Verity Christian Fellowship

At all funerals there came a time when someone gets up to talk about the life of the deceased. Perhaps a relative may got up and read out messages about the deceased, perhaps from his children and grandchildren, about what he had meant to them and what they thought of him.

I have been to a number of funerals at it is usually at this point that I think ‘I wonder what people will say about me when I die. Will it be good? Will it be true?’ And then I think what will GOD say about me?

That WILL be true, but will it be GOOD.

Perhaps what we ought to do is try to write our own eulogies. I don’t mean we literally write it and leave it with our will, to be read out at our funeral, although that may be fun. You could tell people what you really think of them. How much you really love them!

No, what I mean is that perhaps what we ought to do is try to think about how we would like people to remember us and then try to live our lives accordingly. After all, would want you eulogy to go something like this:

‘Dearly beloved, we are here to mark the passing of Bill. He was a sensitive man (he was always moaning about something) who had difficulty in forming stable relationships (nobody liked him)

He was a born leader (in the style of a mafia Godfather) who liked to proceed in his own way (He was obstinate). He liked a good discussion (argued with everyone) and was able to expresses himself clearly (he swore like a trooper) He was a good speaker (he liked the sound of his own voice) and was always friendly (never shut up). But underneath he was a solitary character (had a problem with personal hygiene) Yes Bills passing will mean a lot to all of us.’

Well hopefully none of us will receive that kind of testimony, but what kind of testimony will you receive. Is it important? After all, as Christians we are already saved aren’t we?

Well Paul certainly thought it important. Look at 1 Corinthians 3 v 10-14.

So what are you building your life with? Buildings that are built to last are built with stone. And buildings that are for display are decorated with precious metals. Are you building with gold and precious stones or are you building with wood and straw. Are you building a palace, a thing of beauty or a hovel?

It is important how we live our lives. Our sins are forgiven and we are saved by our belief in Jesus, but I for one, when I stand before my King, would like to be able to offer him a gift of my life’s work, a gift of Love.

This is not saying that I am perfect or even that I can be perfect. I know I can’t be that. But God is not looking for perfection. He did not make us perfect. He knows our flaws.

When our children bring us something they have made we don’t judge it by how perfect it is but with the effort they have taken to make it.

So how should we put this into practice in our lives? What do we do to make our lives more presentable to God? Well we need to constantly check ourselves over. And to do this we need to constantly go back to God. Ask him, am I doing OK? What should I do here? What should I do there?

Don’t think that you have to be Superman or Wonder Woman. He’s not asking for that. So you don’t have to do everything. Just ask yourself in any situation WWJD? What Would Jesus Do?

When Jesus was asked about his teaching he said this:’ my teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me’

That’s pretty good and I would consider my life a success if that could be my eulogy.

Galatians 4:8 Formally, when you did not know God you were slaves to those who by nature are not Gods.

When you became a new Christian and you start to read the Bible properly for the first time. Did you start to notice things that did not see before?

One of the things that struck me was the way the disciples left home. Some of them at least must have had families, wives, even children, and yet they seemed to just up and leave them to follow Jesus. This did not seem a very good witness to me. And when people came to Jesus and said they wanted to follow him what did he say? Yes sure, but don’t bury your dead father, no you can’t go back to say goodbye to your family, sell everything you have and give it away. This is pretty harsh stuff for someone who is supposed to be loving and caring.

Now normally it is said that this just shows the cost of following Jesus, that there is a price to be paid. But is that right? Is that really what Jesus meant? Was he really being harsh or was there some deeper meaning that he was trying to teach?

When we come to Christ there is supposed to be a freedom, but freedom from what?

In his book ‘The Theatrical Tapes of Leonard Thynn’ Adrian Plass describes what Christians all too often call ‘freedom’. The part in the story is about two men who have prepared a drama about pub evangelism. The non Christian is sitting drinking his ‘shandy’ and bemoaning his lot. The Christian enters and describes how wonderful life is with Christ. The drinker decides to repent of his wicked ways and turn to Christ. When he then asks ‘what now’? The Christian tells him that there is Bible study on Monday, church meeting Wednesday, nurture group Thursday, a coach trip to a revival meeting on Friday, a conference on Saturday, Sunday morning service followed by a lunch for the third world and communion service in the evening. The new Christian’s response is to proclaim ‘Free at last!’

Sometimes we think we have freedom but in reality we are just binding ourselves tighter in dogma. But it is not just Church that can bind us.

We all have bondages in our life:

• Decorating – must have the house looking nice

• Image – we must look nice

• Car – must have a good car

• Job – must have a better paid job

• Debt – don’t worry, we can afford it

So the question we must ask ourselves is, how free are we to respond to Christ? This is what Jesus was really saying.

When we became Christians we were to stop being slaves, we were set free.

We are set free. Jesus said don’t put new wine into old wineskins; don’t sew patches of new cloth onto old clothes. SO WHY HAVE YOU PUT YOUR NEW LIFE IN CHRIST INTO YOUR OLD LIFE?

