians may have a misunderstanding of these words. For example sin, should we be using sin in our meetings, when most non-Christians see sin as breaking the law, rather than rebellion against God, trying to live lives our way.

How can we then be loving and welcoming to outsiders and preaching the Gospel faithfully while not being a stumbling block to the congregation, to the church?

Till next time,
May you continue to give all glory to him who called you out of Darkness into light.
Laurence.

At Long Last, An Update!

Well i finally got around to updating my blog and write a post.
Well much has happen which is often the case after a few months.
Therefore here is the updates.


Church

One of the main things that encourage me about St Paul's Emu plains, is the people's faithfulness and willingness to grow in their knowledge of God. People are generally interested in how your week was, and especially the leaders are interested in how you can further grow and be equipped in the knowledge of God.

We have been going through the book of Exodus over the past few weeks, and the exposition of scripture that have been given are both encouraging and challenging because they are Christ centred and are faithful to the text. God's word penetrates our hearts and minds to shape our will to do God's will and that's excellent!

In terms of ministry their, I've been helping with year 5 scripture at Emu Heights. That has been going well, It is a great encouragement to see kids who want to know more about Christ even though their ideas are strange at times. Me and the assistant minister at Emu Plains Anglican have been dividing the scripture teaching up into two parts which has provided a good training aspect to teaching as well. I've also had a privilege to meet up with him and be discipled and he has encouraged me to think about how he can continue training me in ministry, and particular word ministry. Other things that i have taken up is leading singing from time to time, and generally things that come naturally as a Christian, helping packing up chairs, etc.

Also I'm very excited that in term 3, i might be on the preaching roster, to preach on John, so theirs something to think about for praying. It's exciting and a great privilege to continue being trained up in Word ministries and do prayer that i may do it out of service and love and not out of pride.

I've also been getting to know congregation members slowly, found it helpful to stand where the welcomer's stand each week and say hello to everyone. I noticed that some of the members work at the university, and i would love to find a time to meet up with them at uni with some of our cbm members. In particular I've been getting to know the student minister well, and he is someone i can talked to about ministry issues and tough tough questions. I am also trying to get him and me praying for each other regularly.

I also went up to Easter convention and got time to spend with him and some of his Moore collage mates. Was a brilliant time with excellent talks that were very encouraging and challenging. We looked at the issue of suffering, which is an action pack tough issue. I was also surprised that they keep a name tag for me up at katoomba when i went to visit, i deeply do miss katoomba, however i am joyful and a sense of peace come in knowing that their are faithful people their to continue proclaiming the Gospel in katoomba, please do, remember 10%

CBM

CBM (Campus Bible Ministries) has been good as usual. We have been slightly struggling this year with the finishing up of two of our staff members, and the arrival of a baby for our current staff member. My friend who started mts has really helped and has a heart to see the lost come to Christ. Mission week was great, a bunch of Moore collage students came to help us with mission apart of their mission, and we had a bunch of stuff happening throughout that week. Barbecues, loads of walk up, a band, etc. Student Leader (President) work has been tough and challenging however i decided to write too small talks to encourage both the student leaders and the staff in the ministry we do their. CBM has a great emphasis on training people up as well as training them up for evangelising. I've also been involved in Co-leading Doctrine course, to train up other Christians, that has been going well as well. It seems the past uni years, its been other's training and disciple me up however this year, its turned around. I've been meeting up one on one with a guy, and its been both very encouraging and edifying. Therefore please do continue praying for the work on campus, that many more seeds will be planted in people's hearts, and that many more young leaders will be trained. I've include at the bottom of this message, both devotions/talks.

Uni

Uni work has been challenging and i feel i should spend more time doing them. Thesis work has been tough however I've just recently finished a initial pre draft and handed in last week. A whole 30 pages, 4400 words. The most I've ever written for an engineer. The title of thesis is as such, DNA microarray image enhancement for grid ding using conditional convolution histogram equalization. Still a lot of work to do for it, so do pray that i may be diligent in my studies. It has also been good to learn about computer architecture over this semester however the work has proven difficult.

