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Christians should feel tense: the difference between what you want and what’s happening, the sense of being pulled in two directions at once. Paul shows this throughout 2 Corinthians and his other writings, and in this passage particularly in verses 2, 4, 5, and 8. This is eschatological tension, tension between the present and the future.
Paul uses several metaphors to describe this, I’ve highlighted two of them:
- Verses 1 – 2. Our bodies are presently like tents (weak, temporary) but will be replaced with buildings (strong, eternal) when we die. It’s better to be in a building than a tent, but for now we’re in the tent.
- Verse 5. The down payment of the Holy Spirit. Like a lick of the spoon whilst the cakes are baking, He touches us with God’s love as a sign of what eternal closeness to God will be like. These wonderful moments are glimpses of a better future. The word Paul used is still used in Greek to mean “engagement ring” – another example of the “now and not yet” tension of being a Christian.
We have to understand this or we’ll make one of two mistakes when we feel this tension:
- Denying the future, refusing to believe that more of the Kingdom of God can be brought into the present. This attitude may have come about because of Britishness, or disappointment (Proverbs 13:12).
- Denying the present, refusing to acknowledge that the Kingdom hasn’t fully come yet.
How Paul encourages us to live with tension.
- Groan. Jesus did this plenty of times when confronted with cruel enemies, foolish followers, and the horrors of the cross. We weep when sad things happen, we get angry at injustice – but we don’t finish there. An anticipatory groan ends on a high note – because that’s where we’re headed. This is the realism and hope of Christianity, it’s what motivates us to make a difference wherever we are.
- Walk by faith. I’ve never seen Jesus, I believe He is alive for all sorts of good reasons, and so I believe that there is a glorious eternal future for all who put their trust in Him. I can’t see that yet, but it determines how I live right now. God is looking for people who trust Him, who take steps which require His intervention to succeed. If you’re faithful with a little, God will give you more.
- Please God. A day of judgement is coming when our actions and attitudes will be revealed and rewarded/rebuked as appropriate by Jesus. Paul wanted lots of good things to talk about with Jesus, so he found out what pleased God (that’s one of the things our Bibles are for) and did them. Are you living to please yourself, others around you, or Almighty God?
All this put together: the hopeful groaning, faith-focused living, aiming to please Him, this is courageous living in the present age. Courage isn’t making the right choice without any fear, it’s acknowledging the fear and making the right choice anyway. Followers of Jesus do this because our great Leader did that for us, and now lives in us to empower us to do the same. The tension still aches, the glorious new age has begun but not yet fully come – but today it’s another day closer.
Questions for discussion
- What was the most memorable thing from the preach for you?
- Was Luke right to say that Christians should feel tension? What makes you agree, or disagree with that statement?
- Are you more of a future denier (miserable, cynical) or a present denier (naive)? What tempts us to these extremes and how can we resist them?
- Is “Groaning” the weirdest application point you’ve ever heard? What did Luke mean by that?
- What does living by faith and not be sight look like (if you’ll pardon the pun)? Do you have some examples of this you can share, and some challenges ahead? Pray for one another about these, that God would grow what we sow.
- The “Judgement Seat of Christ” (verse 10, cf. 1 Corinthians 3:14-15) isn’t something we often talk about often but it’s obviously very important. What does this mean for Christians, and how should it motivate us?
- What are you going to think/do differently as a result of this?
2 Corinthians 4:6-18
Paul is talking personally in these verses of his own experiences of God in the midst of hardship. His summary in v16 is that we are outwardly wasting away, but inwardly being renewed day by day. The Christian lives in the tension of Crescendo (faith getting louder and stronger) and Diminuendo (body/ mind) getting weaker.
Are bodies and minds diminish, either through aging, or sickness, or anxiety or other pressures. Paul knew this first hand. According to 2 cor 11 he experienced prison, countless beatings, 5 floggings, 3 beatings with sticks, he was stoned, shipwrecked 3 times, left adrift in the sea for 24 hours. He experienced “everyday calamities” like being robbed and flooded and deprived of sleep and being hungry and cold. Plus his anxiety for those he felt responsibility for. These things have a toll on your body. It’s thought Paul’s eyesight failed him by the end (Gal 6:11). There were periods of illness- Galatians 4:13 where he was immobilised.
