Pastoral Letter 21

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,

Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The month of July is almost over and still we are not encouraged to reopen our church doors. It has been over four months since we had our last service mid-March, before the pandemic. We are still in the same situation. Though eager to recommence our services, we are on the verge of facing a second wave in NSW. We do hope and pray that this will not be severe and force lockdowns. All we can do is hope and pray to God to help us. As you go on reading this Sunday’s message, I hope and pray that you will be encouraged with the words of Paul registered in the Epistle he wrote to the church of Rome. Those words are addressed to us as well and they are relevant to our situation.

The Elders and the Church Council will meet again on the first Wednesday of August and reconsider the way ahead, remembering that God is good, and He is with us always.

Please join the other members tomorrow morning in worship, following the Order of Service. Enjoy singing the chosen hymns and praise God. If you have any hymns to be included in our future Orders of Service, please let me know.

Finally, since last weekend we are following the disturbing terrible news we have been receiving from Armenia. For more than a week there has been military retaliation on the North-Eastern borders of Armenia. Sadly, the Azeri army has attacked some of the Armenian villages in the Tavush area. Governments around the world, including some of our Australian politicians, have condemned the breaching of the ceasefire. At the moment the situation is relatively calm, but the tension is there. Please pray for those who have lost their lives and pray for peace.

 

Prayer points:

  1. Pray for the congregations who have reopened their doors. Pray for the safety of those who are attending and the leaders who have taken on board the responsibility of providing a safe space.
  2. Continue to pray for those countries who are still in the midst of the pandemic, where the number of cases of COVID-19 is still growing.
  3. Pray for Mark, as he recovers from the operation, he had at St. George Private Hospital on Friday.
  4. Pray for those who are struggling financially.
  5. Pray for those who have lost loved ones and are still in pain.
  6. Pray for those who are not well and lonely.
  7. Pray for world peace.
  8. Pray for Armenia.

If you have any prayer points, please let me know and I will include them in the next week’s letter.

Krikor

Your Minister

 

Message Summary

God is for US and With Us

Romans 8:26-39

According to the Bible Gateway website, Romans 8:28, which reads: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”, is one of the top 5 most-searched Bible verses. But this favourite verse is sometimes misinterpreted. The King James Version reads as: “All things work together for good to them that love God”. This is not a bad translation, but often only the first six words are quoted: “All things work together for good.” This would sound nice and could make us happy, knowing that somehow everything will work out for the best. But I am not sure if it always works as we, humans, expect.

For example, if you miss the bus or the train and you are late for work or for your appointment, how can you be sure that everything will work out? You will be late, which means maybe you have to work longer that day and arrange another appointment, which could be a pain. So, not everything will work for the good. If we look at the verse closely, we will notice that there is a condition. The verse says: “All things work together for good to them that love God” in the King James version. And in the NIV it reads: “In all things God works for the good of those who love him”. Hence, according to both translations, if we love God, can we assume that all things will work out for good—the good that we think is best? If we love God, can we expect God to always heal sickness, take care of our family, protect us in danger, make us successful or keep us safe from the pandemic? If things don’t work for us and make us well, is it because we don’t love God enough, or God doesn’t keep his promises?

A story is told of a woman who came out of church one day and fell down the steps. Unfortunately, she hit her head on the concrete, and died from the injury. As people gathered at the funeral home to view the body, the pastor heard some trying to make sense of the tragedy, saying things like: “This must be in God’s plan.” “It was God’s will and we must accept it.” “She was up in years, and God wanted her in heaven.” “God planned this to test our faith.” At the funeral, the pastor began his sermon with the following words. “My God does not push old ladies down the church steps”.

This story presents a serious misconception about the Word of God. We should not take it literally or most importantly out of context. If we do, then will not have anything to say to those who are in pain for losing a dear one, or to those who have lost all they have.

Fortunately, the NIV translation avoids some of the misconceptions, by saying, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” We should see and know that things happen—good and bad things, but God makes them work to fulfill His purpose and plan. However, God’s purpose for us might not be a nice life, free from pain or distress.

But God’s ultimate purpose is not a total mystery. The purpose is found in the following verse, Romans 8:29, which says that God’s purpose is for us “To be conformed to the image of God’s Son, that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” God wants us to be like Jesus, so that many people will become God’s children, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ! God takes everything that happens to us—good and bad—and uses it to transform us into the image of Christ.

As we look closely at verses 29-30, where Paul writes, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

This verse has raised a lot of questions, about “God foreknew, predestined and called …”. The purpose of predestination is clear: God “predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son.” God keeps on working with us, until we attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ as the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 4:13 and be perfect as His adopted children.

This raises questions about election, free will, and human responsibility. The subject of predestination has caused a lot of arguments and disputes. However, here Paul is addressing a different question:

Can we count on God to save us and make us His children?

God cares for His children. Verse 28 says: “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Then Paul asks seven rhetorical questions:

  1. What, then, shall we say in response to this?

The fact is that God works and acts for our good because He is GOOD!

  1. If God is for us, who can be against us?

This is certain faith of the one who believes and trusts God.

  1. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all- how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?

This is the expression of God’s love shown to us through the sacrificing of His Son.

  1. Who will bring any change against those whom God has chosen?

By believing and trusting God, we too become the ‘chosen” ones and no one and nothing can change that.

  1. Who is he that condemns?

Condemnation is for the evil and sin. If we have committed ourselves to Christ, we are forgiven, and no one can condemn us.

  1. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

That love is not just the human and affectionate and desiring love known as phileo and eros, It is the agape love, the sacrificial love, expressed to us by Christ

  1. Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

These are some of the things we face in life. We have been told that we will, but He, Christ, has promised to be with us to the end.

With these seven questions, here Paul clearly presents who we are and who God is. Where He stands and why no one can do anything to us. If God is on our side, who can stand against us.

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” These verses express God’s commitment to us as His children. And if God stands by us and our side, nothing can bring us down. Because in all these things we are conquerors and more through Him, who loved us. Paul believes that neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Our life is full of challenges since the day we were born. We had our challenges as infants, children, in our teen years, in adulthood. Challenges at home, in the workplace, in the community and in the world. Those challenges include physical, emotional, financial, as well as in relationships.

Life is not easy. It is fragile and at any stage we could face the ultimate challenge of life and death. But Paul’s words encourage us, because according to Him, if we love God, He will stick with us always.

God is with us; He is on our side and He is involved with us.

But how involved is God with us, really?

Does He show up only when we desperately need to be rescued, or is He always there, “in all things”?

Is He there only when our faith is strong, or when we deserve His favour?

Is He there only when we feel His presence and understand His ways, or is He active when we can not see Him at work in our lives?

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

If we are a child of God, God is at work in our life, from beginning to end. According to Paul:

He foreknew us and loved us before we were lovable, and before we loved Him.

He predestined us. He has a plan for our life, and the end of that plan is to be like Jesus and share His glory forever.

He called us. He reached out to us—through people, the church, the Bible, the circumstances of our life, or events in the world. His Holy Spirit touched our heart and our mind.

He justified us. If we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we are made and declared righteous for His sake, and our relationship with God is made right.

He glorified us. It is so certain that God put it in the past tense. We are headed for a glorious future, with God forever.

God does that for all who belong to Him. In all things, He works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called to be His children.

But here’s the question:

Are we a child of God?

Is God working in our life?

How would we know?

Only we can answer these questions and those answers will show if God is for us and with us!

Amen!