maroubra baptist

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a great new year!

I love living in the Post Modern Year of 2009, soon 2010. I’m excited by technological, medical, and other advancements. However, I sometimes feel sad when I think of some of the ways in which society is heading.

For example, because of litigation laws, it’s getting to the point where, because of political correctness and the fear of offending somebody, nobody is prepared to give advice any more, for fear of being sued. Consider this Christmas greeting I received this week.

“Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender neutral celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practised within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practise religious or secular traditions at all; and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Australia great (but not to imply that Australia is necessarily greater than any other country), and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, gender, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting the following terms. 

1. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. 
2. It is freely transferable, but without alteration to the original greeting.

3. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

4. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and the warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher. “

At the risk of offending someone, I’d like to wish you all a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS and a great new year. Di and I thank you for your many Christmas greetings, cards and gifts. Most of all, we thank you for your prayers and support during the year. 

I hope that you will be able to enjoy a well-earned rest from regular ministry over the holiday period so that we can go even harder next year. I look forward to the joy of serving the Lord together with you in 2010.

Bible Reading Plan 2009 - Start NT Today

If you started the year with us, reading through the Cover to Cover Bible, and have fallen behind, now is a great chance to get in step again by picking up at Day 274, which is the start of the New Testament. Or, if you start at today’s reading, Day 277, you will have only missed the Genealogies and the story of Jesus’ birth, with which you are probably fairly familiar.

I encourage you to come with us on this exciting journey through the New Testament. I plan to preach from each week’s readings, as I did with the Old Testament.  There is so much to learn! And so much to be encouraged and strengthened by. Make the most of the opportunity.

Failures into successes

Did you know that our shortcomings and failures come as no surprise to God? David wrote in Psalm 139, "O Lord, you have searched me you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord."

Maybe you have had a serious failure in your spiritual life recently. Maybe you have fallen and wonder if you ever can be forgiven. God can take our failures and turn them into successes. God can take losers and turn them into winners. We see this in the life of one follower of Jesus, whose name was Simon Peter.

It is worth noting how Simon got his new name, Peter. The disciples were with the Lord at a place called Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus turned to them and said, "Who do men say that I am?" Various ideas were thrown out. Then Simon, under the inspiration of God himself, said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God". This was a remarkable moment. Peter had been given supernatural insight. Jesus told him, "I am giving you a new name. From this moment on, your name is Peter, and on this rock I will build my church."

Before Peter fully lived up to his new name, he had a serious lapse. He experienced a fall that was both notable and dramatic. You'll find the Gospel accounts of it in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John 18. Yes, Peter fell. But it was temporary. Later, in his own epistle, Peter wrote, "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you" (1 Peter 5:10).

Instead of being devastated by past failures or being upset with God as to why you went through certain things, allow God to take those things you have experienced and turn them into great lessons that you can share with others. God gives second chances. That is what He did for Peter. And that is what He can do for you.

DO IT ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus

The following passage from Colossians 3 came home to me with great impact recently.

{12} Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

{13} Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

{14} And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

{17} And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

After instructing us to do many things which amount to behaving like Christ, God gives us, in verse 17, an over-arching principle to keep us on track in acting like Jesus. The principle is this: WHATEVER you do, DO IT ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus.

That doesn’t mean reciting the formula, “We do this in the name of Jesus,” as we do when we pray. Jesus’ name means Jesus’ character. And to do something in his name is to do something in keeping with his character. It means doing it on his behalf.

If we applied that simple formula to everything we did, we would find that it gives us clear guidance. For example, how do these suggestions sound?

On behalf of Jesus, I hereby cheat on my taxes. On behalf of Jesus, I hate you. On behalf of Jesus, I refuse to forgive you. On behalf of Jesus I take these harmful drugs. On behalf of Jesus, I watch this questionable DVD. You can see that we don’t have to be all that bright in order to apply this formula effectively.

Another way to test whether we are doing something on behalf of Jesus is to imagine him doing it with us. Imagine him sitting next to us, enjoying it with us. Imagine him coming with us to help us do it. If we’re not comfortable about that, then obviously we shouldn’t be doing it.

Another good test is simply to ask, “What would Jesus do?” You can even buy stickers and bracelets, containing that question, as a reminder not to forget to ask it every time. Remember, God’s instruction is WHATEVER... DO IT ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Here am I. Send me!

One of our Core Convictions is, “Mission is why The Church exists.” We see, from the Old Testament, that long before The Church came into existence, mission was on the heart of God. Mission has always been on the heart of God. We see this in the commissioning of Isaiah.

Isaiah is caught up in an amazing experience wherein he is given a glimpse of what’s going on in heaven. Let him tell the story himself.

I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: ³And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

⁵“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

⁶Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 

⁷With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6

In the midst of all these glorious happenings in heaven, God’s chief concern was, “Who will take the message to the people of earth? Who will speak on behalf of heaven?” Then Isaiah responded with words that were obviously music to God’s ears. “Here am I. Send me!”