V7 says the fragility of our human existence can be likened to a clay pot. Easily damaged and broken. When we become Christians we don’t become superhuman! Rather the treasure is on the inside.
Even more importantly- it seems it’s actually God’s purpose to bring himself glory through our frailty and weakness and brokenness. Sometimes we wrongly think God only get’s glory if he delivers us from sickness or pain. Actually he displays his glory through those very things (see John 21:19- Peter’s painful humiliating death served God’s purpose). As our body is in Diminuendo, so God’s power in us become more on display! There’s a crescendo.
But it’s primarily inward. We don’t look any different from anyone without this treasure. But one day we will (1 John 3:2). The fight of faith is one that we primarily face inwardly. Yet it seems that how well we finish is more important than how falteringly we start (2 Tim 4:7). We will do well if in our final breaths our confidence is in Jesus more than ever before.
One day the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as surely as the waters cover the sea. Meanwhile, we live in the overlap of the ages- the world in its present form is passing away (1 cor 7), but the kingdom of God is not yet fully here (Rev 21). So we still wrestle with sickness, pain, death, anxiety, poverty, loneliness. We have hope and we see some wonderful breakthroughs, but not all the time. The main domain of God’s glory in this age will be in our hearts.
How can we receive encouragement when we’re feeling bruised and broken? Paul says “we do not lose heart”. Losing heart seems to be the battle of most Christians! We get so discouraged through being hard pressed and perplexed and persecuted and struck down. Life takes it’s toll on us. Here’s some keys:
1) Keep hope in the future resurrection 2 Cor 4:14. Whatever happens to our bodies and minds in this life- they will be raised again in glory and immortality.
2) Know that others are seeing Christ in you. 2 cor 4:12&15. How often we are amazed at the grace God gives to those going through intense and difficult trials. You may feel like the clay pot is breaking- rejoice that the treasure will be better seen by others
3)Make a comparison. Not just to others who may have it worse than you. V17 says compare your suffering with the weight of eternal glory, which makes ANY hardship in this life light and momentary by comparison.
You do that by fixing your mind on eternal things (Jesus and your heavenly home) and reminding yourself of what is temporary (this life, this body, this world).
Questions
1) Read the passage out loud in your group. Which of these verses do you take most encouragement from and why? Share around the group.
2) “Therefore we do not lose heart”… what things discourage us most as Christians? How do these verses help combat discouragement?
3) What do you think it looks like to “crescendo” in faith whilst battling with a the diminuendo of a world and even our bodies that are passing away.
4) It’s hard for us to see treasure in ourselves- especially when we’re feeling overwhelmed! Discuss what is helpful (and what’s not!) in encouraging Christians who are facing hardship.
The Fight of Faith
1 Tim 6:10-16
1) The nature of the fight
This is instruction for all Christians, not just leaders. This is logical because faith is for all Christians! And eternal life is for all Christians. Today there is a battle going on. You’re in it. And firstly the fight of faith concerns you maintaining your own faith. Why? Because Your faith has greater value than gold. 1 peter 1:7 We must therefore be more diligent with our faith than any other possession. V 10 says money lovers wander from the faith and pierce themselves with many griefs.
At the conclusion to his life Paul said in 2 tim 4:7-87 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. First of all then fighting a good fight simply means holding on to what we have. Not giving in to temptation to quit, or compromise, or not believe sound doctrine.
That’s one thing. The second part of fighting the fight of faith is to lay hold of eternal life.
Why is it important? ALL Christians must lay hold of eternal life by fighting the good fight of faith. Eternal life is the interest of every Christian. Take hold of eternal life. It seems that our eternal life is dependent on this fight of faith. Evangelicals are often weak on this point! The teaching of the Bible is that you daredn’t rely on some past faith for today or for the future. We must keep laying hold of the prize of eternal life. Our fighting spirit is the best evidence we have that we are genuinely born again. Just like Olympics boxers lay hold of that gold medal. Eternal life is yours- now fight for it.