Personal Godliness

This area all ways needs growth. With the lesser travel time and the use of the car, finding time for reading the bible and praying has lessened. Please do pray i might find time, and make it a high priority to do so. It terms of the normal struggle for most christian, singleness, I've been much more appreciative of being single and using the most of my energy in ministry. Therefore my contentment defiantly has improved. It still is unnatural for us to be alone, and i still would love to have someone to encourage, train and love in Christ however I am not so worried, for ministry is first priority as a single man. I some what miss having two of my katoomba friends around who were all ways around to challenge and grow me in my understand of God. I do miss them greatly however i know we have been sent out onto different parts for the proclamation of the Gospel. One of them recently got engaged and it is a great blessing, and he has started working at cms (Church Missionary Society). The other has started collage, apparently he has a reputation of asking many questions and changeling the lectures hehe. I do continue to pray that they may continue to grow in their knowledge of God and that their desire for the proclamation of God may also continue to grow.

You would also be happy to know that i was convicted of pirated software i had, so i bought vista home premium & Office 2007 for my computer.

Other:

I have done a number of interesting things in my spare time. Built a router and wireless server. Ran 5 Operating systems at onces, and many more geeky things. I also was lent a brilliant Christian manga, which includes the Gospel. They are only available in Japan, so hopefully will get some sent over.

final note. Please do continue praying for the things above. If your a katoombaite reading this, I do miss you, and my prayers for the ministry up there are with you.

These are the two deviation/small talks i gave for our cbm committee

1 Peter 2:4-10 Tell

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Script “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honour is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the Excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

What are we trying to do here at CBM?
Well you might remember at our weekend away, we came up with four different things that we as a Christian group should be doing.
Firstly, we should tell/evangelise people who Jesus is and what he has done.
Secondly, we should teach people to understand and act on God’s word.
Thirdly, we should equip/train God’s people to lovingly serve each other.
And finally, we should nurture people. This comes from teaching and equipping God’s people.
So today lets start of by looking at the first one, telling people. But before we can understand why we need to tell people, we need to understand who we are.
1 Peter 2:4-5 tells us that “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We are God’s building project, pictured as living stones joined to the living stone, Jesus.
Verse 9 tells us that we are God’s people, God’s nation, who are being joined and united together.
However we ourselves were not always like this. And we see this in verse 10 which tells us that once we were not a people who received mercy and because we had rejected his rule, we deserved punishment.
It is now only because of God’s mercy and grace in Christ Jesus that, verse 5, we are a holy priesthood.
So if this is who we are, why should we tell people about Jesus?
Well Jesus is our great high priest (Hebrews 5) and he has made us his go-between between him and the rest of the world. Verse 9, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God so that you may proclaim the Excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”
This is where we get to be a part of what God is doing in the world, apart of his mission. We get to share in the proclamation of his saving message that Jesus has come, that he has lived, that he has died and that, he is risen, to save his people.
As God’s people it is our first responsibility and what a privilege it is, and even more, we can do it together.
Therefore friends, let us continue to tell people who Jesus is and what he has done.

Equipped in the Knowledge of God

You might remember that last time we had a meeting I talked about the importance of telling people about the Gospel. Well another important thing that we should also be actively doing is growing in our knowledge of God.
So we see in Ephesians 4, that we are all united in one body1 and all of us share the most important thing in common, which is life, through the death and resurrection of Jesus. However 1 Corinthians 12 tells us that God has also given each of us gifts2, which are to be used in service, and if we are going to serve one another, we need to be properly equipped. Therefore how do we get equipped to serve?

