Sunday 6th May 2012 Sermon

Romans 10:1-12

Romans 10:1 – Replace Israel (or Israelites) with your heart’s desire for salvation. It can be a nation, a person or group of people. Does your heart have a desire for people, for a nation, for nations to be with Christ?

Humanly speaking, how can a nation be saved? Yet we believe in the word and believe in God’s power so it is possible for God to save a country. Isn’t it God’s plan? Isaiah 56:7

Paul calls the Israelites “My brothers” (Romans 10:1) despite their rejection of Christ.

He also tells them he’s praying for them. Even though we pray in the secret place we should tell the person we’re praying for them, it can be an encouraging thing to say to someone, “I’m praying for you”.

Romans 10:2-3 – Paul knows they had a zeal for God; he was among them before knowing Christ – fighting for God yet against the same God. From here we can deduce 2 types of righteousness: righteousness of law and faith. They believed in the righteousness of the law and had a zeal for God but it was a misplaced zeal and that was aching Paul.

They were ignorant; they didn’t know God’s righteousness. Even Jesus prayed for the ignorant: Luke 23:34. We should pray for ignorant unbelievers and even ignorant believers!

Paul sees the eminence of righteousness of faith as above the righteousness of law.

To have a heart’s desire is one thing; everyone has a heart’s desire whether it is to pass an exam, get a job etc., but we should bring those desires to God in prayer as Paul does (Romans 10:1).

Paul bears witness to his countrymen. The unbelieving Jews were the most bitter enemies of Christ Paul faced yet he gave them a good character as the truth would bear. Paul remembers the goodness of this people.

Sometimes our bitterness blinds us to the goodness of those we consider our enemies.

The Jews opposition to the Gospel was a blind misguided sin. We witness suicide bombings today and they have zeal for their god’s command. Even some Christians aren’t willing to die for a good cause! What a strong zeal to die for the cause they fight for. However they have a blind misguided sin.

Ignorance is the cause of their unbelieving and their submission to their own righteousness of the law.

The design of the law was to lead people to Christ (Romans 10:4), this is explained in Romans 8:3. Sadly for the Jews they don’t realise this and stay on the old side of the law. But they don’t understand, every scripture leads to Jesus.

Romans 10:5 – to live they need to live by the law and the law is difficult and hard; thank God for Jesus. We don’t need to sacrifice a lamb. We don’t need to look for fancy, difficult ways to be saved.

Romans 10:8 – The word (salvation) has been brought to us; there are two ways for salvation (Romans 10:9):

• Confessing in the Lord Jesus Christ 
• Believing God raised Jesus from the dead

The work to do lies within us (Matthew 10:32-33). Now it doesn’t cost us anything to confess Jesus is Lord. But before it could cost our life; Stephen was stoned and Peter even denied Jesus because of the fear of knowing Christ. Even now is some part of the world it is still costly.

Thank God here and now it isn’t costly except for friends and family giving us trouble but it is trouble we can overcome.

What is the final message we can draw from this scripture?

Our righteousness should be that of the Gospel, of God.

Righteousness needs to be explained; the trend of guilt is that there are different perceptions today.

We have our own righteousness and the Jews had their own righteousness forgetting the righteousness of the Gospel.

Nowadays confessions we see on the Internet or magazines aren’t confessions to repent; most of them are “Kiss and tell”. These celebrities have their own righteousness. But we need to align our righteousness to the righteousness of the Gospel, the righteousness of God.

That’s Paul’s message to his countrymen. We need to pray for our nation; we are in danger of establishing our own righteousness away from God. It’s good to pray for the government and world.

Dare to dream that the nation will be saved, the negative predictions won’t come to pass under God’s power and that’s faith “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). 

Don't forget to check the church website:

Chalk Farm Baptist Church website (chalkfarmbaptistchurch.org)!

God Bless,

Chalk Farm Baptist Church Youth

Everybody's Doing It (from ymiblogging)

Everybody’s Doing It

OUR DAILY JOURNEY 

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May 6, 2012 

“Now’s your opportunity!” David’s men whispered to him (v.4). 

READ: 1 Samuel 24:1-22 

When I joined a popular social media network, it was thrilling to reconnect with friends. We swapped messages and fortified our cyber-connection by joining each other’s causes, comparing quiz results, and exchanging virtual hugs. After a while I felt the pressure of staying plugged into the website so that I could respond to each message.


Going along with the crowd isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless our actions contradict God’s law. David had to decide whether to follow the advice of his peers or honour God in a critical situation. He and his fellow soldiers (and probably some large spiders!) were hiding from King Saul in the back of a cave—for Saul had been stalking David, intending to murder him.


Incredibly, Saul wandered into the same cavern. David’s peers, having been incessantly chased, understandably whispered: “Now’s your opportunity. . . . Today, the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish’ ” (v.4). David’s friends tried to influence him by telling him what they thought God was saying. Yet David said, “[God] forbid that I should . . . attack the Lord’s anointed one, for the Lord Himself has chosen him” (v.6). 