Hebrews 12:1 talks of a cloud of witnesses, who’s witness to us remains the same today: “don’t give up- fight, Jesus is worth it all- any amount of hardship”
2) It’s a Good Fight
1) It’s a fight against an evil enemy. The opponent of faith is unbelief. The first sin was a sin of unbelief in God’s provision. It’sthe nature of all sin. Behind it is the father of lies- the devil. In front of it flows all other sins. Unbelief is bad for you.
2) It’s a fight with supernatural strength. If all we had was our own strength we would be quickly defeated! Phil 2:12 continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,13 for it is God who works in you. How good to know the Spirit helps us in our weakness! However when we run from the fight we have to do that in our own strength.
3) It’s a fight to be free from burdens! A fight to give Jesus our burdens and anxieties, so that we don’t have to carry them. The fight of faith doesn’t weigh you down- it lightens you up. Cast your burdens onto Jesus- he cares for you. So when we fight to maintain peace and joy and hope and freedom- that’s very good for us
4) It’s a fight against sinful-pride. Most fights are about self-exaltation- showing our own ability and strength (e.g. war). The fight of faith puts our dependency outside of our own strength in God’s. It’s a way of us saying we desperately need God- that we are helpless. We don’t like doing that! But for that reason it’s a good fight.
5)It’s a God-honouring activity. When we put trust in God and not in ourselves and when the results of that are good. It brings him glory. God is good. So when he gets honoured it’s a good thing. SO it’s a good fight.
3) How do I fight this fight and lay hold of eternal life?
Ephesians 6 says put on the full armour of God and then applies that in many ways. In fact every act of Christian discipleship is part of this fight. Here’s some area I think are poignant:
1) Together. It’s not just an individual fight. You need brothers and sisters to lay hold of eternal life. Band of brothers who are about the same goal. Heb 10:23-25 23 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—
You need spurring on- encouraging. That requires meeting together and you doing it.. Small groups are an absolute necessity to laying hold of eternal life. As are good same-sex friendships where we can be honest about our temptations and receive counsel.
2) Thankful heart. Phil 4:8 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me— put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Cynicism is a major fight for us in UK. We like to think about the bad, the unpraiseworthy, the untrue, the shameful. That’s what sells newspapers. Christian- do the opposite.
Sung worship is vital to help us focus on God, who is praiseworthy. Listen (and sing along to) good worship music (e.g. Matt Redman 10,000 reasons is my current favourite)
3) Holding onto Promises
Prophetic: 1 Tim 1 18
a) Receiving instruction- being diligent about preaching and reading. Love of doctrine. Promises of God- righteousness as a gift. Of we confess our sins he is faithful…Surely I am with you always. It’s the sword of the Spirit
b) Reminding of the prophetic purpose of God- Timothy was told to use the prophecies he’d received to fight in prayer.
4) Keeping a Clear conscience
1 Tim 119 …holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
When we override our conscience we harden our heart and we risk shipwrecking faith. Conscience is an imperfect but God inspired thing. Always let your conscience be shaped by scripture and sound teaching and the Holy Spirit. Not by others.
5) Prayer- Eph 6:18 Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kind of requests.”
6) When all else fails- stand. Eph 6:13 “…and after you have done everything, to stand…”
Sometimes we just need to keep trusting, even when circumstances baffle us. We take encouragement from God, “who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
When all around is sinking sand we can take great strength from Paul’s instruction: “Fight the fight- lay hold of eternal life”- you can do that if you’re sick, if you’re unemployed, if you’re single mum struggling to get by, a marriage in troubled times, a parent anxious for your child.
It’s a good fight. Lay hold of eternal life
Questions
1. Review: For those who were there: what did you personally feel was the most encouraging thing you heard from the message? What was the most challenging thing?
2. Maintaining our faith: What are some of the other temptations we face to “wander from the faith” (1 Tim 6:10 lists one). How can we keep a high value on our faith? (1 Peter 1:7)
3. Laying hold of eternal life. Revelation 2 & 3 talks about Christians overcoming major battles. To each is given a promise. Look at each and discuss what you think the promise means and how it helps motivate us. Rev 2:7,2:11, 2:17, 2:26, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21
4. Fighting together. Read Heb 10:23-25. How can we apply this more fully in our own life and in our small group?
5. The fight for thankfulness. How can we fight off the overwhelmingly cynical nature of our culture and stay thankful and pure hearted?
