Thursday December 18, 2104

Read Colossians 4:6

Words are powerful. Even as children we learn the power of words. The old ‘sticks and stones…’ nursery rhyme is blatantly untrue. Children can be incredibly cruel to each other in the words they use. Just think of the number of teenagers who have killed themselves or attempted to kill themselves because of the words they receive on social media?

The words of a Christian are to be filled with grace. That doesn’t mean we only talk of Jesus’ death and resurrection all the time. It means we have a tone of grace or a note of grace in all the words we use, even when we aren’t feeling particularly positive. It means we speak positively about others. Having a note of grace means that we look on the bright side of life and we give others the benefit of the doubt. It means we refuse to degrade others or to slander them. It means we refuse to curse or to swear. It means we look for opportunities to praise God rather than to seek revenge.

It’s particularly important to have a note of grace when it comes to our home church. There is much wisdom in biting one’s tongue when one is tempted to speak poorly or negatively about one’s church, church leadership or brothers/sisters in Christ. Wisdom tells us it’s better to keep our mouth shut than to spout out things we will almost inevitably regret later. If we are going to say anything, let’s make sure it’s edifying and positive not slanderous or cutting.

Having our speech seasoned with salt means that our conversation is appetising and nutritious. It’s appetising in that people want to hear more, but not because we are good at gossiping!! If we are speaking with non-Christians the salt draws them in and whets their appetite to the things of Christ. If we are speaking to believers its’ appetising because it blesses or edifies them. It’s also nutritious or beneficial because it builds up those we are speaking to or about.

Verse 6 gives us the way or the guide to answer everyone. The worst thing we can do as believers is to talk down or negatively about our brothers and sisters, our church or our leaders. What others hear is a putting down of Christ Himself. No one will be drawn to Christ in adoration and worship if we diss or bag out other believers. Even worse, we should never let our temper flare up to say things that we will inevitably regret later on. Our words should be measured and carefully considered before they leave our mouth.

The reality is that we can say something negatively or positively. Negatively, we could say, Jimney is a real twerp. He’s hurt me again and I am really struggling to like him. Positively, we could say. ‘Jimney hurt me again and I’m struggling with my feelings but I’m working at forgiving him.’

How do you think a believer would respond to either statement? How do you think a non-believer would respond to either statement? One is gracious and seasoned with salt. The other is rude and off putting.

Prayer:

Based on today’s reading spend time in...

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

à Pray that your church would faithfully and powerfully preach the gospel this Christmas.

Worship Moment:

If the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart then every word we speak is a matter of genuine worship.

Wednesday December 17, 2014

Read Colossians 4:5

Every day you meet and engage with dozens of people. Many of these are probably non believers. Think for a moment who you interact with on a normal week day. Of course there are your work/school colleagues. There are the people you travel with if you take public transport. There’s the people you engage with at the shops and the petrol station. There’s the people on your touch footy team and so on. Have you ever thought that God’s plan could be to have these people come to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus through you?

Unfortunately, Colossians 4:5 could sound like a clanging bell that brings forth an irritating headache after hearing it too many times. Like the proverbial dripping tap that causes no end of pain, many people claim that they’ve heard it all before so many times.

But have you heard Colossians 4:5 in its context? Colossians 4:5 is a command literally to walk in wisdom towards the outsider or non-believer. What does that mean in everyday life? How do we put that into practice? Vs 2-4 show us that it’s by praying. If we look even more closely and seriously at the context then we see that it’s by preaching the Gospel – the very prayer that Paul wanted his readers to be praying for himself.

Contextually it makes a lot of sense. If we are wise then we are walking in the ways of our Lord then our lives will be attractive and/or challenging to non believers. Wisdom is more than just knowing God’s will in our heads. It’s living it out. Thus as we live in God’s will and do God’s will we interact or engage with non-believers in a totally different way. They will see Christ in us. They will be challenged by our way of life. To make the most of every opportunity we must prayerfully seek to speak or preach Christ to them. Through this some will be drawn to Christ.

This view opens up a whole new perspective on life. You can pray that doors of gospel sharing will open. You can pray that you’ll declare it fearlessly as you should. You can think intentionally and engage intentionally about every person you meet throughout each and every day. But when we talk about intentionally sharing or preaching the Gospel, many believers immediately think of Bible bashers and  insensitive door knockers who have a hidden agenda to score brownie points. This is at the opposite extreme of what Paul is advocating. A life of wisdom is attractive to people and when the Gospel is combined with a godly lifestyle, it’s a powerful combination for drawing people to Christ.

Having a gospel focus and a heart felt desire to see people saved is what gets this kind of intentional living started.

Take time to examine your heart and to allow Christ to change it so that you are ready to make the most of every opportunity.

  

Prayer:

Based on today’s reading spend time in...

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

à Pray by name for each person you want to be saved. Ask the Lord to open doors for you to preach the Word to them this Christmas.

à Pray that each person in your congregation would be seeking to intentionally share the Gospel with people in their lives.

