Merredin Uniting Church

TEXT: 1 Peter 1:1-12 (Audio version:  http://sermon.net/daviddekock)

“To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood.”

The whole basis for our salvation is identified in this one sentence, the most condensed outline of the process of salvation in all of Scripture. Peter also reveals here the complex and multi-faceted nature of God.

Peter is writing to scattered followers of Christ, believers who’ve been dispersed due to persecution under the Roman Emperor Nero. He writes to encourage the afflicted and he begins by announcing that all three Persons of the Godhead are responding to their suffering. Father, Son, and Spirit are involved in the reasons behind their hardship, and stand ready to provide relief and an everlasting inheritance.

Even today believers face misunderstanding, ridicule and harassment by unbelieving friends, employers, teachers, and family members. In some countries, converting to Christ is punishable by death. Peter shows us the attitude we should have when facing this kind of opposition. When people oppose us, we are reminded that we belong to the Triune God and not to this world. Our hope is found in our thrice-holy God. We may be mocked and looked down upon in the eyes of secular society, but our true status is that we’ve been chosen as God’s elect. God has initiated our calling, which means our real home, our true citizenship is in heaven and this makes us strangers in a hostile, foreign land.
According to Peter, all three members of the Trinity work to bring us new life and provide us assurance of our salvation. All Three are involved in our daily lives. Yet we do not worship three Gods. We are not polytheists. The Trinity is a complicated yet essential Christian teaching.

Defining “Trinity”

The doctrine of the Trinity is that we worship One God, Who is manifest in three distinct Persons. In the Tri-unity of the Godhead there are Three-in-One, of the same substance: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are equally God in their being, power, holiness and eternality. God is one in essence and three in Person. Scripture affirms both the oneness of God and the deity of the Father, Son and Spirit. The Father is our Creator, the Son our Redeemer, and the Spirit our Sanctifier. The word “Trinity” comes from the Latin word “Tri-unitos”, which means “three in the unity of one.” They are distinct, yet not solitary. And while the word Trinity is not found in the Bible, it is a Biblical concept: One-in-Three; Three-in-One.

The Trinity is somewhat of a mystery—the teaching is difficult to grasp, because it is so unique. Theologians have tried to explain the nature of God, but God is beyond human comprehension. We understand part of Who God is, but not the whole.

He is Father – Our loving Father chose us before we chose Him (Eph 1:4). From eternity past, the Father planned our salvation, so there is no room to doubt our future in heaven. Nothing that happens can change the Father’s sovereign promises to us. We are His elect, chosen people, adopted into His family.

He is Son – Jesus, the Son died for us while we were sinners, purchasing our salvation through the shedding of His blood (Rom 5:6-10). The “sprinkling by His blood” refers back to the sacrifices in the Jewish Temple, where the blood of the animal sacrifice would be sprinkled on the altar and on the mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant, to cover or atone for sin. Jesus has always been God and He became a man without ceasing to be God. He is 100% God and 100% man at the same time.

He is Spirit – The Spirit seals and applies Christ’s sacrifice to our lives, bringing us the benefits of salvation. The Spirit cleanses and prepares us for God’s use (II Thes 2:13). Peter says that the Spirit “sanctifies” us. This means He makes us holy and sets us apart. The Spirit begins a gradual process of growth within us. Our old way of life is passing away, and all things are being made new (II Cor 5:17). The Spirit also enables us to discern and understand Scripture. Paul writes that without enlightenment from the Spirit, the Bible appears to be foolishness. The Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture and for us makes understandable the word of God.

Their Roles – The Father is the Originator, the Son is the Agent, and the Holy Spirit is the Administrator. Jonathan Edwards described the Trinity as “sharing in divine love.” Self-giving love is our Triune God’s signature. God is not self-contained or self-absorbed; He reaches out to His Creation, revealing Himself to us. Gregory (of Zazianzus, a 4th Century Bishop), and early church leader said: “I cannot think of the One without immediately being surrounded by the radiance of the Three; nor can I discern the Three without being carried back to the One.”