As I mentioned before, we need to grow in our knowledge of God and as we grow in our knowledge of God, so we grow in Christlike ness of character, for true knowledge of God affects our whole personalty. It not only shapes our thoughts but fires out emotions and stirs our will to do God’s will.
Therefore it is not surprising that Paul often prayed for his converts to grow in knowledge, such as the start of Ephesians 13. Nor is it suppressing that Paul prayed for knowledge, because God must be our teacher.
God teaches us through his spirit challenging and convicting us as we hear or read God’s word.

Therefore In terms of the knowledge of God, we first need to know what God’s will is with regards to our actions and attitudes in our life from day to day. This does not come naturally for us to realise that God wishes us to have a forgiving Spirit, or to be humble, or to be meek, or to be content with the things we have. We need to be taught these things and reminded again and again through God’s word.
Secondly we also need to know God’s intentions for the future; for it is through this that we find the strongest motive for Christian living. For example, knowledge of Christ’s second as judge and king provides a very strong motive for seeking first God’s kingdom.

So back in Ephesians in chapter 4, Christ has given ministers to the church, men who have received the gift of teaching for helping their fellow Christians grow in knowledge4. Indeed we all play our part in this helping one another and Christian fellowship is a vital instrument under God in helping us all to grow in knowledge of him. Therefore we must continue to meet in service, to build each other up by contributing to the fellowship.

So my first application today is to those who are in the position of expounding God’s word, In particular those who give talks and sermons. These people must explain and apply God’s word so that the hearers may grow in their knowledge of God and in their Christian faith. This means that they must give time to the study of the bible and theology and in particular, they must give a reasonable amount of time in preparation of their talk.

Secondly, it is the duty of all of us as Christians that when an opportunity comes, to build up his fellow Christians and to testify to the outside. God has called us and given us each gifts for the purpose of building up God’s church. We are God’s body building project.

So let’s take the matter of equipping and growing in the knowledge of God seriously. Not only pray that God’s Spirits will teach us but also use the means God has provided. Read the bible regularly and prayerfully and be active in Christian fellowship where the word of God is preached, for this is one of God’s primary means for our growth in Christ likeness.

In Christ,

Laurence.

An Update of Laurence's World!

I've not posted in ages!! Busyness of life, and lack of interest perhaps.
However here is it! The million dollar question, Whats been happening with Laurence Because I haven't heard from him for such a long time!

Well last post was in January so let me see. Firstly our new minister at Emu Plains started his commission. Our new assistant minister has also started last week and it is exciting to have them both their to teach, equip and tell people in the parish and outside the parish about Jesus the Lord!.
I also finished my work placement for this year and that went well :).
We also had our away committee meeting for this year, where we discussed our goal's, our mission, events and our roles for the year. Lol I'm officially the student leader now yey :)
CBM has been busy but great as always to collectively proclaim the Gospel. One of my friends started MTS, and it's exciting to work with him in partnership for the Gospel!
Oh Also started helping with scripture at emu plains, and they are a very behaved school, compared to katoomba anyways.
Okay so that's the ministry side of things. In uni news, i started my Thesis on lol rather long name "DNA Image Enhancement for Microarray Griding". So far finding it hard to get motivated and to do something about it lol.

Anyways i hope things are going well for u readers (if anyone actually reads this blog), and continue keeping strong in the Lord!

Yours Faithfully
Laurence.

The Emu "Plains" is tooooo hot!!