God has commissioned us to tell the message also, in our day. Are we just as willing to put our hand up as Isaiah was? When we are eager to respond, God is even more eager to use us. As soon as Isaiah volunteered, God said, “Go and tell this people…” (v9). That moment of loving response marks the beginning of our incredible partnership with God wherein we work together towards achieving our mission of “transforming people into fully devoted followers of Jesus.”

Our purpose

In Philippians 3:12, Paul says, I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

We know, from Paul’s testimony, that there was a time when he wanted anything but what Christ wanted for him. However, when Christ took hold of Paul, it became a different story.  Even though God had to use extreme measures to take hold of him, once he was captured, Paul was transformed into someone who wanted nothing but  what Christ wanted for him.

My testimony is similar to Paul’s. Maybe yours too. When Christ takes hold of us, he does so for a specific purpose and, at the same time, he transforms our mind so that we begin to realise how great that purpose is. Once we realise it, we say, with Paul, “I press on to take hold of it... that is, the purpose for which Christ took hold of me.”

And the more we begin to fulfill Christ’s purpose for us, the more fulfilled we become ourselves because we are doing what we were made for. And our transformed mind realises that we were made for eternity. Therefore, we start to see things differently because we realise that our citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3:20.

With that in mind, we join Paul in saying, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. Phillipians 3:14.

Paul then becomes very direct and says, All of us who are mature should take such a view of things, Philippians 3:15, and join with others in following my example. Philippians 3:17.

In other words, find out what it is that Christ took hold of us for (our purpose) and go for it with all our might.

Turn the other cheek

As I recently read 1 Corinthians 4:12-13, I was arrested by the lovely Christ-like attitude of Paul and his companions. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. 

Paul is being a great model here of the principle that Jesus taught of returning good for evil. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile rather than to act unlovingly or unkindly or in a way that upsets the harmony within Christ’s Body, the Church.

Just two chapters later, in the same letter, Paul says to people who were in dispute with each other, Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 1 Corinthians 6:7. It’s not nice to be wronged or cheated but God is saying through Paul that there are higher issues at stake than our personal rights, namely harmony and unity amongst believers.

In Ephesians 4:3, Paul says, Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Making every effort must naturally include what Paul modeled for us above; to bless when we are cursed and to answer kindly when we are slandered.

God, who sees the big picture, teaches us that being wronged and cheated is not so bad, especially when it happens because of Christ. In that case, what we suffer here is far surpassed by the reward we get in heaven for enduring the suffering without retaliation.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. Matthew 5:11-12

Samaria this weekend

Don't miss this Sunday morning as Chris Burdett will be speaking on "Bringing joy to Samaria."

This is a not to be missed message.

Nothing is impossible

Recently, we have been reminded that our God is a great God; the God of the miraculous, the God who sent fire from heaven when Elijah prayed, the God for whom nothing is impossible.

We have recalled many miracles of provision that God has done at Maroubra over the years. But God’s miracles at Maroubra have extended far beyond those relating to material provision.

For example, seventeen years ago Joanne and Steve Wilson came from Christchurch NZ to become part of our church family as Joanne awaited a heart-lung transplant. Everyone was surprised that Joanne had to wait two whole years for the operation. We were even more surprised that she was able to last that long. Indeed, some of her ‘heart-lung’ friends were not able to hang on long enough and died while waiting for  their life saving transplant.

As Joanne waited patiently, teetering on the brink of death, she gave us a great example of patience and faith and a non-complaining spirit, despite having to carry an oxygen bottle everywhere she went.

From Pastor Jim

Lily Zhang has just finished her first semester in Bible College in Brisbane. Lily resumes her studies this week after a break that enabled her to come home to us at Maroubra for the last three Sundays.

Lily was born in Shanghai, China and so was a child during the years of Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Effectively this meant that her school education finished at grade five. Although officially she was at school, six months would be spent in the country working with peasant farmers and six months in a factory. Eventually she became an apprentice in a chemical factory and after a period married her supervisor.

That marriage meant the joy of a daughter but also years of deep loneliness in a relationship with a partner who proved unable or unwilling to communicate at any depth. However it did lead to an appointment to Australia where she stayed after the sudden death of her husband. She knew no English but after four years of TAFE she is now literate with a growing vocabulary, but it is still a real struggle.

The story of her conversion is wonderful. She was a widow with no knowledge whatsoever of God and was very sceptical and resistant.  Through the witness of her sister and the patience of a Small Group Leader she eventually became a follower of Jesus. A great hunger for knowledge led her to Bible Study Fellowship and then she became aware of the need for others to also hear the good news. Mission agencies told her she needed Bible College training. Research led her to find a college where much of her course could be in Mandarin so now this determined servant of Jesus with her grade five background is revelling in lectures and assignments. 

“ I had to wait so long to hear about Jesus,” she said. “I don’t want others to wait.”