Pastoral Letter 189
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and Peace to you all.
As I write this Pastoral Letter, I realise that we are almost at the end of another year. In a couple of weeks, we will celebrate our traditional St. Andrew’s Day with a special Service and Luncheon. Then in the following four weeks of Advent we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And so, we come to the end of another year by God’s grace and look forward to the new year, 2024, with great anticipation to see what God has planned for us. But we know and we are sure that we will continue to do what we usually do and more, as long as we can, relying on God’s help and strength. We will do our best for His glory to continue our ministry here at St. Andrews’ regardless and serve the community. We believe that we have been a blessing to the local community, and we will continue to be, as long as God is on our side.
Also, today marks the 105th anniversary of the Armistice that ended fighting with Germany in World War I. On 11 November 1918 all guns were silenced announcing the end of the war. Today (Saturday) 11 November at 11:00 am we stop and pause in silence for a minute to remember the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who lost their lives for peace and justice. Lest we forget!
As a follow up to my three-day visit to Armenia in October and meeting with the Artsakh refugee families, the Armenian Missionary Association of Australia has invited the AMAA Representative in Artsakh, Viktor Karapetyan, who is a refugee himself, to come to Sydney and tell his eyewitness stories about the hardships the Artsakh people faced in September, when Azerbaijan launched an attack on the sovereign land of Artsakh, occupied the land and forced the people to leave their homeland with nothing in just few days. There will be two gatherings for the Armenian community: Tuesday 21 November at 7:00 pm in the Willoughby Armenian Evangelical Church and Sunday 26 at 6:00 pm here at St. Andrew’s. You are welcomed to attend. Also, Viktor and I will make a presentation at the next SCCP meeting on 22 November. We have been given 15 minutes to do the presentation. The purpose of the presentation is to raise the awareness about the refugee crisis and make an appeal to the Uniting Church to raise funds and support the refugees.
In the meantime, please continue to pray for the Cheong family and especially Mary, as they organise Soo-Tee’s Funeral Service to be held on Friday 10:00 am at the Macquarie Park Cemetery.
If you are not able to join us tomorrow, please light a candle 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 the Middle East and the suffering people on both sides.
- 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 Ruth, as she struggles with her sister’s health crisis.
- Pray for our church and our future plans as we seek God’s guidance.
- Pray for all those who have sacrificed their lives for peace and justice.
Best Regards
Krikor
MESSAGE
Serving the Lord!
Joshua 24:14-24:15
“If serving the Lord is undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!” (Jos. 24:15)
This is a decision and beautiful affirmation of faith by Joshua. A decision, which puts God first. In other words, it clearly affirms first and foremost to love the Lord and worship Him. This verse expresses the heart desiring of a great spiritual leader. These simple and clear words mean if everything goes down the stream, we decide to go up the stream. Or doing the right thing when everyone is doing the wrong. The church should do the right thing, when everyone else is doing the wrong thing.
Serving God means to be faithful to Him. Serving requires determination; it is giving, not losing. Naturally there are many challenges when we decide to serve the Lord with all our heart.
When the children of Israel moved into the Promised Land, they were getting ready to set up their homes as permanent places rather than living in tents that would be taken down and moved every few days or weeks. Their leader, Joshua, issued a strong challenge to them. As Joshua prepared the children of Israel for the land of Canaan, he made it very clear his priority: Joshua said unto all the people:
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve; … as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!”
Here is the story of a man, who made a decision that not only changed his life, but it changed the life of a nation, and it changed the destiny of a people. From the beginning of his leadership Joshua was willing to stand by his faith to serve God. It is clear that he took the lead in his life and household.
There are many choices that we can make; however, one that is absolutely vital is to serve the Lord. We can choose to have our false gods, or we can choose to walk with the Almighty God.
Life is a series of choices. We make choices every day.
We know some decisions have consequences and others very positive outcomes. But our choices determine the character, direction, destiny and eternity of our life. God has given us the power of choice. Thus, learning what to choose, and how to choose, may be the most important knowledge we will ever receive.
Of all the choices we face in our lives, there is one that is of eternal consequence. It is a choice to know God or ignore God. And the writer of Proverbs warns us over and over about depending upon man’s wisdom rather than seeking God’s wisdom when making decisions. Proverbs 28:26 says: “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.”
Our life isn’t an accident. We have a destiny, one that only we can complete. We all were born for a purpose and with a purpose. Everyone on this planet was born to fulfil a God given purpose. When we discover God’s purpose for our lives, we can be confident and persuaded that we will succeed. Therefore, anyone who chooses to ignore God has made the wrong choice and hence he is not wise.
To decide not to choose is a choice. In other words— to decide not to choose good is always a choice to choose evil. We have within us the power to choose how we will react to any given situation.
Some people today do not wish to accept the responsibility for their actions. They blame society. They blame the environment. They blame the government. They blame circumstances. We can’t blame it all on somebody else. We must accept the blame ourselves for our part. Society is made up of individuals. If we have social injustice, we’re the ones who are wrong; we’re part of it. Let’s accept our responsibility to do something about it.
One of the most beautiful things about life is we can make our lives better and influential by our right choice.
No matter what situation we are in, we have a choice.
No matter how bad things are, we have a choice.
No matter what we think we can or cannot do, we have a choice.
Albert Einstein: “God did not create evil. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of God.”
The end result of our lives here on earth will always be the total sum of the choices we make while we are here. When God commanded Adam not to take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He was showing him what choice he should make. God wanted him to choose life, not death.
Much later, when God brought Israel out of Egypt, He gave them a similar choice: “I have set before you, life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deut. 30:19).
If we look closely at the passage in Joshua 24, we can summarise it as follows:
1. What God did
– Brought out of the land of slavery.
– Performed great signs.
– Protected the people during the journey.
– Drove out all the nations.
2. If you do not serve the Lord
– The result will be a disaster.
3. We will serve the Lord
– We are witnesses.
4. How?
– Throw away foreign gods and yield to the Lord.
– Serve the Lord.
That day Joshua and the people of Israel made a decision.
A decision to serve the Lord demands integrity, dedication and discipline. Joshua said to people: “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods that your forefathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14).
A decision to follow God means a decision formed with a commitment of “sincerity and truth.”
This means to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, to serve with faithfulness. We need to be aware that our decisions have consequences, good or bad, not only upon ourselves but also upon other people around us. Selfish decision affects our families in negative ways.
Likewise, a decision to serve God influences our families positively. Just like Joshua had provided a good example for his family to follow God, every believer ought to make a similar statement to the family the Lord has given him. Though Joshua could set the example, he could not make the choice for the people; the people had to choose for themselves. “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!” Jesus said …., “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).
Without spiritual enlightenment into the divine truth of Christ, all other knowledge ultimately means nothing.
“It is never too late to do the right thing.”
“It is our decisions, and not our position, that determine our destiny.”
Jesus said: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who is not gather with me scatters.” (Matt. 12:30).
If we do not crown Jesus, we crucify Him. There is no middle ground. And the little decisions that we make determine our destiny.
It’s choice – not chance.
So, let’s have the will and determination to serve the Lord with all our heart and strength and receive His blessings.
Amen!