Pastoral Letter 149
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and Peace to you all.
Last Sunday I worshiped with the Willoughby Armenian Evangelical Church; preached and participated in the appreciation that the church had organised for Dee’s Mum, Manoushag (Violet) Sarmazian, as she retired from her role as one of the Deaconesses of the church for health reasons. Our friend Bob Minton took the service here at Longueville. Our thanks and appreciation to Bob for his kind service and always being ready to provide his services, whenever we need. Thanks Bob and God bless.
This week, we will be back to our normal programs and activities, starting with Time4You on Wednesday 1 February and every Wednesday, followed by Movie Night on Tuesday 7 February and every first Tuesday of the month. Chris and Penny have already prepared the list of the Movies that we are going to screen in 2023. Come, join us, enjoy delicious Pizza and a good movie. The next Movie will be the 101st movie, a very good movie, as usual, titled “I am Sam”.
On Sunday 12 February, after the Church Service, we will convene to have our AGM meeting. Please put it in your diaries and join us. Naturally we will not have Morning Tea that Sunday morning.
Sadly, it has been almost 50 days for the blockade of Artsakh and its 120,00 Armenian inhabitants have been under siege and the only access road to Armenia, which we have called it “The Road of Life”, has been blocked since 12 December. It is the only passage that connects Armenia with Artsakh, which provide tons of food, medication and building materials daily. The appeals to the international committee to put pressure on Azerbaijan to unblock have not found hearing ears, causing a major humanitarian crisis for the people into more dire situation.
May God protect the people and precious children in Artsakh and grant them an everlasting peace.
If you will not be able to join us for worship tomorrow, please light a candle and worship with us from home following the attached Order of Service.
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 our church services and activities, as we go back to our normal programs.
- Pray for the people of Artsakh, men, women, young, old and children, as they face humanitarian crisis with the blockade continuing for the 6th consecutive week by Azerbaijan.
- 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 world peace and ask for God’s blessings.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Best Regards,
Krikor
MESSAGE
“Christ – The Wisdom and Power of God”
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
What are we looking for in our lives?
What have we looked for all our lives?
Paul says that Jews demand miraculous signs, and the Greeks look for wisdom. There is nothing wrong in this. We like to see miracles happening in our lives in order to strengthen our faith. We love to have the knowledge, understanding and answers to all questions to believe in God.
For Paul this could be acceptable, but his main concern was Christ and Him crucified. There is nothing more miraculous than His death and resurrection. There is nothing more than the wisdom of God which is revealed through Christ.
In verse 17 Paul says that Christ has sent him “to preach the gospel — not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross be emptied of its power.”
Throughout his ministry, Paul resolved to do nothing except to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
In 1 Corinthians 9:16 Paul declares: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” This is because the message of the gospel is the cross of Christ. It’s not about elaborate language, it’s not about education, it’s not about charisma and it’s not about making people feel good by telling them what they want to hear. It’s about the cross. The cross is what saves us, the cross is what changes our lives, and therefore the cross must be the main focal point of anyone who claims to be a Christian and it is the wisdom and power of God. It is everything we need, because without the cross of Christ there is no salvation. There is nothing we can do or say to be saved. Through Paul’s preaching God saved countless people and spread His Church. This was done by the power of the cross, which demonstrates the love of God, and that God accepts us.
The dominant theme of Christianity is the glorious love of God revealed in the cross. Some think that the cross should be taken out of the church, but without the message of the cross, Christianity has no power.
Christ sacrificed His life on the cross, so that we might be able to live because God so loved the world! Some people base their lives on ethical behaviour and many of us are tempted to make ethics our centre. That makes sense in human terms, but to God it is foolishness because none of us can achieve the perfect ethical life on our own. We are all sinners, have weaknesses and have fallen short of the glory of God. Paul considered himself to be the worst of sinners when he wrote to Timothy: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Tim. 1:15)
This seems to be foolishness for many, but the message of the cross shows us that the answer to our problems is found only in the sacrifice of Christ. We cannot find the answer through power and fame, selfishness and greed, or human works and effort. No one can reach God and find truth or solve the world’s problems without the love and total sacrifice of Christ. This is what the cross is all about.
We are not perfect. Therefore, there is no way that we can be acceptable and be allowed to live in the presence of a loving, just and perfect God. Simply, God is holy, and we are not!
There is only one way we can ever become acceptable to God: God will have to love us enough to provide a perfect sacrifice for us. God sacrificed His own Son for us, and it is through His sacrifice that God saves us. God accepts us when we approach Him through the cross; He takes our faith and counts it as righteousness. And only the person who believes can be acceptable to God.
If we try to approach God through our own reasoning, our own thoughts, our own philosophies and our own assumptions we will fail.
The answer is not science, it’s not technology, it’s not education, and it’s not religion. The answer is the cross. All of us have barriers that get in the way of our relationship with God. If we don’t get rid of them and give all that we have to Christ and follow Him, we will lead ourselves to destruction. In order to be saved we must first realize our need for God. And when we realize our need for God and that we can’t make it on our own, we will see that the only answer is found in the message of the cross of Christ.
The answer is the person of Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom and power of God. Accepting Christ as our Saviour is accepting His love and grace, which are free.
Larry Burkett an American radio personality whose work focused on financial counselling from a Christian point of view have said: “A wise man seeks much counsel . . . a fool listens to all of it”.
An interesting story is told of a small English village that had a tiny chapel whose stone walls were covered with traditional ivy an evergreen climbing plant over an arch was originally inscribed the words:
We preach Christ crucified. Many faithful and godly men did precisely that.
The plant growing covered the word “crucified” leaving the words:
“We preach Christ”. Others came and did preach Christ as example, Christ the ideal teacher, Christ the humanitarian.
The plant continued to grow covering the word “Christ” leaving the words:
“We preach”. Later others came and preached economics, social gospel, politics, anything.
The story probably is not true, but it illustrates how man’s philosophical detours affect how the gospel is transmitted.
The opening words of Jesus in the Sermon of the mount could sound simple words, but they are profound and powerful. The Beatitudes are well known, taught in church, Sunday School and usually recited. They are one of the best examples that show Christ, as the Wisdom and the Power of God.
Let us examine ourselves and see if there is anything in our lives that is getting in our way and blocking us from the glorious kingdom of God.
If that’s the case, then God is telling us to get rid of it.
All we have to do is to be in Christ, who is the wisdom and the power of God; in Paul’s words He is our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
To be in Christ means to see and acknowledge that He is the Power and the Wisdom of God, which is revealed to us.
Amen!