It's been a while since my last post. So what has happen since then.
Well i'm moved to emu plains with my parents and slowly settling in. The weather is way tooo hot, like sleeping on some piles of hot rocks from a vocano. Don't know much people, except a friend who lives lol 7 houses away from my house :).
I have gone to Emu Plains Anglican in last 2 weeks. The sermon's have been excellent, great exergesis of the passages in Ephesians. I will when get more time, update you on whats been said. The people are very welcoming their and it is joyful to get to know them. Though why is their no my age? lol their is people a little older, or people a little younger, ahwell. At the moment they are without a full time minister, however a new minister is getting commisioned the end of this month. The rector from Blackheath has been filling in for the time been.
I've also started Work placement (12 weeks, 6 this year & 6 next year) at lithgow at an ISP place. They have put me into the deep end the first day i got their, and am working on a project to shape people's bandwiths on wireless. The people i work with are very nice and easy going. Please pray that i may be a good withness to them, and that i might get opptunities and takes them to tell them about the Gospel. I've also had to drive to work, lithgow trains are ridiculous, and so pray that i make the most of the oppunities i get driving to work with my friend in the car.
Summer CBM is comming up, can't wait, Bible study at last!!! lol. Anyways please pray for patients for me with settling into new church and for more friends. If your going to Men's convention, i Hope to see you their :)

Keep Strong & Rooted up in Christ!
Laurence.

The Year of The Lord AD 2007

Yes it is the start of the new year. Been a while since i last posted so here is the latest news and prayer points. Firstly i am moving to emu plains the starting of this new year, where i will be finding a new church to go to and setting in. Secondly i also went to the snowy mountains since the last post and climbed the highest mountain Mnt Kosciuszko, it was great to see God's Creation. Thirdly my Homepage seems like it is no longer, so therefore my old sermons and reviews of conferences have been wiped. The pictures can still be found on my bebo page, find the link in my links. Fifthly me and my friend went to the central coast as well to visit a friend, who we got to know well on mission.

I have been personally encourage by St Hilda's Anglican Church Katoomba over the 5 years i have been there. Their faithfulness to God, their service, their Love, and their willingness to listen to the creators and redeemers voice. It brings me grieve to part with that family, and i hope they will continue to grow in Christ. We should be prepared to Go whether God wants us to be doing whatever God wants us to do. Please pray for this new year, and the big changes i am making.
Lastly it so happens i got to preach on my last day their at all three services. And so here is the full thing :)

Jesus the Life Giver – Sermon (John 5:1-30)

It always amazes me to watch super hero movies. Take for example batman; we know fairly close to the start of the movie that Batman’s secret identity is Bruce Wayne. However to the other characters in the movie, there is a mystery surrounding Batman’s real identity. We also see at times in the movie when people almost get it. The gospels are almost like this as well. Take for example

Point 1: Context of John 5

Both in John’s and Mark’s gospel we have a statement about who Jesus is. So John 1 – In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
At the end of gospels we have someone who gets it. In John’s gospel it’s Thomas. He answers Jesus “My Lord and God!” after witnessing Jesus’ resurrection. In Mark’s gospel it’s the centurion. He response to Jesus “Truly this man was the Son of God” after witnessing Jesus’ death.

And in between there is a confusion to who Jesus is. For example Mark 8, Jesus ask his disciples “Who do the people say I am”, they answer “some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah and others, one of the prophets”
In John 5 things get painfully clear to whom Jesus is and he show who he is through an action and through word. However before we start looking at John 5 lets begin by praying.

Thank you, Father, for making yourself know to us, showing us the way of salvation through faith in your Son. We ask you now to teach us through your word, so that we may be ready to serve you, for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Point 2: Jesus’ Power and Authority

John 5, starting from verse 2 – Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which had five roofed colonnades. In these lays a multitude of invalids – blind, lame and paralysed.

The place mentioned here is not the main focus; rather it is that there are invalids here and particularly verse 5, there is one invalid who most likely was crippled for thirty-eight years. When verse 6 – Jesus saw him lying their and knew he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” Jesus knew the man’s situation and knowing how long he had suffered he asked him “Do you want to be healed?” Now there is a number of reason’s why he could have asked this question however this question does heighten the expectation that something miraculous is going to happen.

How does this man respond? Well verse 7 – “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me” Their was a belief that only the first person who entered the water after it had been stirred would be healed. This being the case, you can imagine how many were waiting around for the water to be stirred. Due to this man’s disability, he could not get into the water and perhaps hoped that Jesus would help him into the water.

