Engage Both Heart and Mind in Worship
John Ortberg and Pam Howell
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
There's an old joke among Meyers-Briggs users. Question: what happens when a passionate, hyper-expressive, exquisitely emotional feeler meets a logical, hyper-rational, Mr. Spock-type thinker?
Answer: they get married.
Too often deep thinking and profound feeling never meet in the one place they are most needed: in worship. How can we worship in ways that both engage the mind and touch the heart?
Learn more with a five-session course on Worship.
Some churches specialize in generating emotion. The platform people are expert at moving worshipers to laughter or tears. Attenders gradually learn to evaluate the service in terms of the emotion they feel.
In time, however, the law of diminishing returns sets in. Prayers are offered in highly emotive style and bathed in background music. Stories have to get more dramatic, songs more sentimental, preaching more histrionic, to keep people having intense emotional experiences.
Such worship is often shallow, sometimes artificial, and rarely reflective. Little attention is given to worshiping with the mind. It produces people who have little depth or rootedness. They may develop a "zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (Rom. 10:2). They become worship junkies, searching for whichever church can supply the best rush.
This is Scarecrow worship: it would be better if it only had a brain.
On the other hand, some churches focus keenly on cognitive correctness. They recite great creeds, distribute reams of exegetical information, craft careful prayers ahead of time. And yet the heart and spirit are not seized with the wonder and passion that characterize those in Scripture who must fall on their faces when they encounter the living God. No one is ever so moved that she actually moves.
This is tragic because, as Dallas Willard writes, "to handle the things of God without worship is always to falsify them."
Those who attend such services may be competent to spot theological error, but the unspoken truth is they're also a little bored. Their worship is dry—it does not connect with their deepest hurts and desires. Rarely does it generate awe or healing, and never raucous joy.
This is Tin Man worship: if it only had a heart.
Some attempts to bring head and heart together have led not to the glimmering Emerald City, but to the Wicked Witch's forbidding dungeon guarded by drones. At times we've gotten it backwards, managing to combine in a single service the thoughtfulness usually associated with chandelier-swinging Pentecostals with the emotional expression of Scottish Presbyterians.
There must be a better way. How can we pursue worship that links well-ordered minds to overflowing hearts?
Yellow brick makers
People have the tendency to approach worship as consumers. The focus is on my experience, sitting back with arms folded and saying to those leading worship, "Wow me." Do something to grab my attention, catch my interest. They assume worship is like watching a movie; it's something I critique afterward.
Can you imagine the Israelites, freshly delivered from slavery, before a mountain that trembles violently with the presence of God (Exod. 19), muttering: "We're leaving because we're not singing the songs we like. Like that tambourine song, how come they don't do that tambourine song anymore?"
"I don't like it when Moses leads worship; Aaron's better."
"This is too formal—all that smoke and mystery. I like casual worship."
"It was okay, except for Miriam's dance—too wild, not enough reverence. And I don't like the tambourine."
No, Scripture doesn't read like that. The people were filled with awe and wonder and trembling and hope and fear, because there in the middle of nowhere, before this bunch of ex-slaves, was God.
Getting a head start
In our day—when the beauty of liturgical traditions, the freedom of charismatic expression, and the intellectual rigor of the Reformation are being cross-fertilized—we have a wonderful opportunity to pursue worship that balances intellect and passion.
We must address the issue head-on, so we often challenge our congregation:
1. Prepare yourself to worship
Football players prepare for the big game. Sales people prepare for a big pitch. And worshipers should prepare to worship, both mind and heart. We frequently tell our worship attenders that they should prepare at home and even in the car enroute to the service.
2. Invest yourself fully in each moment we're together, regardless of how you feel.
Too often in worship people experience what psychologists speak of as mindlessness. They go on autopilot. Worshipers need to be taught not to wait for something to grab their attention. They need to say to God, "I'm fully present—listening, praising, confessing, responding—every moment of worship. I offer myself fully to you."
3. Learn to make the most of the service.
Some people need to be encouraged to become freer in their expressiveness. It can be like when someone hits a home run. The stadium erupts with celebration: hugs, high fives, roars of joy, blowing kisses, arms raised in triumph.
Some worshipers need to say something like this: "I'm not going to raise my hands way up like that in church. After all we're not celebrating a home run. But since we are celebrating that Jesus died for my sins, saved me from hell, overcame my guilt, was raised from the dead, and will share his triumph with me through eternity, maybe I'll at least put my hands in my lap with palms up."
On the other hand, some may become so expressive that they create a distraction. They need clear, gentle (sometimes not-so-gentle) reminders to balance their desire for expressiveness with what will help the body of Christ.
The single most important aspect of balanced worship, though, is making sure our hearts and minds are fully engaged and devoted. When this happens, moments will come when worshipers feel and understand God in ways no one could have planned.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
ODB: One Passion
July 15, 2009
One Passion
READ: Luke 14:25-35
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26
Nechayev, a 19th-century disciple of Karl Marx who had a role in the assassination of Czar Alexander II, wrote: “The revolutionary man . . . has no personal interests, no business affairs, no emotions, no attachments, no property, and no name. Everything in him is wholly absorbed in the single thought and the single passion for revolution.” Although his motives and goals were wrong, Nechayev’s statement shows the singlemindedness of commitment.