6. When all else fails…stand (Eph 6:13). We all face this from time to time- feeling of total disappointment, loss of hope, major sickness etc. We need brothers and sisters to fight for us in prayer and encourage us. Is there anyone in our group who would value prayer today?
Matthew 20:20-28
We all love to be served by others. Somebody making us a cup of tea, or going out their way for us. God made us to receive love in that way! By necessity that means we also have to be good at serving others. God wants us to learn to be servants. Yet there is something that makes us reactive to think of ourselves as someone else’s servant! It feels like a throw back to the 1930s setting of “Upstairs/ Downstairs”.
More than that we are bombarded with technologies and ideas that will make our life easier. The aspiration of many is to “live upstairs” while others (or at least our dishwasher/ washing machine) do the work for us downstairs.
Jesus teaches us that living a serving life isn’t second-best- but actually what we’re made for- and therefore most fulfilled in doing. How counter-cultural! We get our best joy by serving others!
The danger when we see serving as menial and secondary and beneath us is that we get resentful and bitter and jealous of others! Especially when most tasks in all of our lives (working, being a mum, dad, husband, wife, friend, son, daughter) involve huge amounts of serving.
THE SERVING NATURE OF GOD
In Isaiah 14v13-15 we read what many believe is a description of the origins of Satan. God made Lucifer as an angel to serve him. But Lucifer took exception and decided he wanted to “be upstairs” with God on the throne. It didn’t work out.
Compare that to God- who rightfully lives “upstairs” as the creator of all. But chooses to live downstairs and become the servant of all. Philippians 2:5-8 tells us that the one who was “in very nature God” became “in very nature a servant”.
He spent many years doing a routine job as a carpenter, no doubt providing for his mother (it’s believed that Joseph died young). Jesus subsequent ministry often left him exhausted (imagine being surrounded by sick, hungry people and their kids all day long), yet he served people tirelessly- healing, teaching, blessing their kids…). At the cross he did the dirtiest work of all- dealing with all of our sin- and he did it with a good attitude and love for us. Amazing.
Even more God serves you every day. He makes the sun rise. He gives you food and water, health, strength, inspiration, wisdom. He gives you every breath you breathe.
BE LIKE GOD
Phil 2:5 says your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus in serving. What does this look like for us?
1) Wholehearted. Jesus made it his ambition to serve whenever and wherever he could. One time when he couldn’t go and heal is friend Lazarus, he wept. Choose to be wholehearted- yourself and those you have influence over. Joshua put it this way: “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.
2) Glad. Psalm 100:2 Serve the Lord with Gladness, come into his presence with singing.
Although being the servant can be hard, we can find joy in it. And see joy through it. Heb 12:2 says that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him. 1 Peter 4:9 “Offer hospitality without grumbling” isn’t just “try and look happy”, but v11 about bringing glory to God.
3) Good attitude even when doing the boring and menial. col 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Choosing to serve in ways that deliberately involve us in personally unrewarding activities (e.g. the baby room!) is actually very good for developing our character and dealing with our pride.
4) Employing your unique gift. God gives you particular areas where you will excel in serving others and bringing him honour. 1 Peter 4:10-11
5) Take every opportunity
Gal 5:9-10 God gives us other opportunities to bless and serve others in our city. The story of the good Samaritan shows that their is no limit to who God wants us to reach out to with his practical love.
Questions
1) Is there one thing that you came away thinking about from the preaching on Sunday? Share around the group those who were there.
2) “As for me and my house”. Who has God given you serving responsibilities for in your group? Read Col 3:18-25 and 1 Tim 5:1-4 and Gal 5:9-10. What responsibilities does he give to e.g. husbands, wives, dads, children etc?
3) How would you rate your joy levels in serving (in different ways). How does Jesus example help us?
4) What gifts do you feel God might have given you to serve others? How can you be more diligent in those areas?
5) Think of the good Samaritan. Who do you think God is putting in your path for you to serve in a practical way this week?
6) God wants to serve us- he wants to fill us with all the energy, grace and emotional capacity we need through his Holy Spirit. Pray for each other to be filled with him
Everyone’s a follower; it’s just a matter of who you’re going to follow.