 Word Moment:

Verse 5 will inevitably be put into practice if you read the Word of God and put it in practice in your own life.

Tuesday December 16, 2014

Read Colossians 4:3-4

Paul the Apostle was a man of prayer. But contrary to popular belief, Paul was not a pioneer or inventor in this respect. He simply copied his Lord and master Jesus who was also a man of prayer. Jesus often disappeared for the entire night to commune with the Father. Before any major event Jesus would commune with the Father.

Where do we stand with prayer? Are you are man or woman of prayer? Is prayer of the utmost importance to you? Or is it something you do when you get around to it? We could begin to find the answer by contemplating the time and energy we put into prayer. If we spend the last minutes of our day in exhausted prayer then it’s probably not a priority. If we fall asleep during prayer then it’s probably not a priority. If we put it on the bottom of list and get to it after everything else, it’s probably not a priority. We tend to pour our time and energy into our highest priorities.

Paul the Apostle was a man of prayer. Even more so, his prayers are often not for himself but for the Gospel. Here in Colossians 4 Paul prays for doors to be opened so that he and his team might proclaim the mystery of Christ for which he is willingly suffering in chains. Paul doesn’t pray for freedom from jail or for comfort, or even for justice (he was imprisoned unjustly) but for the Gospel to be proclaimed. Any of these prayers may have been legitimate but Paul prays for gospel opportunities. Paul mentions himself in his prayers only in the context of asking for gospel opportunities.

What a great challenge for each of us to refocus our prayers. Often our prayers tend to be focussed around us and our needs – our finances, our comfort, our healing, our likes and dislikes and so on. Often our prayers are simply a list for God to work through so that our will can be done. Doesn’t the Lord’s Prayer say ‘thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ and not ‘my will be done …’? Is it any wonder the Gospel seems impotent in our generation if that’s how we pray?

Reading Paul’s prayers challenges us to pray about the Gospel. Pray for open doors for gospel sharing like Paul did. Enlist others to pray as Paul did. Instead of praying for an improvement in your finances, pray for opportunities to be generous and Christlike in your poverty. Pray that God would allow you to share Jesus with your family. If you are being harassed at work, pray that Christ would shine brightly though you rather than for a cessation of harassment. If you are too busy, pray that the peace of Christ you have would lead others to Christ. 

I challenge each of us to pray only gospel focused prayers for the rest of this week. Why not keep a journal and see how powerfully God works. Jot down what God does and share with other believers to encourage them as well.

Prayer:

Based on today’s reading spend time in...

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

à As Christmas Day approaches pray that God would open doors for you personally to share the message of Christ coming into the world to save people from their sins.

à Pray this for others in your congregation.

à Ask the Lord to fill your church this Christmas Day with many non-churchgoers and ask the Lord to so fill the preacher that the Gospel is powerfully and lovingly proclaimed. Ask the Lord to bring many conversions through this year’s Christmas Day service.

Walk Moment:

 A life of prayer causes one’s life to overflow with joy and inevitably opens up doors for sharing the good news.

Monday December 15, 2014

Coming Up: Sonday December  21, 2014

Colossians 4:2-18. Christ Brings the Answer

 Read Colossians 4:2

As you read through the biography of George Muller it’s clear that the foundation of his life was prayer. Muller ran several orphanages in England that cared for, fed, clothed and educated hundreds of orphans. Muller brought everything to the Lord in prayer and never asked any person for a single penny! In desperate prayer he would present every need to the Lord. Often the orphanages would not have enough funds for the evening meal or to pay wages or rent. Several times it’s recorded that the prayer was answered even as Muller and his team were praying.

Today’s lengthy reading encourages us to be devoted to prayer. When we are devoted to prayer we have prayer as our number one priority in all things.  When we are devoted to prayer, we diligently seek God as our first port of call.

Picture the following scenario. You’ve endured a hard fortnight with bills and expenses, including several that were unexpected and unplanned for. You’ve splurged too much on yourself and the family. There’s simply not enough to tithe this week. If you are committed to prayer it would mean you stick by your decision to tithe and you pray. It means praying not once or twice or here and there but concertedly and consistently, believing that God will provide. If you are devoted to anything else, you won’t pray. If you are devoted to anything else you’ll probably take a self-determined course of action that brings the most immediate and fullest relief. But when you are committed to prayer, you seek God diligently.

We are also encouraged to be watchful and thankful. Keeping watch is a common refrain throughout Scripture. We are to keep watch on the world – we are to know where it’s going and what the trends are. We are to keep watch over our life and doctrine and to pray accordingly. We are to keep watch over our families. and we are even to keep watch over our churches.

Beside being watchful, we are also to be thankful. We are to be thankful that God is in control, that God is sovereign, that God is still Lord. We are to be thankful for His grace and mercy to us and others. We are to be thankful that we can see the grace of God at work in the lives of others and ourselves.