Jesus wanted true commitment from His disciples. In Luke 14, we read that large crowds joined Him as He traveled toward Jerusalem (v.25). Perhaps these casual followers considered themselves to be His true disciples, but Jesus taught that following Him was more than just knowing facts about Him. He explained what it really meant to be His disciple when He defined the cost of discipleship: Nothing, not love for father or mother or even one’s own life, was to take precedence over loyalty to Jesus (vv.26-33). His disciples (then and now) must acknowledge that if God is to be primary in their lives, possessions and even social relationships have to be secondary.
Jesus calls His followers to be absorbed in a single, exclusive thought and passion—Him. — Marvin Williams
Set us afire, Lord, stir us we pray!
While the world perishes, we go our way
Purposeless, passionless, day after day;
Set us afire, Lord, stir us we pray! —Cushman
Our love for Jesus is the key to spiritual passion.
One Passion
READ: Luke 14:25-35
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26
Nechayev, a 19th-century disciple of Karl Marx who had a role in the assassination of Czar Alexander II, wrote: “The revolutionary man . . . has no personal interests, no business affairs, no emotions, no attachments, no property, and no name. Everything in him is wholly absorbed in the single thought and the single passion for revolution.” Although his motives and goals were wrong, Nechayev’s statement shows the singlemindedness of commitment.
Jesus wanted true commitment from His disciples. In Luke 14, we read that large crowds joined Him as He traveled toward Jerusalem (v.25). Perhaps these casual followers considered themselves to be His true disciples, but Jesus taught that following Him was more than just knowing facts about Him. He explained what it really meant to be His disciple when He defined the cost of discipleship: Nothing, not love for father or mother or even one’s own life, was to take precedence over loyalty to Jesus (vv.26-33). His disciples (then and now) must acknowledge that if God is to be primary in their lives, possessions and even social relationships have to be secondary.
Jesus calls His followers to be absorbed in a single, exclusive thought and passion—Him. — Marvin Williams
Set us afire, Lord, stir us we pray!
While the world perishes, we go our way
Purposeless, passionless, day after day;
Set us afire, Lord, stir us we pray! —Cushman
Our love for Jesus is the key to spiritual passion.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Five components of a healthy marriage
By Rick Warren
Years ago I read this letter written to Dear Abby:
“Do all marriages go stale after 25 years? Ours has. My husband and I don’t seem to have much to talk about any more. We used to talk about our kids. But now they’re grown and gone, and we really don’t have anything to converse about. I have no major complaints with my husband. But the old excitement is gone. We watch a lot of television. And we read. And we have friends. But when we’re alone together, it’s pretty dull. We even sleep in separate bedrooms now. Is there someway to recapture the old magic?”
– The Song has Ended
How incredibly sad! Too many marriages in our churches are struggling because the romance has died. Looking around, there is a disturbing trend that plays itself out in most troubled marriages. They go from fiery romance to reality to rut to resentment to regret. Before long, divorce comes.
Pastor, the marriages in our churches – including our own – are either growing together or drifting apart. There’s no middle ground. Your church has a unique opportunity to encourage healthy, growing marriages. How do flat marriages rekindle their romance? The same way Jesus tells us to rekindle our love for him in Revelation 2:4-5. Jesus says, “You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen? Repent and do the things you did at first.”
First, you remember the good times. You do again what you did when you first fell in love. Then, you repent or deliberately change how you treat your spouse. But what are those actions that you “did at first”? Married people did five things when they first fell in love. And they’ll need to do it again if they are going to recapture that romance: attention, affirmation, affection, adventure, and accordance (spiritual oneness) they had when they first fell in love.
1. Attention: The very first sign that you were falling in love was that you noticed that someone was paying attention to you – and you started to pay attention to that someone. Do you remember how much attention you paid your mate before you were married? You wrote notes. You made phone calls. You spent hours talking together. You sent cards. You bought flowers. You brought gifts. You said over and over again, “You have my total and undivided attention.”
What happened after you got married? Instead of saying, “I'll get that for you,” we started saying, “Get it yourself!” We became complacent in our relationship and took one another for granted. But if you’re going to rekindle the romance, you’ve got to make time for each other and pay attention to each other. If you don’t, you’re headed for trouble.
2. Affirmation: The quickest way to put spark back into your marriage is to start focusing on your spouse’s strengths instead of their weaknesses. Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Give encouragement to each other. Keep strengthening each other.” Everybody wants to be admired, appreciated, and looked up to. We fall in love with people who admire us.
You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s so true. “Treat your husband like a king and he will treat you like a queen.” Very simple yet profound. We tend to become what others expect of us.
Verbalize your love for your spouse every day. If you will verbalize your love, you will begin to feel that love you once had.