The Baptismal formula – After Jesus died and rose from the grave, He appeared to His disciples and commissioned them to go into all the world, preaching the Gospel to every creature. They were to baptize new believers, “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Significantly, Jesus did not say “in the names” but “in the name”. The three “persons”, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have one name – God – and one eternal Being.

It is important that we understand the Father, Son and Spirit are revealed as God in Scripture…and yet the Bible says that there is only “one” God. Confusion with this comes because we don’t grasp the meaning of the word “one”.
There are two Hebrew words for “one”: yachid, which means “absolute mathematical oneness;” and echad, meaning a “composite unity” or a “united one.” Here are some examples of echad–

In Genesis 1:5 we’re told, “…there was evening and there was morning, one (echad) day.” (It does not, in fact, say the “first” day). In Genesis 2:24 we read that, “a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one (echad) flesh.” Num. 13:23 in summarizing the account of the visit of the spies into the Promised Land describes one (echad) cluster of grapes. (^?When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes).

And in Deut. 6:4 Jehovah our God is described as one (echad) God. (Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one).  A popular Hebrew Name of God, elohim, has a plural ending, because God is a unified plurality.

Because our Triune God is a composite unity, we can correctly say 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. This “Trinitarian arithmetic” may seem puzzling, but it’s accurate.

St Patrick, the missionary to Ireland, used a shamrock to explain the concept of the Trinity. This image has three parts but is one harmonious whole/entirety. The triangle is also used as a Trinitarian symbol because it has 3 sides, yet is one object.

A young woman reflected on her journey of faith. She stated: “I got to know God through the three Persons of the Trinity. I first encountered God as Father in church, where I learned that God is holy, deserving of my worship. Later, as a teenager, I became acquainted with Jesus, a man I wanted to follow for the rest of my life. And then—it was almost like a second conversion—I became aware of the power of the Spirit, of God living inside me.”

God the Father revealed Himself to the Jewish nation. Jesus revealed the completion of God’s plan for salvation, and then promised the Comforter to indwell and guide us. Our devotion to God includes all three Persons–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: The God above us, the God before us, and the God within us.

Tags: God, Trinity

Good Day and welcome …

Today is Trinity Sunday – I was thinking about the reason for having a special day for this; after all, its not at all like Easter, or Christmas, or Pentecost in which we focus on an aspect of the faith story. But today is about a particular doctrine – a teaching which we believe is essential to our faith. I guess that the Church (long, long ago!) realized the complexity of this aspect of our faith in which we believe that there is only one God but who exists in three Persons, and so ordered its    ministers to teach on this doctrine at least once a year. It’s the same with baptism. We are required to teach on baptism, this essential step for the initiation of our faith journey, also once per annum. I suppose that it is so easy – and its our default mode – to neglect that which we do not fully understand. And the result is that  powerful concepts of our faith become dilute and wishy-washy.

Margie and I have been reading the Biblical account of Solomon this past week and we have seen the danger of this. Solomon, the son of David, was a wise king but he failed to keep God’s commands and his reign ended in disarray through the worship of false gods. If he had but only kept to the basics of God’s intention.

And so today we are going to have a brief look at the Tri-unity of God. It is a difficult concept but it is central to our faith. We worship One God. In the tri-unity of the Godhead there are three-in-one, of the same substance: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They are equally God in their being, power, holiness and eternality. God is one in essence and three in person. Scripture affirms both the oneness of God, and the deity of the Father, Son and Spirit. The  Father is our Creator, the Son our Redeemer and the Spirit our Sanctifier. They are distinct and yet not solitary. We, in our limited human understanding, attempt to define the three persons by a role which seems dominant and yet all three Persons are  forever together. Father, Son and Spirit were present in creation; Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” and He promised to be with us always in the Person of the Comforter (Holy Spirit).

Today we also have Matthew with us. He is a student from Iran and will share the testimony of his faith journey with us. We all have a faith journey to share for God deals with each of us in a unique way and it is in the sharing of our testimony that we build each other up in faith. Thank you, Matthew for coming to share your story with us this weekend.