However Jesus tells this man “Get up! Take up your bed and walk” and at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Jesus reveals his glory, which you could not see by looking at him, he reveals his power and his purpose, which is to restore.
A friend once told me that even if you repair in some sense the electrical cables in your body while being crippled for a long time you would not get better. The muscles in your leg, due to being crippled, do no longer work and those muscles which have slowly developed as a child just do not grow back instantly. Therefore this man walking again was clearly the finger prints of the power of God.

It’s a cause for joy and excitement, but some people miss it, verse 9 – Now that day was the Sabbath, “It is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” The Jews which being the religious leaders of the time, all they could see was a man carrying his bed. One of the laws they had on the Sabbath was not removing furniture which meant not carrying a bed. They asked the man who was this person that healed him, verse 13 – The man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn. It’s interesting to note that there is no link between Jesus’ kind acts of healing and some sort of explicit demand so therefore you follow. He will pour out his good gift on the wicked and good, like his father does on the rain and the sunshine. He heals the man, and the man doesn’t even know his name.

Now the story could of ended their, however Verse 14 – Afterwards Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” Jesus says stop sinning; cease sinning, or something more then being a cripple for 38 years will happen. By reading the gospel, as far as Jesus is concerned, far more serious and far more tragic then being disabled and crippled for 38 years is to have your sins undealt with. That is by far the most dangerous problem any of us confront, so Jesus warns this man to stop sinning.
In John’s gospel, sin is not defined so much in terms of moral character but it is our response to Jesus. Jesus himself in John 16 defines sin as “not believing in the one whom God sent”. To remain inactive and unresponsive to this great act of God in Jesus is the heart and essences of evil.

How does this man respond? Verse 15 – The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. What does this man do? He runs off and dobs on Jesus. Therefore Verse 16 – And this is why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

The Jews at that time were very serious about breaking the Sabbath, It was one of the things that defined their people, some of the religious Jews were willing to die for this issue, and it was not a small thing to break the Sabbath in their world, Jesus response by answering Verse 17 – “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” The only person who was allowed to work regularly on the Sabbath was God. The Israelites knew as some have forgotten that God holds the universe together, he sustains it, he doesn’t just wind up an old clock and let it be, but holds it together, he works on every Sabbath day and Jesus is saying “My father is working, and I am working too.”

The Jews were quick to recognise the implications of Jesus’ response in Verse 18 – For he is calling God his own father making himself equal with God. Jesus continues to show that he is equal with God from verse 19 onwards, however we will see this in next week’s sermon. For the time been though, if Jesus is equal with God, what are the implications of this?

Point 3: Implications of Jesus being Equal with the Father

If you remember in the Old Testament, God is described as the creator. He is also described as the redeemer. In genesis 12 God made a covenant with his people and gave them the law to set them apart, for them to be a holy nation. However due to Israel’s disobedience they were sent into exile. The Jews being the religious leaders of the time of John 5 believed they could still get right with God by obeying the law and particularly keeping the Sabbath holy. However if Jesus is God, he is also the creator and redeemer and the Jews failed to notice that Jesus was setting up a new covenant, a new creation, which we see in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Therefore if Jesus is God, if he is creator and redeemer, what does he offer? Verse 21 – The son gives life to whom he will. The immediate offer is to give life, to give you life. What is Jesus’ ultimate work? V22, The ultimate work is that Jesus has been entrusted with all judgement. So why did Jesus come? Well Jesus came to give you life, not a physical life, although he gave you your physical life, no, his come to give u new life, a new life which he calls eternal life and which is unbreakable and comes to us as a gift not a trophy. Why is he serious about it? V22, He is serious because he has the job of all judgment. When we die we will all face judgment, we will meet Jesus and when we meet him, he will announce in a public way where we will go for the rest of eternity.