3. Affection: Remember how affectionate you and your spouse were during your courting days? In fact, you can always tell who the unmarried couples are. They can’t keep their hands off each other. Unfortunately, after the wedding, the touching and tenderness stop in so many marriages. All marriages need large amounts of hugging, kissing, caressing, and other forms of non-sexual touch.
Ephesians 5:19 (Amplified) says, “Husbands ... be affectionate!” It is a command. Husbands, if you’re not doing this, you’re sinning. Some say, “I'm just not naturally affectionate.” So what? Change! It’s not in your genes. You learned the behavior from your background. You can learn to be affectionate.
4. Adventure: Most marriages are dull. Ecclesiastes 9:9 says, “Enjoy life with your wife.” I’ve read that the number one cause of affairs is boredom. Are you fun to live with? You had adventure when you were romancing your spouse. But you’ve probably lost that sense of adventure. Everything is predictable. Predictability kills a marriage.
Unfortunately, most of us define fun as what you do after you’ve got all your work finished. But you never get all your work finished! The work is never done. Even after you retire, you still have got work to do. As a result, you don’t have any fun in your marriage – and you wonder why the feelings have died.
You need at least one date a week. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to be at night. (Kay and I have done them on Monday mornings.) But regardless, do something you like to do together. And do it without the kids. Schedule it – every week – so you can’t back out when your schedule gets tight.
5. Accordance (spiritual oneness): The key to fellowship with your mate is for both of you to live in God’s presence. When you and your wife are both committed to Christ and what he’s doing in the world, you’ll be naturally drawn together. Spiritual unity enhances romance. I ended up proposing to Kay while we were praying together. I felt so close to her – our hearts were knit together – that I figured we might as well join our lives together. Prayer joins you together. And then there is the natural desire to show physical affection, physical oneness, when you are spiritually one.
God wants you to have oneness. Romance was God’s idea. The Bible says two shall become one – intellectually, emotionally, physically, recreationally, and spiritually. When you are only having oneness in three of those areas, your marriage isn’t fully what God wants it to be. But when you and your spouse connect in all five areas, that’s when you find real, honest oneness.
Do you and your spouse pray together? Do you do ministry together? Do you share what God is doing in your life with your spouse, and visa-versa? Make those things a part of your time together, and romance will return.
Copyright © 2009 Rick Warren
Years ago I read this letter written to Dear Abby:
“Do all marriages go stale after 25 years? Ours has. My husband and I don’t seem to have much to talk about any more. We used to talk about our kids. But now they’re grown and gone, and we really don’t have anything to converse about. I have no major complaints with my husband. But the old excitement is gone. We watch a lot of television. And we read. And we have friends. But when we’re alone together, it’s pretty dull. We even sleep in separate bedrooms now. Is there someway to recapture the old magic?”
– The Song has Ended
How incredibly sad! Too many marriages in our churches are struggling because the romance has died. Looking around, there is a disturbing trend that plays itself out in most troubled marriages. They go from fiery romance to reality to rut to resentment to regret. Before long, divorce comes.
Pastor, the marriages in our churches – including our own – are either growing together or drifting apart. There’s no middle ground. Your church has a unique opportunity to encourage healthy, growing marriages. How do flat marriages rekindle their romance? The same way Jesus tells us to rekindle our love for him in Revelation 2:4-5. Jesus says, “You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen? Repent and do the things you did at first.”
First, you remember the good times. You do again what you did when you first fell in love. Then, you repent or deliberately change how you treat your spouse. But what are those actions that you “did at first”? Married people did five things when they first fell in love. And they’ll need to do it again if they are going to recapture that romance: attention, affirmation, affection, adventure, and accordance (spiritual oneness) they had when they first fell in love.
1. Attention: The very first sign that you were falling in love was that you noticed that someone was paying attention to you – and you started to pay attention to that someone. Do you remember how much attention you paid your mate before you were married? You wrote notes. You made phone calls. You spent hours talking together. You sent cards. You bought flowers. You brought gifts. You said over and over again, “You have my total and undivided attention.”
What happened after you got married? Instead of saying, “I'll get that for you,” we started saying, “Get it yourself!” We became complacent in our relationship and took one another for granted. But if you’re going to rekindle the romance, you’ve got to make time for each other and pay attention to each other. If you don’t, you’re headed for trouble.
2. Affirmation: The quickest way to put spark back into your marriage is to start focusing on your spouse’s strengths instead of their weaknesses. Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Give encouragement to each other. Keep strengthening each other.” Everybody wants to be admired, appreciated, and looked up to. We fall in love with people who admire us.
You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s so true. “Treat your husband like a king and he will treat you like a queen.” Very simple yet profound. We tend to become what others expect of us.
Verbalize your love for your spouse every day. If you will verbalize your love, you will begin to feel that love you once had.