After the service today we will have our quarterly Congregation Meeting. I have had peep at the agenda and while there are some items dealing with past things (the journey), there are also some exciting things about the future. The greatest thing about following Jesus is that He is always leading us into the future. Our faith is about that which lies ahead and the certainty of our hope. I want to share a little of what I believe the Lord is saying to me and we will also hear something about Ride for Life, Internet broadcasting of services and propose membership of Pneuma. In a way these are all connected and are aspects of the journey which still lies before us. Kennon Callahan said, “Hope is stronger than memory. Memory is strong, hope is stronger. We are the Easter People, the People of the Empty Tomb, we are the People of Hope.” God bless you and may He be with you

Margie and I have the weekend off, though we will be attending events in Perth. I had a Ministers Supervision Meeting on Thursday with Rev Dr Ian Tozer and     others, and on Saturday we attended the “Exploring the Ministry Day”. Part of the reason for the latter was to familiarize myself with the process into ministry in the UCA, and also to investigate options for my son-in-law who has felt called into the ministry. So this morning Steve Higgins and his Dad will share the pulpit in both Merredin and Mukinbudin. May the Lord bless you as you minister to us in His Name.

I was also supposed to be one of the Spiritual Directors on the Walk to Emmaus in Perth this weekend but it was cancelled at short notice. There were unfortunately too few people enrolled. I have been part of the Emmaus movement for several years and I really want to encourage you to consider joining. Basically it begins with a “pilgrim” weekend which you attend. The weekend consists of a lot of discipleship teaching and worship opportunities. In essence it is a short course on Christianity. But the beginning “pilgrim” weekend really is just a beginning. You never attend the Walk to Emmaus as a pilgrim again but you are encouraged to be part of the “team” who run future weekends. Through participation as a teacher, or a carer, or hands on stuff like cooking and other practical things, you learn a great deal about being a servant Christian. Every Emmaus pilgrim enters a “Fourth Day” after the pilgrim weekend. The Fourth Day signifies the role that every Christian needs to play out as a consequence of the Resurrection. There is an amazing simple logic to the Walk to Emmaus movement (which obviously takes its cue from the two disciples who walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus with Jesus but who failed to recognize Him at first). It not only teaches the basics of the Christian Faith but encourages each person to put that into practice. It teaches servanthood and leadership, empathy and understanding and so much more. Many people think that it is just about the Pilgrim weekend. Nothing could be further from the truth. Continued involvement leads to continued growth as a Christian. In fact, every single person on Angus Buchan’s team which organizes the Mighty Men’s Conferences was a regular in the Emmaus Community to which I belonged in South Africa. And much of the “success” of those conferences stems from what they learned about being a practical Christian through the Walk to Emmaus movement. I have been invited to be one of the Spiritual Directors at the September weekend of the Great Southern Community in Kattaning. Both Steve Higgins and Sal Marais will also be on the team. If you would like at attend this 72 hour event then speak to one of us.

Next Sunday we have a young Iraqi man who is coming to share the testimony of his conversion from Islam to Christianity. While he is a very new convert, he is utterly committed to his new faith.

Last Thursday was Ascension Day – the celebration of our Lord’s return to heaven to take His place at the right hand of the Father. By and large the significance of the day has been lost – after all, who wants to celebrate a “departure” – and yet it is the coronation in heaven of our Lord Jesus. In Daniel 7 we read of how the    Ancient of Days takes His seat on the throne, and then, one like a son of man comes with the clouds of heaven. He approaches the Ancient of Days and is given authority, glory and sovereign power. All peoples, nations and men of every language worship Him and He is give an everlasting dominion and a kingdom that shall not pass away. The Book of Daniel is an amazingly accurate prophetic book. Hundreds of years before the events, it describes with uncanny accuracy, the rise and fall of the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome – even with   specific detail of the amazing victories and sudden death of Alexander the Great. The  coming of the son of man into the throne room of the Ancient of Day (Jesus entering heaven) is described as taking place towards the collapse of the Roman Empire. How good is that!