This week I had the privilege to go down to the snowy mountains, and climb to the top of the highest mountain in Australia, mount Kosciuszko. Since it was the middle of summer, the snow had melted and the flowers had began to blossom. I was filled with amazement of the beauty of God’s creation. However as nice as it is, it is only temporary, even when the creation falls, the issue of facing judgment still stands and it is very serious and important.

Now you see why Jesus went over to this man, it is because Jesus is the life giver. Now you see why he warns this man, it is because Jesus is the judge. He says to this man, don’t walk away from me; I want you to follow me because I am judge. Something worse then being crippled for thirty-eight years, is to end up in hell. So Jesus offers to us eternal life and the escape from judgment.

Who does Jesus call? Well John 5 is interesting because essentially Jesus is saying that he has called out, he will call out, and he does call out. He has called out in the past; he will call out in the future, and is calling out in the present. Firstly who does Jesus call out in the past? Well he has called out a man who was crippled, and who had a great need with no special reason to help. That really described the world doesn’t it? The world has a very real need, the problem of sin and death and they have no special reason to be helped. When Jesus called out this man, “Get up, take up your bed and walk’, did this call work, was it a waste of breath? No it was not waste of breath, he said get up and he got up. The man was made well when Jesus spoke. In the Old Testament, God was a God who done things by speaking let there be and then there is; Jesus is doing things by speaking as well. The man heard the word of Jesus, he responded to the call. He got up and has new physical life, this is because Jesus is the life giver; he gives the physical life and also gives the eternal life. Here we proof, that when Jesus speaks, it is worth listening to.

Secondly who does Jesus call in the future? Verse 28 – An hour is coming when all will hear his voice. One day he will call out and the whole world will stand in front of him. Just like the crippled man, Jesus is going to speak to everyone; they will hear his word and will stand face to face with him. And with perfect justice v30, he will judge and decide where people will spend eternity. There is not anyone who will not hear his call to be before him, he has called a man in the past and he will call the world in the future.

Thirdly who does Jesus call in the present? He calls everyone, verse 24 – whoever believes him who sent me has eternal life. What does Jesus want you to do? He wants you to hear his word and believe him. When does eternal life begin? Eternal life begins when you hear and believe, when does judgement get lifted off your shoulders according to Jesus? When you hear and believe. This is all possible because Jesus died for you and has risen from the dead.

Are you willing to hear and believe, are you willing to get up. If you still haven’t yet responded to Jesus’ call to get up, then let me encourage you to do so. However be warned that there is a day when all will get up and stand before the creator and redeemer, both those who believe and don’t believe will be judged. If you have all ready responded to the call, then are you willing to listen, do you pray and read your bible regularly, if not let me encourage you to do so. Do you share the news of the life giver Jesus with your non-Christian friends? Do you share it with the world? As Ray mentioned last week, the only reason why the judgment has not yet come, is so that as many people as possible would respond to Jesus’ call. So let me encourage you to share this news to the ends of the earth.

As you may know, this is my last day at St Hilda’s. And the time I have been here I have been personally encouraged by your faithfulness to God, your service and your willingness to listen to God’s voice. Let me encourage you to continue staying strong in Christ, to continue to be rooted up in Christ, to continue running the race and to continue listening to the Jesus’ voice who is creator, redeemer, judge and Lord.

Let us pray.
Heavenly father, we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he is the life giver, the judge, the creator and the redeemer. And we thank you for working out your purpose through him so that we may have eternal life. Help us to respond to Jesus’ call, to get up and to follow him. In everything we do help us to trust and obey you by listening to your voice. We ask this through Jesus’ name. Amen.

I hope it is clear and encourages and challenges you. Please dont mind the grammar mistakes, i have not yet had time to correct my computer copy of it.

Anyways i will see you next post :). God bless and i hope you continue remaining strong in the year of the Lord AD 2007.

Laurence.

NTE was a Blast!