3. Affection: Remember how affectionate you and your spouse were during your courting days? In fact, you can always tell who the unmarried couples are. They can’t keep their hands off each other. Unfortunately, after the wedding, the touching and tenderness stop in so many marriages. All marriages need large amounts of hugging, kissing, caressing, and other forms of non-sexual touch.
Ephesians 5:19 (Amplified) says, “Husbands ... be affectionate!” It is a command. Husbands, if you’re not doing this, you’re sinning. Some say, “I'm just not naturally affectionate.” So what? Change! It’s not in your genes. You learned the behavior from your background. You can learn to be affectionate.
4. Adventure: Most marriages are dull. Ecclesiastes 9:9 says, “Enjoy life with your wife.” I’ve read that the number one cause of affairs is boredom. Are you fun to live with? You had adventure when you were romancing your spouse. But you’ve probably lost that sense of adventure. Everything is predictable. Predictability kills a marriage.
Unfortunately, most of us define fun as what you do after you’ve got all your work finished. But you never get all your work finished! The work is never done. Even after you retire, you still have got work to do. As a result, you don’t have any fun in your marriage – and you wonder why the feelings have died.
You need at least one date a week. It doesn’t have to be expensive, and it doesn’t have to be at night. (Kay and I have done them on Monday mornings.) But regardless, do something you like to do together. And do it without the kids. Schedule it – every week – so you can’t back out when your schedule gets tight.
5. Accordance (spiritual oneness): The key to fellowship with your mate is for both of you to live in God’s presence. When you and your wife are both committed to Christ and what he’s doing in the world, you’ll be naturally drawn together. Spiritual unity enhances romance. I ended up proposing to Kay while we were praying together. I felt so close to her – our hearts were knit together – that I figured we might as well join our lives together. Prayer joins you together. And then there is the natural desire to show physical affection, physical oneness, when you are spiritually one.
God wants you to have oneness. Romance was God’s idea. The Bible says two shall become one – intellectually, emotionally, physically, recreationally, and spiritually. When you are only having oneness in three of those areas, your marriage isn’t fully what God wants it to be. But when you and your spouse connect in all five areas, that’s when you find real, honest oneness.
Do you and your spouse pray together? Do you do ministry together? Do you share what God is doing in your life with your spouse, and visa-versa? Make those things a part of your time together, and romance will return.
Copyright © 2009 Rick Warren
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Growing strong through Our Excellence for His Glory
Philippians 1:12-21
Eld (Dr) Chuah Seong Peng
Introduction: Our Excellence for His Glory
HLCE commitment to excellence (Philippians 4:4, 8-9)
We believe that excellence honours God and inspires people. Our God who is a God of excellence gave his best – his one and only Son for us (Romans 8:32).
Therefore, we are committed to pursue excellence in all that we do to glorify him.
What does it mean to reveal God’s glory through our excellence?
Glory
Glory in Hebrew is ‘kabod’. It gives an idea of heaviness, weightiness, worthiness.
Glory of God refers to revelation of God in his nature, character and presence.
God’s glorious Presence was felt by the people at the foot of Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:17-19. God reveals his glory through the expression of his character to Moses in Exodus 34:6.
In the NT, Jesus Christ is the outshining example of his divine glory
Hebrew 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful words. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven.”
God’s glory is revealed most fully in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Today His people are called to reveal his glory to the world
2 Corinthians 4:6
For God who said, “let light shines out of darkness,” made his light shines in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
The glory of God in the face of Christ is to be seen and reflected in the church today. It is to be seen in the words and deeds of the disciples (Matthew 5:17).
Excellence
Excellence is often equated with doing the best, producing the best results. There is a danger of doing excellence that is result-orientated (Kiasuism) and doing excellence for excellence sake that can be a form of idol worship. So what does it mean to give our excellence for God’s glory?
Our Excellence for His Glory - An Example from Paul
Philippians 1:12-21 Paul’s Chains Advance the Gospel
12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
The church in Philippi Acts 16:6-39
In Philippi, Lydia was converted, Paul and Silas were throne into jail because Paul delivered the slave girl who was possessed by a spirit and caused the owner to lose his fortune telling trade. As a result, the jailer and his household were saved.
Paul’s yardstick for excellence that glorifies God is when the Gospel is advanced.
As long as the Gospel is advanced, God is glorified! It is not about how well he is doing.
“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”
‘what has happened to me’
Acts 21:17-28:31
Paul was arrested in Jerusalem temple because the Jews were upset he brought in the Gentiles and desecrated the temple; the Romans thought he was the Egyptian outlaw on their most wanted list who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert. He was remanded in prison for two years under Governor Felix in Caesarea because Felix was playing favor to the Jews. After Felix was succeeded by Festus, the chief priest and the Jews leaders again appealed for him to be transferred to Jerusalem to face charges in their attempt to kill him. Paul managed to appeal to be transferred to Rome to face Caesar. On the way the ship was wrecked and they were stranded in Malta for three months before they were able to go to Rome. In Rome Paul was put under house arrest.