We so often view the Ascension of Jesus from the perspective of the disciples looking forlornly up into the sky as Jesus rises on the clouds of the air. But what really matters is what happens on the other side, and the significance of that for us on this side of heaven. Jesus, having prepared and commissioned His church, takes His place as Lord of lords and King of kings. He has all authority and power and He expects us, as His people to continue, in the power of the Spirit, the work that He came to do on the earth. We have the task of reaching the nations, of spreading the good news abroad, of declaring God’s kingdom come upon the earth. The first disciples didn’t quite get that at first (and sometimes we, the later disciples, don’t get it either) and so they locked themselves up in the Upper Room for several days. But they did do something very significant – they prayed about what to do next. Ten days later, the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost and the church burst forth with power. Thousands came to faith, they began to pray for people and they were healed. The good news began to spread out from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Friends, the task is not yet done. Stephen Covey, in his book about the Seven Habits, says that we live within two circles of life. The inner circle is called the Circle of Influence and the outer circle is the Circle of Concern. We can do something about our Circle of Influence but have no control over the outer circle – except to make our inner circle grow bigger ie to extend our Circle of Influence. Some things in the outer circle we cannot influence, like the weather for example, but if we focus our lives into being proactive in the areas where we do have influence, we can also be workers in the Kingdom of God as we share the Good News with those around us, and push our influence into the areas of life which concern (worry) us. I encourage you to take time this week, in the lead up to Pentecost, to pray earnestly for this generation of people for whom we are responsible to share the Good News about Jesus.

TEXT: John 19:26-27   (Audio Version: http://sermon.net/daviddekock)

In the Luke reading Val read today, all parents can share the agony of Mary and Joseph when they couldn’t find Jesus in the company.  (I think George and Val can relate to this when Kevin went missing on the boat coming to Australia.)  I can just imagine myself reacting if any of my children should answer me when Jesus said to Mary and Joseph that they should have known He was busy with the things of His Father.  You know the “Listen mister, don’t be smart with me – get yourself in the car NOW!!”  But we don’t read that – the last few verses say that Mary “treasured all these things in her heart”.

Then we jump to the John reading where Mary witnessed the crucifixion from the foot of the cross.  Can you even imagine how she must’ve felt?

Jesus turns to John and says, take care of her, and looks at his mother and says, let him stand in my place as your son.  John lived a very long life, and I believe he took care of Mary until she went to heaven.

Jesus is on the cross, bearing the weight of the sins of the whole world on His shoulders, yet He sees to it to make sure His mother is taken care of after He is gone!  As God, Jesus is dealing with eternal matters, but as a man, He’s showing all of us today how important it is to take care and love our mothers!

You cannot be willfully wrong with your mother and be right with God.  If your mother is still alive, regardless of your and her ages, you can love her in these 7 ways:

1.     Love her verbally.

Especially men have the philosophy—I don’t have to say I love you, you already know it.  I have told you before, if I change my mind I’ll let you know!  Or, I SHOW love, not just say it…and that may be true, but a woman needs to hear those words, “I Love You!”

Children need to hear it…and saying it makes you more of a man, not less!  And spouses need to hear it too…

DEAR ABBY: I enlisted shortly after Pearl Harbor. Thirty-six days later, I was on my way to the Philippines. En route, the Philippines fell to the Japanese, and we were routed to Australia. Eleven days after we landed, I met the most beautiful girl in the world.

On our first date, I told her I was going to marry her. I did, 18 months later, while on a 10-day R-and-R leave from New Guinea.

After more than 57 years of marriage and two children, my beloved “Mary” died five days before Christmas. Although we agreed that our ashes were to be scattered over the mountains, I found I could not part with hers.

While Mary was alive, she would frequently say, “You don’t know how much I love you.” I’d reply, “Likewise.” I never said, “I love you.” Now her ashes are on my dresser, where I tell her several times a day how much I love her, but it’s too late. Although I wrote poetry to her, I could not bring myself to say the three words I knew she wanted most to hear.