Well, I am back from NTE/Mission. It was a great and life changing time like always :)

For NTE (National Training Event) we went down to Canberra. The topic this year was last things first. Both Richard Chin and Phillip Jensen spoke to us on the topic. The talks were great and faithful to God’s word. Richard’s talks came from Colossians and including the topics delivered from darkness, the pre eminent Jesus, fullness in Christ and the heavenly life. Theses talks helped us to get our minds focused back onto God and to live a heavenly life, which gives glory to God. Phillip’s talk were focused on Eschatology and his topics included living in God’s time, living BC and AD (OT & NT), living in the light of the past and living in the light of the future. These talks challenged us to remember that we are in AD (year of the risen Lord) and that our God is also a God of history, the OT does matter, and to get to us from OT we have to go through NT then to us. The talks also encouraged us to go out and proclaim God’s word boldly and faithfully because it is the year of the risen Lord and God has given a delay of the last day so that as much people as possible will come to know him. Here are some quotes from the talk that I for some reason put boxes around during the talk :P

“Gospeling is when we are telling someone about Jesus, Not the Gospel it self”
“Fruitfulness should flow from Gospel”
“God’s will is what God delights in, what he wants for his people and it is plainly seen in the Bible”
“What can we thank God for? We should thank him for dealing our greatest need, the forgiveness of sins”
“Jesus is in the image of the invisible God”
“Reconciliation means bringing out true order where Jesus is Lord!”
“Put to death early things”
“We have already been blessed, every blessing through Christ”
“These blessing are election, predestined, adoption and redemption”
“OT promises find their fulfilment in Christ”
“We are in the year of the Lord 2006. Important thing is AD not 2006. This transition between BC and AD can happen because Jesus died for you. Learn to put last things first”
“We are a creation and covenant religion, History matters”
“We put our faith in the faithfulness of God”
“Build our lives on the faithfulness of the promises of God”
“Our God is the sovereign God of History as well”
“Our task in not to interrupt the bible but to understand it’s interpretation of us”
“Reason that God promises have not reach completion is because God is holding back the judgement to give time for repentance”
“Preach the Gospel to bring his elect under his throne, use the gifts God has given you to do the work of God”
“Those given much, much will be required”

And many more, but that would require lots and lots of pages. We also had a few strand groups which looked at Biblical theology, Systematic theology & ethics. I and group of old friends did the third strand which was systematic theology. We looked at the resurrection which was a really beneficially. We looked at stuff like the resurrection of Jesus, resurrection of the dead, the return of Jesus, and much more. As soon as we thought we had it all covered, one of us would ask a questions, and we were back to the drawing board but was good.The pictures are of the findings we found, the diagrams we had come up with and also a picture of the stand group.
NTE was also a great place to get to know each other better, and after the conferences it felt like we all knew each other for years. It is very joyful to run the race together with our fellow brothers and sisters, and to be both challenged as we wrestled with God’s word.
After we got back from NTE we were off to Port Macquarie Presbyterian church. In Mission we got involved with scripture, youth group, nursing homes, church, Sunday school, walk up, door knocking and carols.

