Pastoral Letter 200
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and peace to you all.
On this Australia Day long weekend, I write my 200th Pastoral letter, which I started to send around together with the Order of Services and hymns when we were hit with the awful COVID pandemic back in March 2020. Now, we have passed that period with COVID and life is back to normal, but I still write the letter and send around to share God’s word, as well as keeping everyone informed about the coming programs, activities and gatherings, as well as to share the important things that happens in our daily life.
On this Sunday, I have the great pleasure to share with you that Chris Butters has been awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) on Australia day, for her services she has rendered to the community as an active member of the St. Andrew’s Church, Lane Cove Music and Lane Cove Tennis and many other places. Chris, you deserve this recognition for al l the services you have delivered to the community. This is a well-deserved medal. Congratulations!
After our celebration on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the laying the foundation of our Sanctuary and the 121st Anniversary of commencing worship services on the church promises on 10 September 2023, 3 February marks the 100th Anniversary of the official opening of the church building. Hence, we have planned a special Worship Service marking this important milestone in the history of St. Andrew’s Church. The Service will be held next Sunday 4 February 2024 at 9:30 am. We have sent out the invitations to church leaders, local councillors, friends and guests and glad that some will join us. Please plan and make an extra effort to be with us at this Service and let us praise God and thank Him for all the blessings He has provided to us and to our church over the years.
If you are not able to join us tomorrow, please light a candle and join us following the attached Orders of Services.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for the Middle East, and the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
- Pray for the people Artsakh who are refugees in different parts of Armenia facing many challenges.
- Pray for the poor, the sick, the struggling and the stressed.
- Pray for all those who are affected by natural disasters.
- Pray for our church and our future plans as we seek God’s guidance.
- Pray for the students as the new school years starts.
- Pray for the Anniversary Worship Service next Sunday.
Best Regards
In Christ
Krikor
MESSAGE
Christ – The Holy One of God
Mark 1:21-28
Last Sunday we talked about Jonah, the Reluctant Prophet, who disobeyed God, rejected His call and escaped thinking that God will not find him. He ‘went down’ in a spiral; first to Joppa, then onboard down in a ship to Tarshish and after the storm he found himself down in the belly of a fish.
We mentioned that God has called other prophets who fulfilled their tasks, but they were not perfect. They had their limitation, doubts, fears and sometimes they were hesitant, but they were still God sent prophets, who did what God told them to do.
In the New Testament we read about the disciples who left everything and followed Jesus accepting His call and yet were not perfect. They were instruments in the hands of God the Almighty but had their weaknesses and shortfalls. In other words, they were not flawless and needed help which God gave to them through His Spirit.
But what about Christ, the Son of God?
In Luke 24:19 we read: “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people”. He is the Prophet who speaks God’s Word.
In the book of Deuteronomy, God reveals to Moses how He will save a fallen humanity from sin. It will be through a Prophet yet to come.
As we look at the words of God’s promise to Moses, we see how Jesus of Nazareth fits the description of each and every phrase.
God says: ‘I will raise up for them a prophet’. In Luke 7:16, we read how Jesus brought the dead son of a widow back to life and how, when ‘Jesus gave him back to his mother,’ the people ‘were all filled with awe and praised God’. They said: “A great prophet has appeared among us” and that “God has come to help his people”.
God tells Moses: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you …”.
Was Jesus a prophet like Moses?
In John 1:17, we read: ‘The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’
In Hebrews, chapter 3, we read how Jesus ‘was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house’. It goes on to say, “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself” (vv. 2f.).
God said to Moses: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers…”. That’s Jesus. He was the Son of Abraham; He was the Son of David; He was of the tribe of Judah; and He was born in Bethlehem. He was of the Israelites, according to the flesh.
We read how God told Moses: ‘I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him’.
Does that match up with what we know of Jesus?
The Gospel of John will confirm that it does. John 7:16 records Jesus saying: “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me”. And John 12:49-50, also quote Jesus, who said: “I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So, whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say”.
One more thing to notice in Deut. 18:15 God says of this Prophet who is to come, ‘You must listen to him.’ And in verse 19, he says: “If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account”. When we turn to the New Testament, we hear God saying the same thing. In Matthew 17:5, we find him saying of Jesus: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
So, we see that Jesus Christ is the Prophet that God raised up in fulfilment of His promise to Moses. It is a promise to save His people.
How it is that Christ implements the office of Prophet?
He does it both outwardly and inwardly.
Outwardly, He does it by His Word. Isaiah 8:20 sends us ‘to the law and to the testimony’ [that is, to the Word of God]! Isaiah says: “If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” And Jesus Himself was the One in whom “was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). When we read the Bible, when we are taught its truth, when we hear it preached, it is Christ our Prophet speaking to us through His Word.
But the external witness of the Word will never be enough. Many read it and hear it but are never changed by it. Paul said: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).
So, Christ our Prophet teaches us not only outwardly by His Word but also inwardly by His Spirit. Remember how He said: “When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears…. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” (John 16:13f.). Unless the Spirit of Christ enlightens our heart, we cannot receive the Word of Christ. But if we are Christ’s, then we have our Lord’s own promise: He will teach us not only outwardly but inwardly as well.
So then, how are we to be taught of Christ?
How are we to listen to Him?
Psalm 119:105 says: “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path.”
We may urge ourselves to embrace our Lord’s teaching in five ways.
First, listen to Christ as He speaks through His Word. Our Lord once said: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31f). Repeatedly in the Scriptures the Father instructs us with regard to Jesus: “Listen to him”.
Second, invite Him to expose our needs. As sinners, we are inclined to confusion and distortion in our thinking. We look at temporal things, things that will pass away, and we treat them as though they had enduring permanence. We put off eternal things to consider another day. In Rev. 3:18, the Lord says to the first century church in Laodicea: “I counsel you to buy from me…salve to put on your eyes, so you can see”. In 2 Cor. 4, Paul says: “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (v. 18).
Third, grant Him access to our hearts. This is inner light of the mind and in opening the heart. We read of Lydia that “the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (Acts 16:14). We, too, want Christ to open our hearts. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “We know, brothers [and sisters] loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thes. 1:4f).
Fourth, hear Him with the desire to obey. To truly hear Christ is to obey Him; not to hear and obey is the way of absurdity in living.
Finally, treasure what we learn from Christ. Psalm 19:10 says of his words: “They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb”. Psalm 119:103 concurs: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth”.
Jesus Christ, the One anointed to speak to us the Word of God, is to us a Prophet without parallel. If only we would see how, it is to our profit to listen to his words!
He is the Christ, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, God incarnate, the Mighty One, the Lamb, the Shepherd and our Saviour.
He is the Christ, the Holy One of God!