As my dearest was dying and we thought she was comatose, I told her, “There aren’t enough words to tell you how much I love you.” A few hours later, she whispered, “Not enough words” and died.

The reason I’m writing is to urge men to express their feelings while their loved ones are alive. I don’t know why, but many men are reluctant to express the depth of their feelings. — MISSING MARY IN COLORADO

Our spouses need to hear it, our children…our mothers also!

        Some men would say, I’m just not turned that way…then turn around!  “I’m just not comfortable”…then be uncomfortable!

Verbally…

2.     Love her physically.

When’s the last time you gave her a big hug without her asking for it…or a kiss on the cheek, or a neck rub, or just sat on the couch and held her for a change?

        She’s the first person who ever touched you…she wrapped you up in her womb for months, and you came out and first priority was to hold you, and she cuddled you, stroked your head, rubbed your feet, held your little cheeks against her, gave you a finger to grasp…in love she did all these things, including grooming you with a licked thumb!

        When you were little she could say, “give me sugar”, and you’d pucker up and she’d accept your wet, sloppy kiss and even say thank you!  You give her bear hugs so tight she didn’t have to hold on to you…you’d just cling to her as she walked around!

        She changed your diapers, potty trained you, and held the Kleenex for you to blow your nose!  She wiped food off of your face years longer than she should have had to! 

She constantly touched you!  And she may have to hand you off to another, and her life may endure some heavy changes, but she deserves your touch and should never have to give that up completely!

It would mean more to her than flowers or candy, or eating out, or a diamond necklace [well, let’s not go too far!]

Physically, verbally…

3.     Love her patiently.

Mothers have an incredible job w/ no pay.  No position in the business world compares to the physical, emotional, and spiritual commitment she has in motherhood.

No Occupation

She rises up at break of day and through her tasks she races.

She cooks the meals as best she may and scrubs the children’s faces

While schoolbooks, lunches, homework too, all need consideration…

And yet the census man insists

She has— “No Occupation”

When breakfast dishes all are done

She bakes a pudding, maybe.

She cleans the rooms up, one by one,

With one eye watching baby.

The mending pile she then attacks

by way of variation.

And yet the census man insists

She has — “No Occupation.”

She irons for a little while, then presses pants for Daddy.

She welcomes with a cheery smile returning lass and laddie.

A hearty dinner next she cooks (no time for relaxation),

And yet the census man insists

She has—“No Occupation.”

Don’t ever make the mistake of asking a lady, Do you work, or stay at home?  The only thing worse you can ask is when she’s due if you’re not 100% sure she’s expecting!  And many ladies today have to work on top of the full time job they already have.

Here’s the point, in spite of all she does for us, we often become impatient with her…we get so used to her taking care of things we come to expect it and are outraged that “those clothes are still dirty?” / that’s not ironed? / you’re out of my favorite cookies? / you know I like that over rice, where is it?

She’s picking you up at school because you don’t like to ride the bus, but she’s scolded for being 5 minutes late!

Love her patiently.  Because she’s tender to your needs is no reason to take advantage of her, it’s reason to be patient and to love her all the more!

Teenagers:  it is unfair for you to be more kind, considerate, patient with your friends and your friend’s mothers than your own mother!

        If you treated your friends like you treat your mom you wouldn’t have friends, and if you treated their mom like you do yours their mom wouldn’t let their kid have anything to do with you!  Your mom deserves better…she’s not a rug to wipe every negative thought on!

For us adults with living mothers:  Love her patiently.