I personal got involved with scripture, Sunday school, walk up and carols so I’ll review them mostly. Scripture was great, we did 3 schools with two sessions each which were about 40 minutes each. We did a play based on Jesus rising Lazarus, had a song and a talk. I was privileged to have to do the talk at two of the schools. The talk established the link between Christmas, Easter and the story of Lazarus. That the baby born in a manger was just not a little small baby but the King, the King who defeated death by dyeing on a cross and raising up as Lord and through whom we will also be raised up. My friend did the talk at the last school, and I was encouraged from the likenesses and differences in the talk he gave. For Sunday school, I had to write another talk. I got the kids to act out the story of the little girl (Talitha) and then explained to them that we will also be raised up but unlike the little girl, we will be raised up eternal with the King who is Jesus. Walk up was great, I went out with a friend and we ran into a guy who was really interested. He was up for a holidays to get away from work. We shared two ways to live with him, and he wanted to live God’s way but never had the time to look further into it. So we encouraged him to think about it and gave him our contact details. I also managed to get along to the early church service, and the team did a wonderful job to proclaim Jesus at the church service. The sermon was really solid and encouraging as well. I also heard that the sermon at the nursing home went well, and even though some of the old people their, were really hard to talk to, they did a great job. Lastly the carols they gave me the job of setting up the sound equipment and mixing/singing. To be honest I have no idea how to set up sound equipment even though I’ve done it a number of times. Most normal professionals know what things are called and how they plug in together. However I don’t know any of the technical names, but I somehow managed to plug things together and get them working, and all the instruments working smoothly together, thank God :). The carols went well; the sermon went well even through kids running around during it. I head about 300 people came through the service, Christian and non Christian.

But other then the formal things we had to get done. We also did a lot of social things together. We had dinner all together, went to the beach. I was personally really encouraged and had bought me joy that the team was faithful to God’s word and worked together. Also for the care and love for each other, even when things seemed down or hard. Keep strong guys & girls!
The hosts I stayed with were the loveliest couple I ever met. They were a missionary couple with an outward focused. They took us in as their own children and looked after us and their prayers have encouraged me. I also stayed with a friend their and it was great, we got to sing most nights, pray together and encourage each other. The location was in the bush, on a dirt road with plenty of wild life. We saw lots of birds, kangaroos and spiders. Each night we had to fight our way through a few spider webs and spiders to get to the door, was great fun :).
Below is a photo of the team that went to mission and NTE.

On a funny note, we finally went to Telstra/Telecom tower after years of suggesting it. We boys went up at night time to the top. When we got to top, one of the leaders suggested that we just bush wack through the bush to get to the bottom. So we started heading down the bush, a little further we found a sign that told us to turn back, that the road was under repair. But since it was knocked down we choice to kindly ignore it. Anyways on the way down we had to jump a few fences, one with barb wire on it and we came up to this sign. The sign read “Caution Venomous snakes traps in progress” It has to be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. We continued down the track and came up to a gate. The gate had about 8 pad locks on it; clearly someone didn’t want people to go through it. However right beside the gate, there was a rather large hole were people could fit through it, so we continued on. We ended up inside the CSIRO science laboratories, not sure how we could just freely enter the place, but we ended up getting through them and back to the university where we were staying.

On a sad note, two of the leaders and a few students are leaving this year, so it was great to be in partnership in the Gospel at mission. I will miss them greatly and it does grieve me that they are grieving, but they are going into something bigger. One of the leaders is going to bible collage next year, and I’m really glad to see him furthering in his knowledge of God. Anyways where ever they are, I hope they will be able to continue strong and serving God, giving him glory where ever they are.

One big thing I need prayer for is during NTE, our home got sold. Over the past two weeks I have been making a decision to if I would stay with my parents or live away from them. I have come up with conclusion that living away would be the most wise but most hard option but will be greatly beneficial to my ministry. At the moment the place doesn’t concern me too much however I would like to stay in Katoomba, my heart still lies in the ministry their, and to that family. The big prayer point I need is that my parents are doing everything they can to get me away from doing ministry, and not leaving any thoughts on my behalf to what I will be doing for the rest of my life. Although this is only a little thing, house being sold, it actually sparks off the thing of doing full time ministry. So please pray that I will have the courage and strength (in Christ strength) to tell them that I am considering full time ministry in the future, and that I would like to live away from them for a while. I’ve actually only got to Saturday to tell them, so please do pray because I am weak.

Anyways didn’t realise that I’ve already wrote 1,882 words, woops sorry guys, please do continue to pray and thank God that NTE/Mission went well. Pictures are finally up, you can find them by clicking on this link http://PapL.bebo.com. God Bless.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Laurence