Pastoral Letter 143
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace, peace and Love to you all.
We have reached to the fourth and the last Sunday of the Advent Season, ready to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day next weekend. This Sunday’s Advent theme is LOVE and Christmas, as well as New Year, is and should be a joyous and joyful as we share God’s love with our family and friends. The birth of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, is the product of God’s unfailing and unconditional love towards us. That’s why Christmas should be a time for reconciliation, forgiveness and acceptance. As the angels said to the shepherds: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”. I like the King James and the Armenian Bible translation of this verse. I hope and pray there will be good will among all with the great love of God during this Christmas.
Our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service will be held on Saturday 24 December at 7:00 pm on the Lawn, if weather permits and Sunday 25 December our Christmas Service, followed by New Years’ Service on Sunday 1 January 2023.
Last Sunday after the Service, we had a surprise tree planting ceremony and celebrated an important milestone in my long years of service as a Minister of the Word; 35th Anniversary of my Ordination and 40 years of service as a Minister of the Word. Thanks for donating the baby tree to plant it in our home backyard, but Dee and I thought it will be more fitting to plant it on the church premises. It was a joyous time for all those present, and it was on the right day as we had our Carols Service as well as talked about the third theme of Advent, which was Joy.
As we are in the festive season of Christmas, my heart goes out to the people of Artsakh, who are in a very dire situation once again caused by the recent aggressions of Azerbaijan; blocking the area by closing the only corridor form and to Armenia, limiting the medical and food supplies, cutting the gas, which is much needed in the cold wintertime, creating a humanitarian crisis. It’s the fifth day of blockade and the 120,000 Artsakh Armenians need our ardent prayers. Please pray for them.
Be safe and well, continue to pray, remembering those who need care, support and love and let me know if any member of the congregation that you know of needs our help and prayers.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for the people of Artsakh as they face a humanitarian crisis.
- 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 those who are overseas on holiday trips, to enjoy their time with family and friends and return safely.
- Pray for world peace and ask for God’s blessings.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Best Regards,
Krikor
MESSAGE
Loved
Jesus is Our Love
Romans 1:1-7
Today we look to the end of Paul’s introduction in his letter to the Romans. Paul used the ancient format of beginning his letter with the sender’s name, followed by a brief summary of the gospel, then the recipient’s name, and a greeting.
Today, we are going to look at the recipients of Paul’s letter and the greeting, where he wrote: “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7).
In writing to the Christians in the imperial city of the Roman Empire, Paul’s goal was to clarify the content of the gospel for them. He gave the Romans a summary of the gospel, which was the centre of his preaching and mission, which was a divine one.
Now Paul told the Roman Christians something about their own position in Christ.
There are many Christians who do not know all the wonderful things that happened to them the moment they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps we do not know what happened to us the moment we became a Christian.
A newborn baby has no knowledge whatsoever of the biological processes that brought him or her into being. A baby does not know of the physiological changes which take place in his or her little body when he or she comes out of the dark waters of his mother’s womb into the sudden light of this world.
In the same way, a new Christian often has no idea of the divine process by which eternal life is received. He or she often has no understanding of all the privileges of his or her new inheritance that are his or her from the moment that he or she is made a partaker of the divine nature.
Today, I want us to notice that Paul sets before the Roman Christians five divine privileges that belong to all Christians because of their position in Christ. Paul says:
1. that they are loved by God,
2. that they are called,
3. that they are saints,
4. that they are the recipients of grace, and
5. that they are the recipients of peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The first divine privilege that belongs to all Christians is that they are loved by God, and because of that they have other four privileges: they are called, they are saints, they are recipients of His grace and peace.
Paul addressed the recipients of his letter by saying: “To all in Rome who are loved by God” (1:7a).
This is no ordinary statement, as if Paul was only declaring that it is God’s nature to love and that these Roman citizens, like all people everywhere, were therefore loved by God. That is not the way the Bible speaks of God’s love. The Bible usually speaks of God’s love as an electing love, a saving love. So, the statement “loved by God” actually describes how those who are Christians come to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ in the first place.
So, how do Christians come to belong to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Some think that people become Christians by their own unaided choice, as if all we have to do is decide to trust Jesus. But how could we possibly do that if, as Paul teaches in Ephesians 2:1, each one of us is “dead in . . . transgressions and sins”?
How can a dead person decide anything?
Others think that we become Christians because God in His omniscience sees some small bit of good in us, even if that “good” is only a tiny seed of faith.
But how could God see good in us if, as Paul will later remind us in Romans 3:12, “all have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one”?
Why, then, does God love us?
The answer is. . . “because He loves us.” There is nothing to be said beyond that. He simply loves us because of who He is and not because of who we are.
A lady discovered the truth that God loves us because of who He is and not because of who we are. This is how she put it in a letter:
“Later on, I went to visit a friend. He has suffered from cancer for two decades or more. He has been given no more than two weeks to live. His wife is caring for him at home in a hospice environment. I went by to offer a few hours of relief. He has a tracheotomy and can just mouth words. When I arrived, I went right in. He was lying in his bed covered only with a square cloth. He weighs no more than 40 kgs. I greeted him with a kiss and told him how happy I was to see him and that I loved him. His eyes were wide open as he mouthed the words: ’Like this?’ It was though I was jolted with an electric prod. Of course, I loved him—without question. I just kissed him again and said: ’More than ever!’”
And then she said, with insight: “My thoughts went immediately to God. When He looks at me, He surely sees the same—love for me despite my condition.”
God loves us not because of what He sees in us. In fact, God does not see any goodness in us at all. He sees only sin. Nevertheless, God loves His own.
Remember how Moses explained God’s love for the people of Israel? He said in Deuteronomy 7:7-8a: “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you. . . .”
The only explanation of why the Lord loved them was simply that he loved them.
This is a tremendous thing if we are Christians. It is something so great we can hardly begin to take it in and understand.
If we are a Christian, we should know that we are loved by God. And we are loved by God not because of who we are but because of who He is.
So, in this greeting in Romans 1:7 Paul says that five divine privileges belong to all Christians. A Christian is a person who is loved, called, a saint, and a recipient of the grace and peace of God.
I close then with Paul’s own greeting: “To all who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
As we prepare to celebrate Christmas let us remember that the Love of God has come to us through Jesus Christ our Lord, because we are loved regardless of who we are and what we have done.
Amen!