When David opted for God’s influence rather than that of his friends’, the cat and mouse game ended without bloodshed. Saul actually cried and confessed to David, “You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil” (v.17).


The next time you’re being pressured into a bad decision, and your friends say, “Just go for it,” don’t. Instead consider how it—whatever it is—lines up with God’s standards for Christian living (Ephesians 5:1-4). Listen to God’s voice and honour Him rather than earthly allies. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

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What Makes a Woman Beautiful? (from ymiblogging)

What Makes A Woman Beautiful?

By Edna Ho, 21, Malaysia

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It’s not about you having big eyes or small eyes.
It’s not about your face shape—be it oval, round or square.
It’s not about you having a sharp nose or a flat nose.
It’s not about you having flawless skin or a pimpled face.
It’s not about your skin color, whether you’re dark or fair.
It’s not about your height, whether you’re tall or short.
It’s not about you being slim or plump.

And mind you, a lot of us believe what the world perceives as beautiful to be true. We think that pretty girls must have flawless skin, silky long hair, big eyes, perfect eyebrows, an oval face, a sharp nose, fair, tall, and slim.

No, a woman is beautiful when after the mishaps and past failures is able to still rest in God, trusting that she is in the wonderful hands of the God Almighty. As Stasi Eldredge in her book Your Captivating Heart put it, “A beautiful woman is one who is at rest.” She doesn’t compare herself with others as to who is better or prettier. She is at peace, because she knows that she is the Lord’s beloved daughter.

You are beautiful, because you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). No matter how you feel and no matter what others tell you, God says, “You are my precious daughter.”

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Sunday 29th April 2012 Sermon

Romans 9:1-33

Paul is addressing the Jews at the Church of Rome in this chapter. This chapter speaks of what becomes of the Jews if they don’t embrace Jesus and the gospel, it tells of the Father’s promise and talks of the consequence of Israel’s rejection of Christ.

This chapter contains harsh words and a stern warning.

It seems like it has nothing to do with us Christians; it is about Jews rejecting Jesus, ‘this concerns Jews, not us’.

This chapter shows great concerns for the nation and people of Israel. Paul wasn’t speaking of wrath or condemnation but was heartily troubled for the many enemies of the gospel, the Jews. He was trying to bring them to a place of understanding and belief.

For this, Paul had great heaviness (Romans 9:2); he doesn’t rejoice over the rejected Jews but wants them to be saved. He backs this with a serious implication (Romans 9:3) showing a very high pang of affection for his countrymen.

What do we think of people of our same ethnic background who are lost?

It might begin with our own family; our spouse, our children, our uncle, our aunty…

Do we have the same sorrow for the people of Israel Paul had for our own people?

This is something we can pull out of this chapter; when we see our people rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ, do we judge them, do we condemn them or do we love them?

Here Paul is so forgiving towards the Jews.

For some of us it is easier to speak to those outside than our own family. Do we shy away from it?

Here Paul has shown sorrow for his own blood, his own people. That should speak to us, to you, to me.

We are all connected to some part of the world as Paul is connected to Israel.

We are all connected to some people something we ought to thank God for. But do we have a heart for our own people? That was Paul’s heart.

We need to speak with boldness but in love. The words of Paul sound harsh to the unbelieving Jews but love is apt to sound bold.

Do we speak highly of our own people or do we speak down? When are we going to bless our own people? When?

One day, we may be called to a mission field and it may just be where we came from.

Paul will be content to forbear his own happiness to purchase the happiness of his people (Romans 9:4)

But we have to remember, he was rejected by his own people and they wanted his head. Yet Paul loved them and that’s very hard to do.

Paul was standing in a place where he was rejected yet didn’t call them enemies but ‘my own race’.

Let’s bring it home; we may have been rejected by friends, family. We won’t call them enemies but our people. And that’s the love of Christ.

Even if we are mocked or persecuted we need to be concerned for the spiritual good of our relations.

The Word of God is taking us to a place of forgiveness, of love and of embrace (not of rejection).

We will still call these people our people and call on God to help us love our people.

Paul is talking of the Israelites, speaking out of love, pain and compassion.

They received (Romans 9:4-5) 1^st: adoption, 2^nd: glory, 3^rd: covenants, 4^th: the receiving of the law, 5^th: the temple worship (service of God), 6^th: the promises, 7^th: patriarchs (fathers) and the 8^th: Christ! He was of kin to them.

We have some place we come from and love that part. We need to love our own people to extend it to others and overflow to others.