Dobson read on Focus on Family Radio—letter from 80 yr. old woman on her birthday:

To all my children:
I suppose my upcoming birthday started my thoughts along these lines…This is a good time to tell you that what I truly want are things I can never get enough of, yet they are free. I want the intangibles.
I would like for you to come and sit with me, and for you to be relaxed. We can talk, or we can be silent. I would just like for us to be together.
I need your patience when I don’t hear what you say the first time. I know how tiresome it is to always be repeating, but sometimes I must ask you to repeat. I need your patience when I think too much about the past, with my slowness and my set ways. I want you to be tolerant with what the years have done to me physically.
Please be understanding about my personal care habits. I spill things. I lose things. I get unduly excited when I try to figure out my bank statements. I can’t remember what time to take my medication, or if I took it already. I take too many naps. Sometimes sleep helps to pass the day.
Well, there you have it: Time, Patience, and Understanding. Those are priceless gifts that I want.  Finally, in his letter, the Apostle Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” I know I can, too! It’s a wonderful feeling to know His eye is on the sparrow and I know He cares for me. I guess being old isn’t so bad after all!
Love,
Mom

Patiently…

4.     Love her attentively.

Mothers listen as you pour out your heart…she has a sympathetic ear, and always has…and even as an adult you’ve gone to her when you want someone who will really listen and understand…and she’ll always be on your side.

It’s no wonder we like to talk to mom…she listens…but now she has issues, and now it’s your turn to be her “rock”…and take time to listen…it’s payback time!

“But, she’s always complaining”…yes, just like you did!

Talks about herself / asks same question over and over…

In their older days, our parents have many fears / anxieties…may we treat them as we’d hope to be treated when we are in their shoes!

Attentively, patiently…

5.     Love her gratefully.

Ill.—An elementary science class had been studying magnets, and how metal objects are attracted to them.  At the end of the semester the teacher put on exam this question:  6 letters, starts w/ “M”, picks up things, what am I?  Over half the children wrote [say it together...] “Mother”!

She needs a sincere thank you, and not just today, but from a genuinely thankful heart when least expected!

If you who are sitting here are as blessed as I am, because we have our children and our parents.”  May it cause us to realize 2 truths:  one about our parents:, and how we won’t always have them.  And another about our children:…let’s be the kind of parents we ought to be!

6.     Love her generously.

There’s nothing too good for her, we could never repay her, but we ought to die trying before she does!  She didn’t spend on herself unless all your needs were met…she could easily do without, and now it’s time for her to have something she wants!

        She clears her schedule so she can run you around…she gives up opportunities so you can have more opportunities!

In a maths exam there was the following question, state your answer as a fraction:  If there’s 10 at the table and one apple pie, how much does each one get?  One ninth! /  “Don’t you know your fractions?”/ “Do you know my mother?  If there’s that many at the table and only one pie, she won’t want any!”

Love her generously…

7.     Love her honorably.

Exodus 20:12

    Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

This is binding as long as your mother lives.  Another command says children, obey…non-binding when you leave home, but “honor” is different!  If the husband is the head of the home, then the mother is the heart…don’t break her heart!

“Yeah, but my mother wasn’t honorable!”  Well, the Bible says nothing about that qualification…it only asks, is she your mother!

        By the way, it’s the only one of the 10 commandments which includes a built-in promise of blessing!

When God created mothers

When the good Lord created mothers, He was into His sixth day of overtime, when an angel appeared and said,

“You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”

The Lord replied, “have you seen the specs on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic; Have 180 moveable parts … all replaceable; Run on black coffee and leftovers; Have a lap that disappears when she stands up; A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointing love affair; And six pair of hands.”

The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pair of hands? No way!”

“It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord. “It’s the three pair of eyes that mothers have to have.

“One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks ‘What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t, but what she needs to know, and of course the ones in front that look at a child when he goofs up and say, ‘I understand and I love you,’ Without so much as uttering a word. “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already, I have one who heals herself when she is sick …can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger …and get a nine year old to stand under a shower. Not only can she think, she can reason and compromise.”

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the mother. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced, “I told you that you were trying to put too much in this model.”

“That’s not a leak,” said the Lord, “it’s a tear.”

“What is it for?” asked the angel.

The Lord replied, “It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride.”

“You’re a genius!” shouted the angel.

With a somber look on his face, the Lord said, “I didn’t put it there.”

How about a hand now for the crowning jewel of God’s creation:  our mothers!

Lord, help us never to be too busy for mom…if you could take time and great effort for her on the cross in your death, help us to love her while we have her in our life!