I challenge each one of us to be devoted to prayer. Let’s start with just 15 minutes of prayer (including adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication) three times a day. Try to work your way up to one hour three times a day.

But I hear your heart. I’m too busy. I don’t have that kind of time. That’s just ridiculous. That’s not realistic. 

Listen carefully my dear brother/sister to what Scripture says:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Prayer:

Based on today’s reading spend time in...

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

à Spend time praising God for all the people that have ministered and served in your church this year. Ask God to refresh and bless each one and to raise up more ready and willing volunteers for the year ahead.

à Pray that God would bless your upcoming Christmas Day service with lots of visitors, with clear gospel preaching and with many gospel conversions.

Witness Moment:

Praying for and with people is a great way to witness to them.  But don’t just offer to pray for them. Pray with them.

Suggestions for Cell

Welcome and Catch-up time

Worship

Spend time singing praises to God 

Prayer Time.

After sharing prayer points, spend time joyfully thanking God for all that He has done. Try to be specific.

Also pray for each other to grow in knowledge of God.

Word:

Read: Colossians 3:18-4:1

What makes for good relationships in a home?

What does God expect of

husbands?

wives?

children?

Word & Walk.

How can a church grow strong marriages?

How can married couples strengthen other married couples?

How can a family based church make sure that singles, widows/widowers etc are not left out and ignored?

Witness

Discuss the ways in which a biblical marriage can be evangelistic?

Saturday December 13, 2014

Read Acts 20:7-12

We’ve been studying the Lord’s Day, rather ironically, each week on the traditional Sabbath. As we continue this study, it’s fascinating to see what happened on the Lord’s Day in the New Testament. What follows is a compendium of events that occurred on the Lord’s Day.

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week after the Sabbath (John 20:1). He was the first fruits (Mt.27:53). The resurrection is the capstone of our faith and the proving of the new covenant. He was raised for our justification. Jesus also appeared to ten of His disciples on that first day of the week (John 20:19). After this Jesus waited one week, and on the next Lord’s Day (ie the first day of the week) appeared to the eleven disciples (John 20:26).

The promised coming of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled on the first day of the week, the day of Pentecost which by law was set on the first day of the week (Lev. 23:16). Also on this very day, the first gospel sermon was preached by an apostle on the death and resurrection of Jesus was by Peter (Acts 2:14).

On that first day of the week the three thousand converts were made one people under the New Testament covenant, effectively separating from Judaism (Acts 2:41). At the giving of the law to Moses (traditionally said to be on this same day but many years earlier) 3,000 were slain but at Pentecost God reversed it and instead 3,000 were given eternal life. The law kills but the new covenant gives life. On that same first Lord’s Day, the rite of Christian baptism into the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was administered for the first time (Acts 2:41).

At Troas Paul preached to the assembled Christians on the first day of the week We are told that they gathered together to break bread—a reference to the Lord’s Supper. No mention is made of the Sabbath here.

Paul instructed the Christians at Corinth to make contributions on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:2). It’s interesting that Paul would make this concession if the church met on the Sabbath. Offerings are a part of worship itself and since it took place on the first day of the week, wouldn't it make sense that their worship also took place on the same day?

The reality is that there is no mention of the Christian church worshipping on the Sabbath. The references to Paul and his travelling buddies entering synagogues on the Sabbath is not a reference to churches meeting but rather shows that Paul went to these places to evangelise, to preach Christ and to make disciples. At no point can we say that these were early Christian churches. They were Jewish synagogues! Both history and the New Testament would suggest that the church met from an early age on the Lord’s Day in commemoration of the rising of Christ Jesus on the first day of the week.

Prayer:

Using today’s Bible reading and notes spend  time praying.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

à Ask the Lord to bring a commitment to corporate worship across your city/town, region, state and nation. Pray that other things during this day will take a back seat and be given lesser priority than meeting with the Lord. 

à Pray that more and more believers would put God first in their lives in everything including work, finances, study, relationships and so on.

 Walk Moment:

Giving God just 1 hour each Lord’s Day is neither glorifying to God nor edifying to His people. Why not give Him the entire day and use it to grow in your walk with Him and to bless your brothers and sisters in the Lord. 

 Discussion Questions

1. Why is it important to understand the theology behind ‘worshipping’ on the Lord’s Day?

2. If someone in your church refuses to make Church a priority, how can you encourage and bless them?

3. Some have argued that calling for commitment to church amounts to legalism. How would you counter this?

The world knows that Christmas is a time of year that the church celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. While they may not understand or agree, they generally know what’s happening. A lot of people actually have 2 days in the year in which they are amenable to church attendance - Easter and Christmas.

As a church, we need to be sure that we are doing two things. Firstly, we need to be inviting people to church. Secondly we need to be welcoming them into church and connecting with them. If people make connections in the church they are far more likely to return. If they are treated like strangers or passers-by they will probably never return again. Christmas and Easter are the days that can make a huge difference to your church. Are you ready to reap it?