Pastoral Letter 188
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and Peace to you all.
This week I write this Pastoral Letter with great sadness as we shared together the news of the sudden death of Soo-Tee, which happened on Tuesday. It was unexpected, because we have seen the progress in his gradual recovery after serious ill-health in the previous months and attending Sunday services regularly for the last several weeks. Also, last Sunday, on his birthday, it was good to see him again with Mary at the John Flynn Service. Some of us gave him a hug and wished him well. But God’s plan was different than ours and He called him to be with Him for ever. We share the pain and sorrow of Cheong family, Mary, Simon, Marcus and the extended families and continue to pray asking God to give them the comfort of His Spirit. Please continue to pray for Mary and the family, as they go through this very difficult time.
During my three-day trip to Armenia, I was able to meet many refugee families from Artsakh, including the Demirchian family, whom we supported for two years. I met with a group of thirty families in one of the AMAA’s Camp sites, Hankavan Camp, and 16 families in different parts of Armenia, traveling North, South, East and West. It was exhausting, but at the same time it was good to talk, pray and encourage, as they go through a very difficult and traumatic times. The families we chose to visit were some of those families who have not only left everything behind and came to Armenia, but lost one, two or three family members, some of whom were among the more than 350 killed at the petrol explosion. Also, there are many who are in hospital with severe burns. As you know I am preparing a presentation to the Presbytery in the next meeting which will be held on 22 November to raise awareness of the situation in Armenia and appeal to raise some money to help the refugees of Artsakh.
Sadly, the situation in the Middle East has further escalated between the Palestinians and the Israeli people and as a result fierce military action is on the ground and unfortunately, those who suffer most are the people, including young and old. Let us remember the suffering people and the refugees because of this recent development and continue to pray for them.
If you are not able to join us tomorrow, please light a candle, have a small roll of bread and a cup of wine or juice for Communion and join us following the attached Order of Service.
Be safe and well, continue to pray, remembering those who need care, support and love.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for Mary, Simon, Marcus and the Cheong family as they mourn the loss of their beloved Soo-Tee.
- Pray for the further escalating situation in the Middle East and those who are affected by the war.
- Pray for the people Artsakh who have been refugees now in Armenia.
- Pray for the poor, the sick, the struggling and the stressed.
- Pray for our church and our future plans as we seek God’s guidance.
Best Regards
Krikor
MESSAGE
Saints – God’s Children
1 John 2:29-3:3
A newborn baby gives great joy to a family for the possibilities existing in that new life. In 2:29 John used the phrase “born of Him” to indicate the wonderful relationship which Christians enjoy as children of God, which becomes possible through the “Son” our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Father longs for us to be His children because of His great love which was demonstrated for all mankind on the cross.
This is a total transformation through His great love and hence we should respond with love for Him and be His children.
Are we the Children we ought to be?
In today’s passage John gives three clear points about what we are and should be, which are:
1. What we are (3:1)
John here turns His letter from the world to God. The world’s glory may be glamorous, attractive and tempting; but it is also shallow, superficial and momentary. What the world gives today, it takes away tomorrow. But God gives something permanent, life changing and eternal. It is the Love of God. “How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us, is that it did not know Him.”
We, the righteous and the saints, are called “children of God”. Righteousness begins by faith and ends in love, an agape love meaning divine or the highest form of love. While we were enemies, God loved us and sent His Son to die for us (Rom. 5:8)! His love is so great that by the new birth experience we are now related to the One who is the Divine Creator of the Universe and can call Him Father. We are the children of God! We receive from Christ a new nature, a godly nature, and thus are called children of God.
We do not expect the world to understand this relationship, because it does not even understand God. This love and resulting relationship is foreign to the world. Only a person who knows God through Christ can appreciate what it means to be called a child of God.
We can be confident of God’s unfailing love because He has proven it beyond all questions and doubt on the cross. We have been reborn into the family of God and as His children are recipients of our Father’s love. This amazing love has made us children of the King!
Sadly, we have become so accustomed to expecting God’s love that we take it for granted. We even think of it as something God owes us.
2. What we will be (3:2)
The emphasis in verse 2 is on what the children of God will be in the future. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what will be has not yet been made known. But we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is.”
The reference here is to the time of Christ’s coming for His church. Having spoken of our present dignity as children of God, John now speaks of our future destiny. That by Christ’s appearing we will be like Him.
God’s love for us does not stop with the new birth. He continues ministering to us and transforming us into His image until the revelation of Jesus Christ causes the full, revelation of who we are in Him. Those Christ purchased by His cross will be perfected at His coming.
Then the day shall come when the Lord of Lords will come for us, and the completed work will flash forth in a moment. “What will be has not yet been made known. But we know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is.”
3. What we should be (3:3)
The Apostle does not stop here. He has told us what we are, what we will be and now in 1 John 3:3 he tells us what we should be. Verse 3 teaches us that if we hope in our transformation at the return of Christ, we should keep on purifying our lives. “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Therefore, everyone who has this hope purifies, cleans the heart, mind, soul and spirit of thought, word, and action surrendering to God so that by His grace we may separate ourselves from all that defiles.
Our goal for purity is to be pure just as Christ is pure. And have the image of Christ, as Paul says in Romans 8:29 “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son”.
The Holy Spirit inspired hope of seeing the Lord Jesus arouses the determination to be pure like Him. Then the grace of God touches the will of the Christian to drive him to action. Thus, the saint, in dependency on the Holy Spirit, puts sin out of his life and keeps it out.
As we read the Gospels carefully and thoughtfully and prayerfully, we will develop a profound appreciation for the character, integrity, wisdom, and strength of Jesus.
The longer we walk with Him and the more we learn about Him, the more we will be impressed by Him, and the more we will long see Him. Even though now we only see Him through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12).
All this work of transformation is because of the Father’s love. Because the Father loved us and sent His Son to die for us, we are children of God. Because God loves us and lives within us, He wants us to live with Him one day. Salvation, from start to finish, is an expression of the love of God. We are saved by His grace, but the provision for our salvation was originated in the love of God.
Christ Jesus is everything the children of God should want to be.
Do we have this hope of being like Jesus?
Is it a powerful inspiration/motivation in our lives?
John told us in today’s Scripture reading what we can do to prepare for Christ’s returns. We are to walk with Christ in faith and obedience, keeping our minds pure and our hearts right. Then we will be confident and unashamed when we stand in His presence.
Are we ready to go to Christ and become pure like Him – that will prepare us and take us to the glories of Heaven?
Is hope of being like Christ Jesus a powerful inspiration/ motivation in our lives?
If it is, we will be purifying ourselves as the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ and makes us saints.
Amen!