‘Advanced’ = furtherance
Means being a pioneer in advancing the work of God. It is a Greek military term referring to the army engineers who go before the troop to open the way into new territory.
As far as Paul is concerned, his primary motive in whatever he does in life is to do it excellently to advance the Gospel and bring glory to God.
The Gospel refers to the good news
The coming of His kingdom as Jesus proclaimed in:
Mark 1:15 “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Luke 4:18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor… to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The Gospel refers to the coming of the kingdom in every aspect of our lives to do what we are called to show his love to everyone. It is not merely the sharing of the words of salvation or getting people converted to Christ. It is not only about personal salvation, it is also about ‘proclaiming freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’. It is bringing in the reign of God into our lives to glorify Him.
Paul gave his excellence for God’s glory in ALL situations
* In chain.
* Facing critics.
* Going through crisis of life and death.
Paul gave his excellence in chained
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
Paul wanted to go to Rome as a preacher of the gospel; instead, he was in Rome as a prisoner. Nevertheless, the prison cannot stop Paul from giving his excellence for His glory! As a result of his imprisonment, the gospel was shared to the prison guards and those around. The brothers in the Lord also were encouraged to be bold to share the gospel.
Paul gave his excellence when faced with his critic
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Paul has his vision set on things above. He did not allow personal feeling or issues to cloud his vision of the glory of the Lord. He is totally committed to advance the Gospel to give his excellence for God’s glory.
Paul gave his excellence for God when going through crisis of life and death
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
Paul did not know how his trial was going to turn out. He has no idea if he would be released when he wrote this letter. Yet he was all ready to commit himself totally to the Lord and his cause. He was even ready to die for what he has called to do as long as Christ’s name is exalted.
For many, Paul’s troubles may look like failure; but for Paul these were opportunities to be excellence for his glory because the gospel was advanced! He was a pioneer of the Gospel in all situations.
The secret of Paul
The power of prayer and the Holy Spirit
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
Paul can continue to rejoice in all circumstances and give his excellence for his glory because he was sure of the help from prayer of the saints and the power of the Holy Spirit at work to ensure his salvation to the end.
Single-mindedness for God’s glory
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
For Paul, it’s all about God and not himself! Paul has the single-mindedness of doing his best to bring glory to God. It’s all about God’s glory and reputation and not himself! His eyes are on God and not himself. His heart is for God and God only.
What can we learn?
The excellence that could give God the glory to advance the Gospel is:
Not our best effort or our greatest achievement, but our best state, the best that we could be.
Our best effort and success can only draw credit to ourselves, but not glory to God.
It is when we realize that we are living in His strength, and we cannot help but say, “The Lord is good! Glory be to Him!” It has to be a situation when everyone must recognize that this is clearly the hand of God working in and through us.
Our best state is not what we could be in ourselves, but one where we have given ourselves completely to Him and put our trust in Him-
It is when everyone around us recognizes the grace and the power of God at work in us, enabling us to act and respond in a way that truly reflects His divine character and power. And they cannot help but exclaimed, “Hallelujah! Glory be to God!”
It is when we can truthfully say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
It is when we proclaim with Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!” and “In Christ alone, I place my trust.”
Some pioneers of faith who gives their hearts completely to God
Margaret Brand, a pioneer of Christian faith, who lived a balance career, family and faith, gave her excellence for the glory of God.
* Self-trained world expert on Leprosy on eye.
* With the late Dr. Paul Brand (d. 2003), raised a family of six children in India.
* Christian Medical College in Vellore, S. India, for approximately 18 years.
* 22 years as Chief of Ophthalmology at Gillis W. Long National Hansen’s Disease Center.
* Dr. Margaret, now 85, is officially retired, but maintains a busy schedule, speaking and traveling around the world.
According to Margaret Brand, a pioneer of Christian faith,
“It is the grace of God, which is available to everyone, that has enabled me to accomplish what I have done, and His grace that has overruled many of my foolish mistakes.”
“Our disappointments are God’s appointment for us!”
It is in such situations that we can give our excellence to for his glory when we respond to his call to advance the gospel and be a pioneer of the Christian faith.
‘Chained’ by circumstances – Susannah, Mrs. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“Book Fund”
Early in their married life, Susannah became an invalid but her burden to share in her husband’s ministry took her to start the “Book Fund”, a work of faith that supported thousands of pastors who were too poor to buy books. She began only by sharing with them her husband’s book and God took her burden and developed it into a great ministry even though she was home bound for 15 years.
When Susannah became chronically ill and was often confined to bed, discouraged and confused, Susannah cried out to God. Later, she would write, ” . . . the moment we come into any trial or difficulty, our first thought should be, not how soon can we escape from it, or how we may lessen the pain we shall suffer from it, but how can we best glorify God in it . . .”
But how could Susannah glorify God or minister with her husband while confined to a sick room?