Following anointed leadership: a biblical model
The Mighty Men followed God’s chosen leader and became great. 1 Samuel 22:1-2 and 1 Chronicles 12:16-18 describes how they came to follow David, 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11 lists some of their amazing achievements.
Jesus preached “Follow Me”.
The first apostles reacted to Jesus’ commands by preaching the gospel, planting churches, and appointing leadership. Characteristics of their leadership:
- God set their agenda, they were led by the Holy Spirit
- They were servants (Matthew 20:25-26).
- The church saw them as gifts from Christ (Ephesians 4:8-13)
- There was a high standard (Titus 1:5-10)
- They worked in teams, keeping each other accountable, bringing different perspectives and passions, covering weaknesses, expressing the truth that God exists in community
- They delegated some of their authority
- So the conclusion was that obeying leaders was a great thing to do (Hebrews 13:17)
1. Look for anointed leadership and give your heart to it
“We are yours, O David… For your God helps you.” God had anointed David to lead Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-13), he had proved himself to be a brave warrior and a godly man. Look for the evidence of God’s grace on the leaders: get to know the leaders, get stuck into the church to discover what it’s like.
Give your whole heart: attendance is a good indicator of this. We’re looking to build community through services on Sunday and midweek groups – are you? If you’re not, you’re missing out, and the rest of the body is too (1 Corinthians 12:12-26).
2. Expect ups and downs
Life with God will involve hard times, it’s not always the fault of the leader (1 Samuel 30). Are you ready for those times: will your instinct be to snipe at the leaders, or to think carefully and constructively about how to help?
Is your chat positive or negative? It’s easy to criticise people, especially leaders because of their visibility, willingness to take risks, and just because their flawed humans like the rest of us. This isn’t a ban on asking questions, having different opinions. We love joking together and the leaders don’t have an inflated opinion of themselves but what you say reveals what’s in your heart: are we for one another?
3. Look to serve
Military illustrations in church give the false impression that leadership and following are the same as army lines of command. David’s men loved him and wanted to serve him (1 Chronicles 11:16-18). As we give, we also receive.
Look at what’s going on in King’s: how can you help? Get involved in what’s going on, maybe at some time later you’ll be involved in starting a new thing. An amazing 95% of church members are serving in some way, though 40% of members aren’t giving financially. Following means participating, not spectating.
God uses leadership to change us from boring self-centred people to followers of Jesus who live for the good of others. There are amazing adventures for us when we live this way.
Questions for discussion
Did God speak to you through the preach, or any other part of Sunday’s service?
What was the most challenging part of the talk for you?
Is following the opposite of leading? What do these two terms mean?
How can we identify anointed leadership?
Luke set three challenges, which do you need to respond to: giving your heart to leadership, speaking positively, looking to serve?
What’s so important about regular attendance?
What’s so bad about jokes at others/leaders’ expense? Was Luke suggesting we can’t disagree with what leaders say?!
Bible study suggestion
Find some examples in the gospels of Jesus leading, and teaching His disciples to follow. How did He do this, and what did they learn from Him? What does they teach us about following?
Giving: Honouring God, defeating Mammon
Matthew 6:19-34
Through much of the old testament God used the prophets to call his people out of idol-worship and back to worship of the true God. Elijah declared to them “How long will you waiver between two opinions- if Baal is God then follow him, if the Lord is God then follow him”.
In a similar way, Jesus presents us with two very different ways to live our lives with regard to money:
Two bank accounts:
Triple-rated Heaven account or Sub-Prime earth account. Everything left in the earth account will one day be worthless (for those who were concerned it was a fake £20 note…). Everything invested into your heaven account will remain for your eternal reward.
Two masters:
Jesus uses the word “mammon” rather than money, referring to all our stuff. He describes mammon as something that can be served, loved, receive devotion and be a master. Mammon can steal your heart affection. Mammon is a false-god who looks good now, but can only ultimately disappoint. Jesus says that it is impossible to serve the true God and the false god mammon. They each demand exclusivity, because each demands total trust.
Every Christian regularly faces the enemy of mammon. It’s not just a danger for the rich (e.g. the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10), but also for the poor. The danger for us all is that we put our trust in having enough stuff, rather than in trusting God to provide what we need.
