Pastoral Letter 123
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and peace to you all.
This Sunday, 26 June, we will join Lane Cove Uniting at 9:30 am at St. Columba’s for our Combined Service with Communion to celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the Uniting Church. As I will be on leave from 27 June to 9 July to travel to Armenia to attend the 175th Anniversary celebrations of the Armenian Evangelical Church. the following Sunday, 3 July our congregation is invited to join Crows Nest Uniting at 10:00 am for worship.
We have received a special request from the Exodus Foundation asking for UHT (long life) milk. It would be good if everyone could donate few 1L containers. At the moment Woollies has special, 1.35/L or any other brand. We have a few weeks, and we need to deliver by the end of July. Please accept our thanks in advance.
Be safe and well, continue to pray, remembering those who need care, support and love and let us know if any member of the congregation that you know of needs our help and prayers.
Here are some more prayer points for this week:
- Pray for the poor, the sick, the vulnerable, the struggling and the stressed.
- Pray for those who are unwell and struggling with different kinds of medical issues.
- Pray for the victims of natural disasters, such as the Pakistani earthquake, and in war zones.
- Pray for the churches in the Lower North Shore Zone, as we still await the recommendations coming from the Life and Witness consultations.
- Pray for world peace and ask for God’s blessings.
- Pray for the hope that God gives.
- Please pray for Dee, Lori and me as we travel to Armenia, to go and come back safely.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Best Regards,
Krikor
Note:
This Sunday’s my message is bellow.
MESSAGE
We Are the Builders
John 15:14-22 1 Cor. 3:1-17
Charles Spurgeon, the best-known British Baptist preacher of the 19th century said, “Ask yourself, have I written in the snow?” In other words, is what I have built going to last for eternity or not?
During the years we live, we build up our lives. We follow our dreams, emotions, hearts and visions. We try to succeed, to build a home; to make a family, have a good career, or a successful business. But we have to consider how we build our lives today.
There will come a day, Paul says, when all “our work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work” (v.13). The gold, silver, and precious stones will endure while the wood, hay, and straw will decay.
Remember that Paul was speaking to a group of believers; he was speaking to the Christian community in Corinth. According to him, although they believed and trusted Christ, they were immature and were divided into different groups. Some were following Paul and others Apollos. Paul appealed to them on the fact that they were all believers in Jesus Christ and urged them to put aside their differences and do the task that they were called to do.
He says, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task”.
Paul, Apollos, Peter and all the disciples were doing the same job, but just in a different way. They all were preaching the same Christ and were building the church on the same foundation. In reality only Christ had changed them and gave them a new life. Through the preaching of the disciples, they were anchored in Christ.
In this sense we are all builders in our own right. But the important issue is the material we are using to construct the building: gold, silver and costly stones, or wood, hay and straw?
Once we are saved in Christ, we are expected to produce works that are similar to gold, silver and costly stones. Or we will end up with wood, hay, straw if we live a careless and unfruitful life. As Christians we are to live for Him.
It is clear from our passage that the apostle Paul noticed the Corinthians were not building right – they were living carelessly, not maturing and had worldly thoughts and pride. Knowing this, he had to remind them of the coming judgement – where they would be held accountable and judged based on what they had done. And as a result, either they would receive rewards or lose them.
Paul says in 3:10 “But each one should be careful how he builds.” We should act wisely and put our lives into good use for God’s work. It is our choice, and we have to choose wisely and do what is right.
According to Paul, there will be two groups of believers before the judgment seat of Christ – those who will receive a reward for faithfulness and others who will be condemned for not doing the task put before them. Paul uses a contrasting picture to describe his thoughts. A group who build on the foundation with gold, silver and costly stones and the other who build on the same foundation, but with wood, hay and straw.
According to Paul, both of them are building on the same foundation, but the structure is different.
So how can we build our Christian lives?
Three basic and important things:
- We have to invest in what is spiritual
Notice the first group – gold, silver and costly stones – are works of God. These are created and placed here by God. They are not the result of growth or some kind of development. These are lasting works of God. These refer to spiritual things such as our new life in Christ, our salvation and eternal life.
But notice the products of the second group – wood, hay and straw – they come through man’s work. They are not created in the form in which they appear, but are the result of a process of growth, development and improvement. They will not last long.
- We have to invest in what is valuable
Gold, silver and costly stones are generally not large, but they are precious. A small piece has great value.
On the other hand, wood, hay and straw are bulky, but they are relatively worthless.
We as humans usually pay attention to larger things and overlook the little things that could be more precious.
Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward”. Mark 9:41
There will be a time when our motives will be judged, when our works will be weighed in the light of not what we have accomplished but what we might have accomplished.
The servant with one talent who gained only one more will be rewarded, while the one who dug a hole in the ground and hid that talent will suffer loss.
God is not interested in quantity as much as He is interested in quality. It is faithfulness which will be rewarded.
- We have to invest in what will last
This is another distinction – gold, silver, costly stones are permanent, and its value will stay, but wood, hay, straw will one day perish.
Therefore, only what is done in Christ and for Christ will last.
What is done only by human effort and for human purposes or glory will perish. No matter how great and impressive it may have been, no matter how much people value and praise it.
Remember God judges the heart and appraises everything on the basis of our motive and faithfulness with which these things are done. Whatever is spiritual is precious and will last…
If we want to build our lives and be productive, we should remain in Him. Apart from Him we can do nothing. The secret is to cling to the Lord like a branch on the true vine.
Jesus said in John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.”
We will be judged if we do not bear abiding fruit. It will be wise to look back over our lives, our experiences and our ministry as Christians. Can we see any change? Have we progressed? Are we standing still? Or have we retreated?
On this special day as we celebrate once again the life and ministry of the Uniting Church, it would be wise to reflect on how far we have progressed in our mission and ministry. Have we accomplished what we planned to in the past 45 years? Have we used the right materials to build the church? Have we made enough effort to reach those who need our service? Have we followed the example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Have we looked for quality rather than quantity? Have we spread the good news to those who are lost?
Some of you have been part of the Uniting Church since its beginnings and you have seen its growth, progress, the great achievements, successes on many levels, including mission, education and care. You have also seen the great challenges that the church has faced during the years. Leaders have come and gone, ministers, lay preachers and lay leaders have done their best for the growth and progress of the church, the body of Christ.
In other words, we have built the church and added the wood, hay, straw and in other terms mortar and brick; material things that are needed. And I am sure that we have added the enduring materials of gold, silver and costly stones, being the spiritual things, our new life in Christ, our salvation and eternal life.
Yes, regardless of our past challenges, for many years the Uniting Church has registered success and achievements, doing what God has commissioned us to do, mainly being a living sacrifice, expressing love, compassion, justice and care for the less fortunate and the marginalised. We have been a praying, multicultural community and showing our faith with good works.
It’s good to take a look and see whether we have made progress and have been productive for Christ’s sake.
There is no standing still in the Christian life. There should always be progress regardless of our age and circumstances.
The main question that we should ask today, after 45 years of service is: “Are we going in the right direction?” Or “Have we derailed and forgotten the great commandment of our Lord which clearly says love your God and your neighbour, friend and even the stranger as yourself.”
In other words, have we been doing constructive work and service in the name of God?
Are we building bridges over the gaps, valleys and different cultural barriers?
As we look back, do we see that we have done our part in the building of the body of Christ?
After all, we are the builders.
Amen!