In the summer of 1875, Charles completed the first volume of his book, Lectures to My Students. He gave a proof copy to Susannah and asked her opinion of it. After reading it, she said, “I wish I could place it in the hands of every minister in England.” Charles quipped, “Then why not do so; how much will you give?”3
Susannah took the challenge seriously. She had, on a whim, been saving crown pieces as she happened to get them. When she counted them out, there were exactly enough coins to buy 100 copies of the new book. Charles announced in his magazine that 100 copies of Lectures to my Students would be mailed to poor pastors at no charge. Orders flooded in for the books from English ministers, many of whom were so strapped for money that they hadn’t bought a new book in years. Susannah mailed out the books and received dozens of grateful letters in thanks. Some pastors wept when the precious volumes arrived. Spurgeon announced the results in the next issue of his magazine and asked his readers to help continue the work. Donations poured in. Though they never again asked for funds, enough money continued to trickle in over the years to distribute hundreds of thousands of theological books.
Susannah often worked from her sick bed, keeping track of the finances and corresponding with pastors. A room in their home was dedicated to storing and shipping books. As long as Susannah was well enough, volunteers would come in once every two weeks to help pack books for shipping.
Charles later wrote about the effect the labor involved in the book fund had on his wife. “Our gracious Lord has ministered to His suffering child in the most effectual manner when He graciously led her to minister to the necessities of His servants. . . . Let every believer accept this as the inference of experience: that for most human maladies, the best relief and antidote will be found in the self-sacrificing work for the Lord Jesus.”
She was a splendid manageress and a supporter of Spurgeon’s Pastors’ College
By means of rigid economies, quite a substantial amount was saved towards the support and education of the first student, the success of this effort leading to the foundation of the Pastors´ College. “I rejoice,” says Mrs. Spurgeon, ‘“to remember how I shared my beloved´s joy when he founded the Institution, and that together we planned and pinched in order to carry out the purpose of his loving heart; it gave me quite a motherly interest in the College, and ‘our own men.´
Do we feel ‘in chain’ to someone that pull us down or prevent us from serving him?
Susanna Wesley could be ‘in chain’ by her 19 children, but she was not!
She drew her inner strength from her belief in God. With single mind, she sees her difficult situations as God-given opportunities for furtherance of the Gospel. She shared,
"Help me, Lord, to remember that religion is not to be confined to the church... nor exercised only in prayer and meditation, but that every where I am in Thy Presence."
"I am content to fill a little space if God be glorified."
“My excellence for His glory” is a choice
Our unstoppable determination for His holiness! It involves a choice!
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest shared,
“To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering.”
“When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God he doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point – He does know.”
What should our responses be?
“Shut out every other thought that keep yourself before God for this one thing only – my utmost for his highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.”
How does God prepare and grow us to that state?
Experiencing God!
Blackaby shared about the steps God grows us through experiencing him in our love relationship with Him. Oswald Chambers shared something similar in this light when he said,
“But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentle nudges.”
It is a process of growth
We need to go through the process of growth in our experience with God. To look at the process that God lovingly and graciously subject us to, to bring to fruition the end product that He so desires to see in us, come to…HLCE Camp 2009
The theme: Our Excellence for His Glory
1. Experiencing His Comfort in our Trials (1:3-11).
2. Experiencing His Victory in our Setbacks (2:1-17).
3. Experiencing His Power in our Frailty (3:12-4:18).
4. Experiencing His Eternity in our Mortality (5:1-21).
We will be taken through the process of how Paul experience God’s grace that worked powerfully in him and help to strengthen and build him up to do excellently to glorify God in his life.
Let us go to the camp and learn to give Our Excellence for His Glory!
To God be all praise and glory! Amen.
_______________________________________________________________
HLCE Audio Sermons Online are on the web
at http://www.hlce.org.my
©HLCE 2000-2006
Eld (Dr) Chuah Seong Peng
Introduction: Our Excellence for His Glory
HLCE commitment to excellence (Philippians 4:4, 8-9)
We believe that excellence honours God and inspires people. Our God who is a God of excellence gave his best – his one and only Son for us (Romans 8:32).
Therefore, we are committed to pursue excellence in all that we do to glorify him.
What does it mean to reveal God’s glory through our excellence?
Glory
Glory in Hebrew is ‘kabod’. It gives an idea of heaviness, weightiness, worthiness.
Glory of God refers to revelation of God in his nature, character and presence.
God’s glorious Presence was felt by the people at the foot of Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:17-19. God reveals his glory through the expression of his character to Moses in Exodus 34:6.
In the NT, Jesus Christ is the outshining example of his divine glory
Hebrew 1:3 “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful words. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven.”
God’s glory is revealed most fully in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Today His people are called to reveal his glory to the world
2 Corinthians 4:6
For God who said, “let light shines out of darkness,” made his light shines in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
The glory of God in the face of Christ is to be seen and reflected in the church today. It is to be seen in the words and deeds of the disciples (Matthew 5:17).
Excellence
Excellence is often equated with doing the best, producing the best results. There is a danger of doing excellence that is result-orientated (Kiasuism) and doing excellence for excellence sake that can be a form of idol worship. So what does it mean to give our excellence for God’s glory?