To be really free we need to break the bondages that tie us into the way we live. Only by breaking the patterns of the way we live will we be truly free in Christ. One example of this is what you pray for. Should we pray for things? Or are we just feeding our old bondages?

Did Peter, after he followed Jesus, pray for those new faster oars for his boat, of that new flashy net which was guaranteed to increase your catch by 50%?

We can carry on living the way the world does, wanting more and more. Or we can choose another way.

The longer we are a Christian the simpler it should be. With less to bind us, the simpler our lives should be.

We have taken on a job. There is a price to following Jesus, but the price is relinquishing the world and grasping the eternal, and the reward is beyond compare.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations; baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28

Baptism is really a bit of a mystery. What significance does being dunked or sprinkled in water have. After all I do this every time I have a shower or go swimming. We must remember though that it is not just a physical act but also a spiritual one and it is this that is of importance.

In the time of Jesus, converts to Judaism were baptised. Candidates were questioned about their motives and were told about the laws they would have to observe. If they consented the men would then be circumcised. After they were healed both men and women would be baptised as a symbolic cleansing from the impurity suffered in their lives before conversion.

But it was not just converts who carried out this ceremonial washing. Both archaeological and literary research has revealed that repeated immersion had become part of normal Jewish life at that time with over 100 stepped pools being found in Jerusalem alone with rich people having their own private pools in their homes as well as the public pools as described in the Gospels.

The Dead Sea scrolls, which are records left by The Essence’s, a very strict Jewish sect that lived at Qumran on the shore of the Dead Sea, record how they considered this spiritual washing so important that they would carry this out at least once a day.

It is to this background of spiritual cleansing that John the Baptist came with his ministry. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. So first of all those who came to John needed to be conscious of a failure in their life. They had to be concerned enough to want to change their lives and abandon they way they had been behaving.

John’s message also spoke of what God gives, not just what he demands. Those baptised not only expressed sorrow for past miss deeds, but also discovered that God was willing to wipe the slate clean. (Mark 1.5)

So as the stepped down into the water of the Jordan and confessed their sins, they not only looked back to failure, but forward to amendment and most importantly upward for forgiveness. These elements were the basis of John’s baptism, confession, repentance and forgiveness, and they are still the basis of water baptism today.

So against this background of spiritual cleansing and confession of sin, why did Jesus come to be baptised? His spirit was pure and he had no sin to confess.

John realised this and when he saw Jesus step into the water in front of him he hesitated, questioning the need for it. Jesus’ only answer was ‘Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness’, which really does not say much at all.

The writer of Hebrews describes Jesus as ‘partaking of our human nature, feeling our pressures and temptations, being like his brothers in every respect, able to help those who are tempted because he suffered but did not yield’.

Here, in his baptism, we see Jesus’ total identification with humankind as he takes his place alongside sinners, becoming, to the casual observer at least, completely indistinguishable from them. In fact so complete was this identification with sinners that its climax was when he was crucified between two common criminals. This is why some people have difficulty seeing beyond the man and so cannot accept Jesus into their lives for who he truly is.

We must therefore also be careful to remember that if we are to truly follow Jesus, we must never judge people at face value or by the company they keep. To do so could mean we end up wandering far from the path Jesus trod.

So what about baptism for us? Like Johns baptism it should be a sign of repentance. That we want to confess the wrong things in our lives and to make changes, to ask and accept Gods forgiveness and also to look forward to a new life with Jesus as our guide.

But also for Christians, baptism by water is also accompanied by baptism by the Holy Spirit. The two do not necessarily happen at the same time, the bible has references of those who were baptised in the spirit before being baptised with water, and those who were baptised in water but only later received the spirit. But there is no doubt that public confession, repentance and baptism is required in all Christians at some time in their lives. This is, as Jesus put it, to complete all righteousness.

This is a copy of an e-mail I received a little while ago. Just for thought:-

In the light of many perversions and jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different. This is not intended to be a joke, it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her: “How could God let something like this happen?” (Referring to the events of September 11th)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events … terrorist attacks, school shootings etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (Who was murdered, her body was found recently) complained that she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school … the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love thy neighbour as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said OK.

Then someone said teachers and principles better not discipline our children when they misbehave. The school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don’t want any bad publicity and we sure don’t want to be sued (there’s a big difference between disciplining, touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking etc.) And we said OK.

Then someone said let’s let our daughters have abortions if they want and they won’t even have to tell their parents. And we said OK.

Then some wise school board members said, since boys will be boys and they’re going to do it anyway, let’s give our sons all the condoms they want so they can have all the fun they desire and we won’t have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said OK.

Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn’t matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. Agreeing with them, we said it doesn’t matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.

Then someone said let’s print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down to earth appreciation of the beauty of the female body. And we said OK.

And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then further again by making them available on the internet. And we said OK, they’re entitled to freedom of speech.

Then the entertainment industry said, lets make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex. Let’s record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide and satanic themes. And we said it’s just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates and themselves.

Probably if we think about it long and hard enough we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with “We reap what we sow.”

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers says, but question what the bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and the workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit, if not then just discard it … no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!