|
DATE |
CHURCH |
SUBJECT |
PREACHER |
BIBLE
REF. |
|
09.12.07 |
All Saints' Church |
The Generosity of
God Challenges Us to Generosity |
Rev. Tony Higton |
Romans 15: 4-13 |
|
Are you
finding life difficult? Are you hanging on by your finger tips-
not sure if you can carry on? Perhaps just when you thought it
couldn’t get any worse: it did. I’ve been there, and
sympathize. How can faith help? It can help a great deal when
we remember that God, in his love, is very generous. And one of
the things he gives generously, according to St Paul, is
endurance.
GOD IS
GENEROUS WITH ENDURANCE
Paul writes
(verses 4-5): “For everything that was written in the past was
written to teach us, so that through endurance … we might have
hope … May the God who gives endurance ….”
God GIVES
endurance. It is a gift and it is a willing gift. If you have
children or grandchildren, you don’t sit their grudgingly
wondering how little you can spend on them. You long to give to
them. You look forward to seeing their faces light up as they
open the present and begin to enjoy it.
God is like
that with us, his children. If you’re going through pain,
suffering and anxiety, he is longing to give you endurance.
Believe it and ask for it boldly, in the name of Jesus.
GOD IS
GENEROUS WITH ENCOURAGEMENT
Paul writes
(verses 4-5): “For everything that was written in the past was
written to teach us, so that through … the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives ..
encouragement..”
Are you
feeling depressed – everything is too much trouble. You just
want to go to bed and fall asleep. Are you anxious? You lie
awake at night worrying yourself sick. You anticipate bad news.
If it can go wrong it will go wrong, you think. Do you feel
hopeless? What is there to live for? Remember the generosity of
God. He is longing to give you encouragement.
God GIVES
encouragement. Believe it and ask for it boldly.
But Paul adds
that encouragement often comes through Scripture. “For
everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,
so that through endurance and the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope.” (verse 4)
It helps to
read the Bible a little but every day. The Gospels and many of
the Psalms can be a real encouragement. I know the Bible very
well, I’ve been reading it for some 60 years and have studied it
in depth. But I’ve often had the experience of reading
something, familiar words, but it is like the ink is still wet
and it was written just for me that day! The coincidences, in
terms of relevance to my need, have often been so great that I
can’t possibly believe they are coincidences. They are, in fact,
God speaking to me. Try it yourself.
However, God
knows that the fellowship, friendship and support of other
people is also important in encouraging us and helping us to
endure. So he is generous in that too.
GOD IS
GENEROUS WITH UNITY
For the church
to be encouraging and to support is in enduring, it needs to be
united. God gives the church unity. So if the church is not
united it is the fault of us human beings. Paul writes (verses
5-6) “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you
a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Are you
concerned about unity of your church? Are you worried about
niggling and backbiting? Well God GIVES unity. Believe it and
ask for it boldly.
However, we
have to cooperate in this. Paul writes (verse 7): “Accept one
another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring
praise to God.” Jesus accepted us “warts and all.” The Bible
teaches that “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
So we should accept each other “warts and all” whatever our
differences and disagreements. Here are some differences
relevant to many churches. We must overcome such differences and
accept one another as Christ accepted us. We need to be generous
in our approach to one another.
You’re a
Prayer Book person: He’s a modern worship man
You’re a
traditional hymnbook person: He’s a modern worship song person
You’re a
liturgical prayer person: He’s a spontaneous prayer person
You’re a High
Church person: He’s an evangelical
You’re a
questioning, rationalistic person: He’s a
believe-the-Bible-cover-to-cover person
You’re a shy,
quiet person: He’s an extrovert, noisy person
You’re a
witness-by-my-life person: He’s a talk-about-my-faith person
You’re a Tory;
He’s a Socialist, etc., etc.
But we need
one another. Alongside prayer and reading the Bible, the
fellowship of the church is intended to encourage us to endure.
Let’s not spoil it.
Paul finishes
this passage with a great blessing (verse 13): “May the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so
that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit.”
That will be
true if we turn to God daily in prayer, read the Bible every day
and regularly seek the encouragement of the fellowship of the
church.
Tony Higton
9.12.07 |