Our Excellence for His Glory - An Example from Paul
Philippians 1:12-21 Paul’s Chains Advance the Gospel
12 Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
The church in Philippi Acts 16:6-39
In Philippi, Lydia was converted, Paul and Silas were throne into jail because Paul delivered the slave girl who was possessed by a spirit and caused the owner to lose his fortune telling trade. As a result, the jailer and his household were saved.
Paul’s yardstick for excellence that glorifies God is when the Gospel is advanced.
As long as the Gospel is advanced, God is glorified! It is not about how well he is doing.
“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”
‘what has happened to me’
Acts 21:17-28:31
Paul was arrested in Jerusalem temple because the Jews were upset he brought in the Gentiles and desecrated the temple; the Romans thought he was the Egyptian outlaw on their most wanted list who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert. He was remanded in prison for two years under Governor Felix in Caesarea because Felix was playing favor to the Jews. After Felix was succeeded by Festus, the chief priest and the Jews leaders again appealed for him to be transferred to Jerusalem to face charges in their attempt to kill him. Paul managed to appeal to be transferred to Rome to face Caesar. On the way the ship was wrecked and they were stranded in Malta for three months before they were able to go to Rome. In Rome Paul was put under house arrest.
‘Advanced’ = furtherance
Means being a pioneer in advancing the work of God. It is a Greek military term referring to the army engineers who go before the troop to open the way into new territory.
As far as Paul is concerned, his primary motive in whatever he does in life is to do it excellently to advance the Gospel and bring glory to God.
The Gospel refers to the good news
The coming of His kingdom as Jesus proclaimed in:
Mark 1:15 “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Luke 4:18-19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor… to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The Gospel refers to the coming of the kingdom in every aspect of our lives to do what we are called to show his love to everyone. It is not merely the sharing of the words of salvation or getting people converted to Christ. It is not only about personal salvation, it is also about ‘proclaiming freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’. It is bringing in the reign of God into our lives to glorify Him.
Paul gave his excellence for God’s glory in ALL situations
* In chain.
* Facing critics.
* Going through crisis of life and death.
Paul gave his excellence in chained
13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.
Paul wanted to go to Rome as a preacher of the gospel; instead, he was in Rome as a prisoner. Nevertheless, the prison cannot stop Paul from giving his excellence for His glory! As a result of his imprisonment, the gospel was shared to the prison guards and those around. The brothers in the Lord also were encouraged to be bold to share the gospel.
Paul gave his excellence when faced with his critic
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Paul has his vision set on things above. He did not allow personal feeling or issues to cloud his vision of the glory of the Lord. He is totally committed to advance the Gospel to give his excellence for God’s glory.
Paul gave his excellence for God when going through crisis of life and death
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
Paul did not know how his trial was going to turn out. He has no idea if he would be released when he wrote this letter. Yet he was all ready to commit himself totally to the Lord and his cause. He was even ready to die for what he has called to do as long as Christ’s name is exalted.
For many, Paul’s troubles may look like failure; but for Paul these were opportunities to be excellence for his glory because the gospel was advanced! He was a pioneer of the Gospel in all situations.
The secret of Paul
The power of prayer and the Holy Spirit
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
Paul can continue to rejoice in all circumstances and give his excellence for his glory because he was sure of the help from prayer of the saints and the power of the Holy Spirit at work to ensure his salvation to the end.
Single-mindedness for God’s glory
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
For Paul, it’s all about God and not himself! Paul has the single-mindedness of doing his best to bring glory to God. It’s all about God’s glory and reputation and not himself! His eyes are on God and not himself. His heart is for God and God only.
What can we learn?
The excellence that could give God the glory to advance the Gospel is:
Not our best effort or our greatest achievement, but our best state, the best that we could be.
Our best effort and success can only draw credit to ourselves, but not glory to God.
It is when we realize that we are living in His strength, and we cannot help but say, “The Lord is good! Glory be to Him!” It has to be a situation when everyone must recognize that this is clearly the hand of God working in and through us.
Our best state is not what we could be in ourselves, but one where we have given ourselves completely to Him and put our trust in Him-
It is when everyone around us recognizes the grace and the power of God at work in us, enabling us to act and respond in a way that truly reflects His divine character and power. And they cannot help but exclaimed, “Hallelujah! Glory be to God!”
It is when we can truthfully say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
It is when we proclaim with Paul, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!” and “In Christ alone, I place my trust.”
Some pioneers of faith who gives their hearts completely to God
Margaret Brand, a pioneer of Christian faith, who lived a balance career, family and faith, gave her excellence for the glory of God.
* Self-trained world expert on Leprosy on eye.
* With the late Dr. Paul Brand (d. 2003), raised a family of six children in India.
* Christian Medical College in Vellore, S. India, for approximately 18 years.
* 22 years as Chief of Ophthalmology at Gillis W. Long National Hansen’s Disease Center.
* Dr. Margaret, now 85, is officially retired, but maintains a busy schedule, speaking and traveling around the world.