Writing to a pretty impressive church, that what excelling in faith and love and speech and knowledge of God and earnest devotion to him, Paul had to remind them to excel in the grace of giving. This area always seems to require special instruction and attention- it’s not automatic somehow! Giving is spiritual warfare against the power of Mammon.
Two weapons:
1) Don’t worry.
Jesus isn’t saying “there, there”. He asks us to look at creation (in particular birds). In his providence God looks after all his creatures. He likes birds, but he really loves you (v26). Therefore he will always provide for you- he’s actively at work for you. Not worrying requires us to fill our mind with a knowledge of God’s provision for others, a knowledge of his love for us and a knowledge that he even provides for those of “little faith” (me and you).
When we trust God for our provision, it frees us up to be generous. We can give money at the beginning of the month, knowing that he’ll look after us at the end. We can give away a regular significant proportion of our income (like 10%) and know that he can bless us and help us live on 90%. When we trust him by making regular decisions with giving, it keeps injuring mammon and reducing it’s grip on us.
2) Seek the Kingdom first
We battle mammon by putting kingdom need above our own need. In the Old Testament the Kingdom of God centred around the temple- God’s glorious dwelling place. The prophet Haggai on one occasion had to draw people’s attention away from selfish pre-occupation to God’s house. (Haggai 1:9-10)
In the New Testament it’s centred around the church- God’s new glorious dwelling place. It’s appropriate that much of our giving is poured into ensuring that Kings Church is as glorious as it can be- with resources to reach our community, our city. To run outreach projects, to pay staff, to run buildings.
At Kings we need £20,000 per month to keep doing what we do. God is doing some very exciting things among us (saving people, befriending people, helping people become disciples, reaching out to kids and youth and mums and students, …and more) and we want this to continue and grow. We are regularly short by £2000 per month.
We’d like to ask you to pray and ask God if you can be a part of his provision in meeting this need.
Questions
1) Provision. Think through your life as a Christian to date. Can you think of a particular time when you were aware that God met your needs (any- not just financial). Encourage each person to share a memory.
2) Read Matt 6:25-34. Jesus asks four questions. What are the struggles he’s addressing in each and what reassurance does he give?
3) God v Mammon. This is a struggle for every Christian, but in different ways. What are the battles for a poorer person (e.g. with family to provide for and less income than needed to survive). What are the battles for an affluent person (with excess money). What are the battles for someone who earns/receives just enough to get by?
4) John Piper says “God gives us money, in order that we should use money to show that money is not our god, but God is”. Pray for one another to grow in this vital area of worship of our wonderful God.
Three reasons
1. “Our Lord Jesus Christ, though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9) He gave everything for us.
2. “What do you have that you did not receive?” No-one is self-made, self-reliant, self-sufficient – unless they created the sun, the earth, air and rain! Everything belongs to God, not us, we are stewards of His property.
3. “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:19-20) God wants to bless us in eternity in all sorts of ways, and some of those ways will be determined by how we deal with what He gives us in this life.
As Paul shows in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 9:6-15, giving is great! It glorifies God, is good for others and good for you.
Three opportunities
1. Give thanks. This puts us in our place and keeps God in His. It can have a transformative effect on where we are. Find different ways to do this.
2. Give money. In the Old Testament, God’s people gave the first 10% of all they got, and with other offerings their annual giving was about 23%. The New Testament deals even less in numbers and focuses on attitude: God loves a cheerful and generous giver. What this church can achieve in this city is determined in large part by what you give to it: we need to raise the monthly giving at King’s by £2,000.
3. Give talent. God gives to make us givers, this includes the abilities you have. Our church and our society will work best when people give their talents. Are you honing, enjoying, and sharing your talents?
Questions
- What was the most memorable part of the preach? Did God speak to you through it?
- Were any of the three motivations Luke gave particularly surprising or exciting?
- Why is money such an emotive issue for us?
- The leadership of King’s would teach that financial giving is firstly to the church, and then we’re to look for other opportunities to be generous, such as charities and needy people we know. How does that sound to you?
- We want to be led by the Holy Spirit in all things, what does this look like when it comes to giving?
- How are you going to respond to the opportunities to give thanks, money, and your talents?
