Also view us on FACEBOOK:

View us on FACEBOOK: http://on.fb.me/1Ps6aEG

Sunday 23 February 2014

'THE END OF ALL THINGS'

Rev. Canon George Sinclair
by Rev. Canon George Sinclair                           
 Pastor of the Church of the Messiah, Ottawa, ON.
 www.messiahchurch.ca 

_____________________________________________________________
(Podcast of CFRA broadcast on Sunday, February 23rd,  2014)
_____________________________________________________
Broadcast Notes:
*********************************************************

The End Of All Things’ 

 
We will be looking at the Book of Revelation today. Please get your Bible and turn to chapter 8. I will be reading from the ESV, the English Standard Version.

It is an honour to be able to spend time with you this morning and open the Bible and talk about Jesus.

First, let’s pray:

Father, Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us as we read your word. Open the eyes of our hearts, so that we can receive what you desire to give us. In Jesus’ name, Amen,

Read all of Revelation 8.

Revelation 8 - English Standard Version (ESV)

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings,[a] flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood.[b] A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

Footnotes:

a.     Revelation 8:5 Or voices, or sounds
b.     Revelation 8:11 Wormwood is the name of a plant and of the bitter-tasting extract derived from it

1. The end of all things can be sensationalized or forgotten but cannot reasonably be denied.
2. I can only have hope if the living God is the One who brings all things to an end.

Read 8: 6-13.

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood.[b] A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

3. Does suffering lead me to exalt myself against God or does suffering lead me to seek refuge in the immensity and sovereignty of the ultimately good God?

 Read 8: 7b, 9, 10, 12.

7 (b)… And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

Note the two-thirds who do not suffer!

4. Does my health and prosperity and safety deepen me in idolatry and self-centredness or does my health and prosperity and safety deepen me in habits which humbly and gratefully bring glory to God?
Read 8: 1-5.

1When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

5. God is not waiting for me to make a sacrifice - He is waiting for me to humbly turn to Him and be gripped by the once-for-all sacrifice made by Jesus.

What about you? Are you developing a hard heart distant from God? Or are you developing a soft heart inclined towards God?

Let’s just pray:

Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. Turn our hearts to you. Incline our hearts to you.

Rev. Canon George Sinclair
Church of the Messiah
_____________________________________________
To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link:

Sunday 16 February 2014

'LIVE AS CITIZENS OF HEAVEN'

Rev. Brent Russett
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/   

_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, February 16th, 2014:
 ____________________________________________

Live as Citizens of Heaven’
 
Good morning. And welcome to good news in the morning. My name is Brent Russett. I am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church. It is my pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then bring you some good news in the morning.

This program is sponsored by Good News Christian Ministries. If you want to look us up on the internet, or to re-listen to this program you can find us at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca

            This morning I want to look at Becoming and living as citizens of heaven.

            Out of the thousands of sermons I have preached, I think I have only preached two sermons maybe three sermons on heaven. There is a reason for this. I have never been able to preach a sermon that connected. Preaching is something like hitting a baseball. Sometimes I preach and I hit a single or a double. But every time I have preached on heaven, I have either struck out or hit an anaemic bunt.

            But the passage that we are looking at today is throwing me one of those heaven pitches again, and so I am going to take another swing at it.

            I have noticed that the younger a person is, the less they seem to care about heaven. When I am speaking to a 20 something, heaven is almost seen as irrelevant information. When I am speaking to a senior who is on death’s door, it is the most relevant topic there is.

            That of course is understandable. I am not really interested in reading a travel guide to Peru, until I am getting ready to travel to Peru. But when a trip to Peru is imminent, I am very interested in reading the travel guide. It makes sense that the closer one gets to the door of heaven, the more interested one is in what is there.

            I should remind you that you don’t know how close the door of heaven is. We hear stories on the news all the time about how someone’s life was cut short.

            But the reality is, you know that you could die at any time to be theoretically true. But most of us don’t really believe that about ourselves. Most of us believe that we have a while longer yet to live. So taking an interest in heaven is kind of like taking an interest in Rome. I would really like to travel there. Yes, it is theoretically possible that someone could buy me a plane ticket to Rome this coming year, but it is really unlikely, and so I am not going to rush out and buy a travelers guide to Rome – right?

            So when our passage of scripture throws me a pitch about heaven, well a lot of you still think I am swinging in the irrelevant zone. – Right…

            Besides that – well there is the country song that says, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now.” That is true enough. But often I think that the only reason that many people want to go to heaven is that it is better than the alternative.

            The way secular people think about heaven is that we are going to be sitting on a cloud playing a harp. – I have little interest in that – and of course that is not a true image. But the way Christian people talk about heaven is that it is going to be one long worship service. We are going to around the throne worshiping God. Now don’t get me wrong – unlike many people - I like church, but I don’t want to live in an endless church service – do you?

            C.S. Lewis says “that you can only hope for what you desire.” If our concept of heaven is something that we don’t really desire, we are not going to hope for it.