According to Margaret Brand, a pioneer of Christian faith,
“It is the grace of God, which is available to everyone, that has enabled me to accomplish what I have done, and His grace that has overruled many of my foolish mistakes.”
“Our disappointments are God’s appointment for us!”
It is in such situations that we can give our excellence to for his glory when we respond to his call to advance the gospel and be a pioneer of the Christian faith.
‘Chained’ by circumstances – Susannah, Mrs. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“Book Fund”
Early in their married life, Susannah became an invalid but her burden to share in her husband’s ministry took her to start the “Book Fund”, a work of faith that supported thousands of pastors who were too poor to buy books. She began only by sharing with them her husband’s book and God took her burden and developed it into a great ministry even though she was home bound for 15 years.
When Susannah became chronically ill and was often confined to bed, discouraged and confused, Susannah cried out to God. Later, she would write, ” . . . the moment we come into any trial or difficulty, our first thought should be, not how soon can we escape from it, or how we may lessen the pain we shall suffer from it, but how can we best glorify God in it . . .”
But how could Susannah glorify God or minister with her husband while confined to a sick room?
In the summer of 1875, Charles completed the first volume of his book, Lectures to My Students. He gave a proof copy to Susannah and asked her opinion of it. After reading it, she said, “I wish I could place it in the hands of every minister in England.” Charles quipped, “Then why not do so; how much will you give?”3
Susannah took the challenge seriously. She had, on a whim, been saving crown pieces as she happened to get them. When she counted them out, there were exactly enough coins to buy 100 copies of the new book. Charles announced in his magazine that 100 copies of Lectures to my Students would be mailed to poor pastors at no charge. Orders flooded in for the books from English ministers, many of whom were so strapped for money that they hadn’t bought a new book in years. Susannah mailed out the books and received dozens of grateful letters in thanks. Some pastors wept when the precious volumes arrived. Spurgeon announced the results in the next issue of his magazine and asked his readers to help continue the work. Donations poured in. Though they never again asked for funds, enough money continued to trickle in over the years to distribute hundreds of thousands of theological books.
Susannah often worked from her sick bed, keeping track of the finances and corresponding with pastors. A room in their home was dedicated to storing and shipping books. As long as Susannah was well enough, volunteers would come in once every two weeks to help pack books for shipping.
Charles later wrote about the effect the labor involved in the book fund had on his wife. “Our gracious Lord has ministered to His suffering child in the most effectual manner when He graciously led her to minister to the necessities of His servants. . . . Let every believer accept this as the inference of experience: that for most human maladies, the best relief and antidote will be found in the self-sacrificing work for the Lord Jesus.”
She was a splendid manageress and a supporter of Spurgeon’s Pastors’ College
By means of rigid economies, quite a substantial amount was saved towards the support and education of the first student, the success of this effort leading to the foundation of the Pastors´ College. “I rejoice,” says Mrs. Spurgeon, ‘“to remember how I shared my beloved´s joy when he founded the Institution, and that together we planned and pinched in order to carry out the purpose of his loving heart; it gave me quite a motherly interest in the College, and ‘our own men.´
Do we feel ‘in chain’ to someone that pull us down or prevent us from serving him?
Susanna Wesley could be ‘in chain’ by her 19 children, but she was not!
She drew her inner strength from her belief in God. With single mind, she sees her difficult situations as God-given opportunities for furtherance of the Gospel. She shared,
"Help me, Lord, to remember that religion is not to be confined to the church... nor exercised only in prayer and meditation, but that every where I am in Thy Presence."
"I am content to fill a little space if God be glorified."
“My excellence for His glory” is a choice
Our unstoppable determination for His holiness! It involves a choice!
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest shared,
“To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering.”
“When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God he doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point – He does know.”
What should our responses be?
“Shut out every other thought that keep yourself before God for this one thing only – my utmost for his highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.”
How does God prepare and grow us to that state?
Experiencing God!
Blackaby shared about the steps God grows us through experiencing him in our love relationship with Him. Oswald Chambers shared something similar in this light when he said,
“But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentle nudges.”
It is a process of growth
We need to go through the process of growth in our experience with God. To look at the process that God lovingly and graciously subject us to, to bring to fruition the end product that He so desires to see in us, come to…HLCE Camp 2009
The theme: Our Excellence for His Glory
1. Experiencing His Comfort in our Trials (1:3-11).
2. Experiencing His Victory in our Setbacks (2:1-17).
3. Experiencing His Power in our Frailty (3:12-4:18).
4. Experiencing His Eternity in our Mortality (5:1-21).
We will be taken through the process of how Paul experience God’s grace that worked powerfully in him and help to strengthen and build him up to do excellently to glorify God in his life.
Let us go to the camp and learn to give Our Excellence for His Glory!
To God be all praise and glory! Amen.
_______________________________________________________________
HLCE Audio Sermons Online are on the web
at http://www.hlce.org.my
©HLCE 2000-2006
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