Romans 9:15 is very harsh and here is Charles Spurgeon Devotional on this verse:

In these words the Lord in the plainest manner claims the right to give or to withhold His mercy according to His own sovereign will. As the prerogative of life and death is vested in the monarch, so the Judge of all the earth has a right to spare or condemn the guilty, as may seem best in His sight. Men by their sins have forfeited all claim upon God; they deserve to perish for their sins--and if they all do so, they have no ground for complaint. If the Lord steps in to save any, He may do so if the ends of justice are not thwarted; but if He judges it best to leave the condemned to suffer the righteous sentence, none may arraign Him at their bar. Foolish and impudent are all those discourses about the rights of men to be all placed on the same footing; ignorant, if not worse, are those contentions against discriminating grace, which are but the rebellions of proud human nature against the crown and sceptre of Jehovah. When we are brought to see our own utter ruin and ill desert, and the justice of the divine verdict against sin, we no longer cavil at the truth that the Lord is not bound to save us; we do not murmur if He chooses to save others, as though He were doing us an injury, but feel that if He deigns to look upon us, it will be His own free act of undeserved goodness, for which we shall for ever bless His name.

How shall those who are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore the grace of God? They have no room for boasting, for sovereignty most effectually excludes it. The Lord's will alone is glorified, and the very notion of human merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no more humbling doctrine in Scripture than that of election, none more promotive of gratitude, and, consequently, none more sanctifying. Believers should not be afraid of it, but adoringly rejoice in it.

Don't forget to check the church website:

Chalk Farm Baptist Church website (chalkfarmbaptistchurch.org)!

God Bless,

Chalk Farm Baptist Church Youth

Man Rebelling Against God’s Authority (from ymiblogging)

Man Rebelling Against God’s Authority

By Ernest Teh

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Have you ever stayed up late at night wondering about what you’re doing with your life, and feeling entirely lost? I have, and I’m sure I’m not alone either. F. Scott Fitzgerald described it this way, “In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.”

The truth is that most of us lead pretty empty lives. The other truth is that most of us often don’t realize it because we’re just too busy doing whatever it is we’re doing. Strip our life bare, and leave us with our thoughts (at say maybe 3 a.m.?) however, and it may finally dawn upon us that we don’t really have a clue what our life is all about. We keep filling it up with this activity and that pursuit and that goal that we have no time to stop and think about where we’re actually headed. This is the emptiness that comes as a result of sin. We have rejected God’s RULES and RULE in our lives.

Now we’re left to run our life on our own, and with our direction, nowhere is the only destination I can imagine us reaching. It’s sad how so many of us are oblivious to the fact that our soul is wandering around in the dark. But fortunately, that isn’t the end, for, thanks be to God, we have the Son who has called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.

Are we still wandering in the dark? Or are we basking in the wonder of His glorious light?

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Discerning God’s Plan (from ymiblogging)

Discerning God’s Plan

By Julian Abraham, 19, Singapore

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Does God have a plan for me? Do I know what His plans might be? These are questions that many of us think little about. There’s always good excuse for not thinking about such matters for our lives are crowded with so many activities. We’re loaded with work, studies, and social activities—all of which consumes much of our time and energy.

However, one reality remains: whatever we do that is outside of God’s plans will never fully satisfy; worst still, the end-result might be disaster and failure. In addition, God is and should always be top priority in our lives. No work, personal goals, achievements should disrupt our relationship with Him. If anything proves to be an obstacle, then it’s time to reconsider our focus and commitments. It could be that it isn’t God’s plan for us to pursue something or that God’s path for us is different from what we are currently taking. Thus it is important to take moments to ponder if the direction we are heading is the path that God wants us to take.

A friend of mine thought God was mean and nasty to him when he was fired from his job. He felt that it was due to his involvement in church. A week later, he found a job that was far better than his last—bigger paycheck, better benefits, and a more pleasant environment! Having said that, it’s not the tangible and visible gains that matter, what’s more important is the chance to grow spiritually and closer to God.

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Why faith? (from ymiblogging)

Why Faith?

 

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If someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it (v.15).  

READ: 1 Peter 3:13-18 

In an interview pop music star Katy Perry stated that 
 she wasn’t thrilled with her strict religious upbringing.
 “I didn’t have a childhood,” she explained. “I’ve always been the kid who’s asked ‘Why?’ In my faith, you’re just supposed to have faith. But I was always like . . . why? At this point, I’m just kind of a drifter . . . open to possibility.”


Not having been there, I can’t comment on Katy’s upbringing and what she didn’t like about it. But her words are telling: In my faith you’re just supposed to have faith. To that, I pose a Katy-like question: Why? For faith simply in faith is an empty pursuit. However faith in Jesus is something real and life changing.


Here’s why: To have faith in faith leads to trusting in something that lacks substance. It’s like clinging to a climbing rope for safety, but then discovering that it’s simply falling to the ground—not tied above or anchored below. True Christian faith, however, is confidently believing in Someone—Jesus.


The apostle Peter told his readers, who were suffering for their faith, to “always be ready to explain” their “Christian hope” (1 Peter 3:15). He had walked with Jesus, watched Him perform miracles, witnessed His death on a cross for his sins, and spent time with Him after He rose again from the grave. Peter possessed a rational, reasoned belief.


That belief—that faith—is what we can possess. Not grasping for an unsecured rope, we firmly hold on to the One who has shown Himself to be trustworthy and true. We believe, as Peter wrote, that “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring [us] safely home to God” (v.18). Now that’s Someone to have faith in! —Tom Felten

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