Paul have had a great start in the letter. He says, “being confident of this” and ends with “will bring to completion.” It is as if those verses were like life's bookends. In between we are held by God's grace.
Began: He initiates to start a good work in us. Makes that first move, maybe we will not move at all. Recall Christian journey, we are mostly running away, deaf to the Lord. Not one time, God takes initiative and takes personal responsibility to continue in our life. There is a good work that he intends to accomplish in our lives. He will not rest till the good work is completed. od is not like man, he does not leave things unfinished. Our future does not depend on human will people but on the fact that God is our partner, the one. joint partakers of grace.
How are you? The polite answer is, “I am fine.” Most of us feel we have some parts with no words to describe. For the moment, we are not all right. But it will change. We are God’s work in process. Our role is to surrender, to place ourselves in God's hands and to trust the Master Designer as he shapes us. We may not see too far, we hope to be able to do that.
2 areas:
1. With
one another: so much healing is needed. Many of us are hurt because of unmet expectations. Thank God for last our
Townhall meeting last week. There was that mutual expectation, commitment to one
another and to the body (the Church) despite the disappointments. Paul saw
people through eyes of faith to the time when God has completed his work. The readers were not on
good terms with each other and no amount of preaching will change that. In the same way, we need to
pray fervently for the Lord to heal our spiritual myopia, for patience, for
those who have disappointed us. One particular area: hurts: pastor often hear
hurts from married and single people, from parents... is this, “The going-on is so tough”. Pastor
can offer the work of God to pray for them. God is not done with us yet. Our
hope is not in the next therapy and strategy, we have so much with and in God. God can
heal us.
How to be patient with ourselves? We may have started out well in the journey of
obedience with the desire to know his word and will. Yet, we can become jaded,
bogged down by life's share of despairing situations. What does it mean? In his
9 years of ministry, Paul shared that "Thrice he was beaten with rods..." despite all that, Paul’s passion and zeal
could not be shut down. There was an internal strength that will not be bashed by
criticisms that can resist being shakened. Is
our passion level high enough? Pastor Andrew shared a song during Christmas Day
written by Laura Story. In it are the words, “ For who am I to serve him, at
times I feel discouraged, how many times will you pick me up? How far will
it... A long as you are seeking on face, you will be given sufficient grace for
each day.” Laura Story's Song: Grace Let's be patient with
ourselves.
2. With
people around us: We need healing with our community of faith as well.
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