Group Bible study
Go through the gospels and find passages where Jesus talks about money. What does He say and what does it mean for us?
Recommended reading
Money, Possessions and Eternity, by Randy Alcorn. Most significant for getting an eternal perspective on what God has given us now, also helpful for how covering such a large number of topics relating to money and stuff. A load more resources are on his website: http://www.epm.org/resources/category/money-and-giving/
Consumer Detox, by Mark Powley. Written in a light-hearted style but with a deep challenge to think about what matters to us, and what should matter. Really good for examining in detail the consumerist culture we live in. More information on their website: http://breathenetwork.org/
Anyone who puts their faith in Christ is once and for all declared righteous by God. Romans 4:5 “However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
The implications of that are enormous! Our behaviour doesn’t effect our righteousness before God (good or bad). We can never be condemned as a result of sin. Good works are irrelevant to our standing before God.
But, to those who have been made righteous, God also gives this command: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15). His plan for us is to grow in personal character and hatred of sin to the point where we are completely like him (1 John 3:1-2). This will certainly happen for every believer (Romans 8:30), although perfection will only fully come at Christ’s return, or the believer’s death.
God is calling us as his children into conformity to Christ. Ultimately we are all conformed to something (parents, political view, peer pressure). The only way we can be truly free is to conform to Christ and his character.
2 Cor 3:18 says the transformation is God’s work- that is it is is grace at work in us. But, unlike justification, we have a part to play with our works. See Col 3:5-10
Dan highlighted 5 keys to growing in holiness:
1) Expect Change. Remind yourself that you have been called to reflect God’s perfect character. Sadly we’re very used to explaining away our unchanging sinful behaviour by claming “that’s just they way I am”. God’s called you to change!
2)Pray to Change. Matt 5 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled”. It’s a prayer God loves to answer.
3) Embrace God’s discipline. Heb 12:10 God disciplines us as a loving father does a child. He does that so we may share in his holiness. As God is sovereign, his discipline logically includes anything he allows to happen to us. He can use all things to shape us for our good and make us more like him.
4) Bias to Action. James 5:13-14 When trouble or sickness comes, the believer needs to take hold of it and take appropriate action- not just get despondent or bitter.
5)Take a long view. James 1:2-4. Consider all hardship and difficulty as progress towards the long term goal of your complete maturity and perfection as a believer.
Questions
1) The gift of righteousness. Remember the circle. Did that illustration speak to you? Is permanent righteousness as a gift something you find hard or easy to accept?
2) In Ephesians 6 we’re commanded to take up the Breastplate of Righteousness- what does that mean and how can that help us to live as a Christian?
3) Be holy. What do you think it will look like for us to one day be completely righteous in behaviour as well as in name? Will we all just become clones?!
4) What things make us hungry for growth in personal holiness? How do any of the 5 points Dan mentioned help in pursuing spiritual growth?
5) How would you like to see your character grow in the next 12 months? Pray for one another
It can come as a bit of a shock to us that Jesus actually challenged us to store up wealth, not here on Earth but in heaven. His response to materialism was that they were not seeing the best investment, for their time, money and effort. (See Matthew 6:19-21)
What we see over again is that Christ encouraged the good stewarding of what the father has given us. The parable of the talents ( Matthew 25) and in Luke 14 , He talks of rewarding of those that use what He has given us and in particular on those who cannot repay in this world.
Moses we are told was ‘looking for his reward’ in Hebrews 11:26; and Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 encourages to build well, taking care with what we build as God will test it with fire. For some Christians all that will remain is the solid foundation of knowing Christ and being with Him forever, however for others it will be revealed that they built well and it remains.
We can get the impression that all that God is interested in is coming to Christ ourselves and leading others to Christ. Obviously this is hugely important, however it belittles the countless hours that most of us spend working long hours to give generously into His kingdom, the sacrificial care that parents make caring for their children , and multitudes of ordinary Christians make looking after the weak, infirm and lonely. God in His justice sees it all and is keeping close accounts that will be rewarded in full. As John Wesley said “I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.”
What is important is that we each know what God has given us, and we use that as effectively for His Kingdom as we can.
