When did the Gospel ever become about us? Yes, it's true; Jesus Christ did die on the cross for our sins to bring us back to into a personal relationship with God. And so we teach children to personalize John 3:16 by substituting their names into the verse. That's the intimate aspect of the Gospel that attracts so many people. But have we taken the Gospel too far and made it about us? Are we creating a Gospel that's too "me-focused"?
While it may seem blantantly obvious to you, the fact that the Bible is about God, and not me, was a much needed reminder for me. Many times I have approached my devotionals and ended up thinking "Okay. So here's what the Bible says I should/shouldn't do, now how can I do this in my life?" Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to strive for holiness. But my problem, and the lack of a solution, are inherent in my inadequate acknowledgement for the character of God.
At "The Answer: Forever His" Praise Night @ CEMCQ, Peter Ong preached on John 10:27-29 about the character of God and the human propensity to be self-centered. As I examined my attitude when reading the Bible I realized that I came towards God with a very self-righteous, salvation-by-my-own-merit kind of attitude. Not only did I become aware that I was failing horribly by trying to live a holy life through my own efforts, but I was also abusing God's Grace by simply telling myself that He would forgive my failures, using it as my excuse to continue sinning. Then I realized that it wasn't about how much I failed or succeeded, but it was the character of God, specifically His faithfulness, that the passage was concentrating on.
It was only after I made that connection that I realized Malachi 1 wasn't only talking about how the priests didn't give honorable sacrifices to the Lord, but it was about how the sin springs from their inherent lack of respect and fear for God as the Sovereign, Almighty King. Similarly, 1 Peter 3:8-22 is not only commanding believers to "do good" but it is only after we realize that "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (v. 18) that we can have the strength to be righteous. Thus, the root of all sin is lack of respect for God and failure to fully comprehend the value of the Gospel.
It was only after I understood that the Bible was about God's Power and Grace that I realized how much more precious the Gospel is. Truly our salvation is not by our own merit. Not too difficult a concept to grasp, but it's true, sin is blinding. Like Piper said, we must stay in His Word and be willing to wrestle with God over every word.
Thanks be to God, His Word, and His faithful servants John Piper, Peter Ong, and Daniel Shih for this step forward in my spiritual walk.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Church: The Bride of Christ
As I was looking for interesting sermons to listen to last night, as always, I decided to procrastinate first. So checking Twitter updates I found that Pastor Eugene Hor had posted a link for Mark Driscoll's sermon on Godly Men and Marriage. (Pastor Eugene's right; social media can be a powerful weapon if used correctly.) Going back to earlier in the week, Pastor Scott, Tricia, and Dan had made some comments on how Driscoll's preaching style could be seen as controversial, as he is a bit sharp with his tongue. So naturally I was intrigued and decided to watch the sermon.
Here are the sermons:
Marriage and Women (1 Peter 3:1-6):
Marriage and Men (1 Peter 3:7):
I posted up both videos because I think it's beneficial for Christians (and Non-Christians) to watch both, despite their gender. And of course it's not just for married people; definitely helps the singles.
As a disclaimer, Mark Driscoll can be considered unorthodox in his style (aka he's can be harsh with his words). This is especially evident in his Marriage and Men sermon but he does give his reasoning for his tone in the sermon. (I didn't see/hear anything controversial in his Marriage and Women sermon.) Personally, I don't have much of a problem with his style, in fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I've listened to a number of sermons on godly men and this is definitely one of my favorites, certainly a challenge for many guys. In any case, you may want to keep the volume a bit lower when listening to the Marriage and Men sermon (to avoid the mistake I made of wearing earphones and having the volume on max); you can see why for yourself....
After listening to these sermons, I began to think more about the church: the roles of men and women, the foundation of leadership and "strong pillars", mentorship, accountability, and fellowship. Moreover, as the day of when I leave for college (for the first time) approaches, I've been thinking more about Boon Church, my church in college (possibly Grace Covenant Church in Philadelphia), and matters concerning my spiritual walk in general. I pondered on the dynamics of different churches and what kind of church would best help me grow as a Christian woman. Out of these many trains of thought, what I realized is that the amount of work I need to do in my own life and the growing pains the church needs to go through to prepare for Christ's return is absolutely overwhelming. Nevertheless, we need to remember that the chiseling begins with ourselves.
So my prayer for myself and the Bride of Christ is this:
That while we can rejoice in God's Grace and have comfort that His love is boundless, that we will not abuse His Grace. That we will not become complacent in our luxury and freedom and prolong our childhoods, but that we will begin to take responsibility for our lives. I pray that we may see the urgency in preparing ourselves to meet our Creator, to live as godly men and women, living selflessly as Christ did, meditating on the Word, and praying continuously. I pray for God's patience, wisdom, leadership, guidance, courage, persistence, and strength to be upon His church. Thy will be done.
P.S. Sorry if it was difficult to read this entry. It was hard to find the right wording to organize my thoughts. It's been a while since I've written and I've been trying different writing styles.
Here are the sermons:
Marriage and Women (1 Peter 3:1-6):
Marriage and Men (1 Peter 3:7):
I posted up both videos because I think it's beneficial for Christians (and Non-Christians) to watch both, despite their gender. And of course it's not just for married people; definitely helps the singles.
As a disclaimer, Mark Driscoll can be considered unorthodox in his style (aka he's can be harsh with his words). This is especially evident in his Marriage and Men sermon but he does give his reasoning for his tone in the sermon. (I didn't see/hear anything controversial in his Marriage and Women sermon.) Personally, I don't have much of a problem with his style, in fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I've listened to a number of sermons on godly men and this is definitely one of my favorites, certainly a challenge for many guys. In any case, you may want to keep the volume a bit lower when listening to the Marriage and Men sermon (to avoid the mistake I made of wearing earphones and having the volume on max); you can see why for yourself....
After listening to these sermons, I began to think more about the church: the roles of men and women, the foundation of leadership and "strong pillars", mentorship, accountability, and fellowship. Moreover, as the day of when I leave for college (for the first time) approaches, I've been thinking more about Boon Church, my church in college (possibly Grace Covenant Church in Philadelphia), and matters concerning my spiritual walk in general. I pondered on the dynamics of different churches and what kind of church would best help me grow as a Christian woman. Out of these many trains of thought, what I realized is that the amount of work I need to do in my own life and the growing pains the church needs to go through to prepare for Christ's return is absolutely overwhelming. Nevertheless, we need to remember that the chiseling begins with ourselves.
So my prayer for myself and the Bride of Christ is this:
That while we can rejoice in God's Grace and have comfort that His love is boundless, that we will not abuse His Grace. That we will not become complacent in our luxury and freedom and prolong our childhoods, but that we will begin to take responsibility for our lives. I pray that we may see the urgency in preparing ourselves to meet our Creator, to live as godly men and women, living selflessly as Christ did, meditating on the Word, and praying continuously. I pray for God's patience, wisdom, leadership, guidance, courage, persistence, and strength to be upon His church. Thy will be done.
P.S. Sorry if it was difficult to read this entry. It was hard to find the right wording to organize my thoughts. It's been a while since I've written and I've been trying different writing styles.
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