            You see one long worship service is not in any of our core desires. Things like joy, and love, and laughter and beauty and intimacy and adventure and discovery, and accomplishment:  those are the things that are in many of our core desires

            The reality is that those are the things that heaven will be about.

            Let me ask you a question. What do you conceive the next life to be? Is it kind of a whisp of this reality where we are disembodied spirits kind of floating all around? What kind of reality do you think we will exist in?

            Jesus, after the resurrection, had a body like we are going to have in heaven. He ate, spoke, he even had a cook out on a beach: the most real, the most ordinary, and the most extraordinary things. He also passed through walls and ascended into the air.

            Let me challenge you with a question. What are the first three things that you want to do when you get to heaven? (Pause)

            I want to run to Jesus give him a big hug and celebrate his grace and mercy, and celebrate the fact that he is renewing all things.

            Then I want to go to the feast. Think of the best food you have ever eating. There will be dancing, and drinking and eating and storytelling, and it is going to be an incredible party.
           
            And then I think I want to take some of great friends and go horse back riding into the mountain and explore the country side of heaven. Yes there are horses in heaven. What an awesome way to start an adventure in heaven.

            The bible talks about a New Heaven and a New Earth. I don’t know what is all going to be like, but I know that our deepest desires for joy and love and laughter and beauty and intimacy and adventure will be satisfied.

            Heaven will be a place where all the symbols of fear will be gone. We won’t need locks on our doors, or to put masks on our true identities. There won’t be any talk of being authentic, because that will be the only way to be.

            Hiding, shame, and the things that hold us back from being all that we are meant to be – will be no more.

            Now I know a lot of people, when they think about heaven, hope they make it. I know some who are pretty sure they won’t make it. But here is what the Bible says.

John 3:16 (NLT)

16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, (that is Jesus) so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life..

            Having eternal life and getting into heaven are not about what you have and haven’t done, it is not about how good or how bad you have been – it is about putting your faith your trust your belief in Jesus. If you will enter into a relationship with and trust him and follow him as he gave you the power – you are going to get to heaven.

1 John 5:13 (NLT)

13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

            It is possible to know that you are going to heaven. It is all about what you do with Jesus. If you are not sure if you are going to heaven then why don’t you talk to Jesus right now about it? Give Jesus your life, and ask him to come into your life, ask for forgiveness of all the wrong that you have done, and ask him to give you his life, and goodness. Jesus is always faithful to his world. The bible says that everyone who believes in Him will have everlasting life.

            If you have never made a decision like that, I would invite you to do that while we listen to this music.

MUSIC – Shepherd of Heaven by Paul Turner and Brian Doerksen 3:47

             I have talked about heaven as if it is a place that when it is our time we are going to go to. It is like when it is time we are going to emigrate there.  And when we feel it getting closer we tend to want to know more about it. And while that view is not completely wrong, it is not completely accurate either.

            But Paul says in Philippians 3: 20  (NIV)

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ

            For those of you who have become followers of Jesus, for those of you who have given your life to Jesus and put your faith in Jesus Heaven is not only where we are going. Heaven is in fact “our home and native land.”

            Peter says:

1 Peter 2:10–11 (NIV)

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

            Peter says that it is really this world where you are a stranger. Although you might be a Canadian, you are really a foreigner here. You see your citizenship is in heaven.

            So the image that we are going to emigrate to heaven isn’t quite right. The reality is that we are expats here.

            I don’t know if you have ever had the experience of travelling to a foreign country. You can be quite comfortable in that country, but often Canada comes up in your conversations and in your thinking because that is where you come from.

            And if you hear of another Canadian close by, you try to connect. If you hear of another Canadian close by you kind of hope internally that they are living in such a way that they are doing their country proud.

            With all this in the background I think we are ready to get to today’s verse:

Philippians 1:27 (NIV)

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.

            The New Living Translations  puts it this way,

Philippians 1:27 (NLT)

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

            The NIV is a minimalist translation, it translates the verse, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel.

            The world conduct is a very specific Greek word that has the idea of the conduct of a citizen.

            The NLT is an expansive translation, and it express this verse, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News.

            Remember that we believe that scripture is inspired by God. It is not inspired in a word for word dictation of scripture – if that was the case we would all have to learn Greek and Hebrew to read the inspired word of God. It is the truth behind the words that are inspired. That is why it is helpful to read a couple of different translations, so that you get the nuances of the truth that the passage is trying to express. I believe that in this verse the New Living Translation helps us out the best.

Philippians 1:27 (NLT)

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.
           
            Maybe it was just me, but when I was growing up, I always found this verse which I first read in the King James and then in the NIV , “Conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel” a rather heavy verse.

            I heard this verse saying, be good, be truthful, be holy, be right, - and it always had very somber overtones for me. Jesus gave his life for you, live in a way that is worthy of that sacrifice.

             I heard this verse saying, live up to expectations.  People who lived like this were very serious people. People who lived like this took everything seriously. In some ways it was a very guilt inducing verse. How can I ever live in a manner worth of the gospel?