Questions:
• Looking at the 1 Corinthian 3 passage what do you think is the Gold, Silver and precious stones equivalent to and what is the Hay, Wood and Straw?
• How does this teaching effect what we give ourselves to? Do you find it releasing or restrictive and why?
• Maybe go around the group and say one thing that you would like to invest more wisely in the next 12 months.
• Pray together in groups of three that God will help you to see God’s eternal kingdom more fully, and that this vision will impact your choices in the future.
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Receiving Power (Getting to Know the Holy Spirit: Part 3)
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Getting to know the Holy Spirit Part 3
Receiving Power
Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
It’s a free gift
The thing about Christianity that’s different to any other religion is this- it’s all about receiving. Receiving mercy from God, grace from him, forgiveness for all your sin, a new start, a new nature.
But even Christians can get it wrong after that point. Gal 3:3 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
It makes impossible things possible
Luke 1 37 For nothing is impossible with God. It requires us to activate in order to see the fruit of it. E.g. David and Goliath. God wants to propel us into power. Psalm 18 29 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
It Brings Personal Transformation
e.g. Gideon in Judges 6. Our “personality” should never be constrained by character flaws! We should believe the Spirit will give us power.
Powerlessness is poverty. An inability to effect change. Whereas Christians are called to be changed themselves and to change the world
A vital Question:
Hence Paul’s question in Acts 19:2 Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
We tend to answer that question defensively (“I got it all at conversion” or “a day back in 1983”). Actually Paul’s concern on that occasion was with the (lack of) fruit/ power he saw in them.
All Christians have the Holy Spirit from conversion (Romans 8:9) but in the new testament also were baptised in the Spirit as soon as possible after that event. All Christians old or young are instructed to go on being filled: Ephesians 5:18. Jesus encouraged us to ask to be Filled with the Spirit in Luke 11:13
Why do we need the power of the Spirit?
1) Because this is what we were made for. Jesus who models perfect humanity is described as a man who was empowered by the Spirit. E.g. Luke 3:22 Luke 4:1, 4:14 , 4:18, 10:21
2) To overcome our many weaknesses:
- Inhibition. 2 cor 3:16 where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Free to be yourself. Not squeezed into culture’s mould.
- Passion in prayer and worship.Rom 826 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
- Knowing God’s Fatherly love. We’re weak in relating to God as Father. We’re unsure how he feels about us. We hear scriptures that tell us he loves us which are reassuring, but we have no experience of that. Rom 8 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
- In gifting The Father gives gifts to you and me. Supernatural gifts. Healing, prophesy, tongues- one day these will cease. 1 cor 14:26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
- In character Gal 5 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
- In longing for Christ’s Kingdom Rev 22: 17The Spirit and the bride say, Come!
How much do we need the Spirit?
Lots. God’s plan is for us to be baptised (immersed, dipped, drowned, drenched) in the Spirit. Luke 3:16. He gives the Spirit without Limit (John 3:34)
In the bible it looked different for each person and even different on each occasion!
The Spirit is frequently ministered through the laying on of hands (e.g. Acts 8:17), which was often a key to people receiving.
Spurgeon “Few of us have participated in the Spirit’s operations as we might have: we have sipped where we might have drunk; we have drunk where we might have bathed; we have bathed up to the ankles where we might have found rivers to swim in.”
Questions
It would be better to apply this teaching by talking about our need for the Spirit and then praying for one another (it’s something for everyone!). So some simple discussion questions towards that might be:
1) Free gift. Acts 1:8/ Gal 3:3 The Holy Spirit is something we receive as a gift, not earn as a reward. Do you find it easy to believe that God wants to fill you with the Spirit regardless of your performance? Why do we battle with that?
2) Can you think of a recent time when you felt God helped you to do something that you couldn’t have done in your own strength? Share around the group
3) Think through the list of weaknesses we can face (Dan mentioned some- there’s others too). Which area(s) do you feel is your biggest battle?
4) Read Luke 11:9-13. What encouragement does Jesus give to:
- Those who are unsure that God loves them enough to give them something good
- Those who have been asking/ praying for a while with no obvious result
- Those who feel they are in a different category to all other Christians when it comes to receiving.
5) Pray for one another, lay hands on and receive God’s power afresh.