            Is that how you read it? I don’t know that I should have read it that way. It seemed like the gospel, which means good news, it seemed that the good news wasn’t very happy news.

            So what does it mean to conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel – the good news?

            The gospel as you know, tells us that none of us can be good enough, or righteous enough, or holy enough, to earn God’s favour. The good news is that it is not my own righteousness that saves me, it is the fact that Jesus gives me his righteousness and takes my sin away. I am not saved because I deserve it. We are saved because God loves us, and Jesus gave himself for us. That is the gospel.

            The way I was reading this verse was--- live in such a way to show that you deserve the gospel that says you don’t deserve what you got. That doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t make sense to try to deserve something you don’t deserve.

            That is why I spent a lot of time talking about heaven today. As citizens of heaven, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel.

            Our citizenship is in heaven. We come from a country, we are citizens of a country that speaks into our core desires for joy and love and laughter and beauty and intimacy and adventure. Heaven is a place where there is celebration. It is a place where we walk in freedom with God where he knows us and we know him. It is a place where we give and receive love freely. It is a place where intimacy is valued. It is a place where beauty is esteemed. It is a place for adventure, a place for creativity and a place for curiosity. It is a place where God permeates all of those things.

            That, my friends, is your home and native land. So when Paul says as citizens of heaven, “conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the good news”, he is saying conduct yourself in a manner that is congruent with the culture of heaven.

            Are we more congruent with heaven when we have a sense of well being and joy, or when we are dour? As citizens of heaven, walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

            Are we more congruent with heaven when we love and let ourselves be loved, or when we build walls around ourselves so that we keep each other out and don’t let anyone in? As citizens of heaven, walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

            Are we more congruent with heaven when we revel in what is beautiful and good and true and right, and lovely, or when we are fault finding and negative? As citizens of heaven, walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

            Are we more congruent when we live lives of adventure or when we live lives of mediocrity? As citizens of heaven, walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

            Are we more congruent with heaven when we are being creative or when we are being distracted? As citizens of heaven, walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.

            Of course it is also congruent with heaven to walk in purity and justice and mercy.

            Walking in a manner worthy of the gospel is not about trying to deserve something we don’t deserve. It is about living out our own culture in a land where we are foreigners and aliens.

            I don’t know if you have noticed, but we are not in heaven yet. There are so many things that come to steal our joy. There are so many things that try to stop us from loving. There are so many things that war against intimacy. There are so many things that mar beauty and promote ugliness. There are so many things that war against adventure and against creativity. The call of the gospel is that we come from a different place, and the place where we come from has a culture that trumps the culture that we live in, now.

Philippians 1:27 (NLT)

27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

            Sometimes living out the culture of heaven means that we have to stand together with those who are also living out that culture. Sometimes it means fighting together to maintain our sense of joy and good and life. Sometimes trying to live out of the culture of heaven and conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel is hard.

            I have had the privilege of visiting believers in Peru and visiting believers in Uganda and Ghana. There are a couple of things that struck me about the Christians I met there. First of all I was struck by how difficult their lives are.  A lot of them worked very hard and very long hours. They dealt with very difficult circumstances. Death was a very present reality in life.

            The other thing that struck me was how joyful they were. Because life was so difficult here, heaven was much more real to them. Because heaven was much more real to them, they adopted the culture of heaven much more readily and it showed.

            What I am calling you to do is to live out of your culture. The Bible says that God has placed eternity in our hearts. The Bible says as followers of Jesus that you are citizens of heaven. Live out of your culture.

            Chose joy, and fight the joy stealers. Choose love, and fight the love killers. Chose beauty and adventure, and relational closeness because this is what is in your heart by the grace of God.

            As you live in this world, conduct yourself in a manner that is worthy of the good news. Live in such a way that the good news, really looks like it is good news.

            Philippians 1:27 (NLT)
27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ

Let’s Pray:

Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the good news. Thank you that you loved us so much. And thank you for the hope of heaven. Lord, help us to live out of that culture; to live as citizens of heaven.
Lord, I pray that you would help us to choose joy and love - and adventure - and creativity - and beauty.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thank you, Listeners for your words of encouragement, and for keeping us in your prayers. Keeping this program on the air continues to be a work of faith. If you can help with that, please make out a cheque payable to Good News Christian Ministries, Box 184 , Rideau Ferry , On. K0G  1W0. Or you can give online by going to goodnewsinthemorning.ca

            If you go to that website, goodnewsinthemorning.ca you can also follow us on twitter, or our blog.

            My name is Brent Russett and it has been a pleasure to spend this Sunday morning with you.

May you know   Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.  May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart.  And may the heavenly Father surround you with His constant and abiding and accompanying love

MUSIC Jessy Dixion – I Choose Joy 3:38 Album Get away Jordan.

- Rev. Brent Russett
___________________________________________________
To listen to the above broadcast, click on the following link: