Resurrection

By Odon Bulamba

 

It’s a pleasure to be here this morning.  The world is celebrating Easter.  Easter is one of the biggest parties for Christians and people travel from one corner to another to celebrate. Some churches organise a night to sit together and think about that day.  Easter is the highest party that Christians celebrate.  It’s higher than x-mas and other Christian celebrations because that is the day you were born again, the day that God decided to send His Son to die for you and me. 

 

No one likes to die.  We usually think it is better to suffer than to die.  Those that try to commit suicide often say they regret that they tried to kill themselves because of what they would have missed out.  We can be seriously sick but we prefer to live.  There is point when sickness is so bad that you can feel like it’s better to die than to have to go through so much pain but usually people will prefer to live than to die.  When you are going through challenges of life, you may feel it’s too much and may feel like dying but although the option is front of you, you think about your children and other family and friends who will miss you and you decided it is better to suffer and be there for them.

 

God decided to tell Jesus to go down and die for those people.  To come down to die.  They arrested Jesus and He was crucified.  When they caught Jesus that night, Peter wanted to intervene and Jesus told him to stop because “My Father in heaven can send angels to defend me, I don’t need your help for defence”.  Jesus was saying, in effect, “I will accept to be weak for you”.  He was arrested and beaten.  They started with his back by whipping him and the flesh would come from his back.

 

Isaiah 53:4-6, says that Jesus was beaten for our sins and wounded for us.  When Jesus’ back was beaten, it was so you could get healing for your back.  He paid the price for that.  The role of your back is important, it is the framework, it supports your body.  If you don’t have a back, how will you stand, walk etc?  Nothing will work.  You are supported by your back bone.  The back bone is not one piece like a stick but small discs and bones all together which allows your back to be straight and to bend.  Without that, you would be like a tree – stiff and straight.  Your back has a very important role to play in your life. I’ll come back to that.

 

After smashing Jesus’ back, they nailed Him to the cross.  Zoe loves injections, isn’t it?  No, I’d rather take a pill than get an injection.  Many people prefer that.  The needle of a syringe is tiny compared to the nails that went into the feet and hand of Jesus.  He was nailed with hammer.  Bang! Once your feet are put together and nailed, you can’t move anymore.  You are stuck there.  Jesus did that for you and for me.  You have pain in your feet?  That is what Jesus paid for on the cross.

 

The feet balance your body.  If you have trouble with your spiritual balance; that is what Jesus paid the price for.  You sometimes find you can’t move anymore, and you feel this is the end of my spirituality, I want to pray and read the Bible but I can’t move because someone nailed me here.  Jesus says, “I paid the price, you don’t need to stay there”.  He tells you to move but you ask how.  I know you did this but how can I move from this position to the other.  Paul said I have desire to do good but my flesh is weak.  We all go through those stages. 

 

A good example, one day Peter went to the temple and they found this man begging for money and they looked at him and said, we have nothing to give you.  You beg to God and he says I have nothing to give to you.  Someone like Peter who is really famous.  He told the poor man, I have nothing for your but I can give you one thing but we ready to take it.

 

When people talk about Bill Gates, we think of money.  When we talk about John Key (Prime Minister of NZ) we think about politics.  When we talk about the Queen of England we think about power.  Peter came with that name of Jesus.  In Jesus’ name, stand up and walk and go away. The man’s legs were nailed there and he couldn’t move.  When you are weak in a position, people are telling you to move now.  You can have a situation that is killing you and Jesus is telling you that He has paid the price for your feet, move.  Feet is not only walking but for standing up with balance.  Jesus paid the price for that.  All the challenges you have with your arms, Jesus has paid the price for that.

 

Jesus was given a crown of 72 thorns.  Imagine wearing that crown on your head.  Everyone wants a crown but not one of thorns because it will torture you and not honour you.  The crown was for His head which means that if we are sick in our head, God has paid the price for that.  Sometimes we wake up in the morning with sleep in our eyes even though we showered before going to bed.  Sometimes we feel saliva on our mouth.  Sometimes our nostrils are blocked.  Some things will happen in our life that we don’t expect but Jesus paid the price for that.

 

Today we sang a song about Jesus coming back to life.  This is a song that the whole world knows.  Our turn is coming.  Jesus did His resurrection, and our turn is coming.  Jesus has told us to be prepared, I’m coming for you and I will pick you up and take you with Me to My Kingdom.  This is resurrection.  In Rev 20:5&6, a group of people like you and me who served God who was persecuted and treated harshly, come back to life.  This is a good resurrection. 

 

We will have two resurrections.  First will be those people who believed in Jesus and trusted in Jesus, they will come to life first.  Those who did not trust, who don’t like him, they will continue to be in that dead world.  First and Second resurrection is a matter of choice because we have grace and God doesn’t hide to us what is going to happen.  This is the back bone of Christianity, to stand strong and be flexible in the Word of God which means you need to be ready for resurrection.  Jesus knew he would die but he also knew he would come back to life.

 

We all know we will die one day and at any time without discussion.  The hope we have is that one day we will come back to life and reign with Jesus. When we say someone is going to come back to life from the dead, what impression do we have?  Zombies?  A dead person is back to life. People run away.  Jesus said He will come first and whoever died in Me and sticks with my commandments will come back to life and we will reign together for 1000 years.  That time of 1000 years won’t be 1000 years of peace but of preparation for something which is coming.  God will put us next to Him and teach us how to rule, judge, and conduct a new political system of His Kingdom. 

 

What does John Key know about politics?  He is full of mistakes.  Obama too, they will try to make good decisions and fail.  They walk like blind people.  When I was a scout, we had a game where they will blind fold you and put a wood at the beach like a plank and the wood goes into water and the last step they fall into water.  Politics of the world can appear to be good and defend our rights but no one can defend your rights except Jesus, He is the only One who can understand your needs and provide it.  He says, when you are on this earth and working for me, think about My coming and get ready.

 

The day He comes back the world, there will be panic.  In panic, some will stand still and not know what do, some will scream, some will lose control. 

 

Resurrection means to come back to life which means you have to first die.  What is death?  How do you explain death?  Your body stops working, you can’t breathe, your heart stops beating, your body becomes cold.  A combination of all these things.  Death is a mystery which steals life from a body.  A power which takes away life.  The body can be intact but the life is taken away.  You can be strong physically, and attractive but once life is not in you, you are gone.

 

When you die, what do you want people to do?  Someone might say, I want Rihanna to perform.  I want my body to look attractive.  I want you people to not fight – let me go in peace.  People have wishes for the day they day.  Others don’t want to talk about it at all.  What are your wishes on the day that death will tell life, “I want to take this person”.  Some write a will for others to follow.  They give orders.  When you die, those who remain behind, they take your will seriously more than when you were alive.  What was his last word before he died. Some people whisper when they die and people come closer to hear.

 

People say don’t leave us, including those that said go away the day before.  They ask them to say more and those words remain in their heart and head forever.  You can see how the power of death is changing the lives of others.  We have to respect the will of the dead person and follow it.  When someone dies, you can see how much people will love the photo of the one who has passed away, they frame it and keep it somewhere special while when the person was alive, they didn’t care.  They look after the photos and videos and souvenirs because life has been taken away.

 

The day of resurrection is coming, we have to accept to die and leave memories in the lives of others.  When I do things according to the will of God, what do people remember?  What were my last words when I decided to follow Jesus?  What is my last wish in my will?

 

When Jesus comes back and we come back to life with new bodies, we will not come back as zombies.  Jesus came back to life with bodies that had scars but our bodies will be perfect.  We will be prepared now to govern the new world.  Rev 20, what role will you play in his Kingdom of God.  A judge, an engineer, secretary? We have to prepare ourselves for that role and we have been given gifts that we have to practice.

 

In 2000, I saw Michelle typing and she was fast and didn’t have to look at the keyboard.  How can fingers can perform such a fast work?  When she is doing it, she doesn’t have to think because she has practiced it for a number of years.  Now tell someone else to type who only knows how to use one finger and they have to look on the keyboard where they are going. 

 

For resurrection, God is telling us to prepare ourselves, not just to be clean but to practice our gifts to become better and sharper.  I have a typing software that teaches us how to touch type but people in my home still type with one finger.  They give up.  If you don’t push yourself, you might be surprised to not be part of the first resurrection.

 

An angel will come down with a chain and lock away satan.  We will come back to life and we will go through an advanced preparation, an induction to prepare us morally, physically, mentally and spiritually to rule the world.  What title would you like to occupy in the Kingdom of God, to rule the world.  What ministry will you choose?  The bigger your role, the bigger your responsibility.  When you come back to life, Jesus tells us, you don’t have to think about food.  Jesus didn’t have to eat when He came back to life.

 

Jesus came back to life with new clothes.  Where did He get that from?  The tomb was open and there was light – the angels.  When you are going through the problems of your life, God doesn’t forget you and He brings you back to life in hope and angels will be there to guide you.  We forget the role of angels; they play a role in our lives. 

 

Those who did not die in Jesus will come back to life and they will make a big army for satan with all the big weapons of today from Russia, Asia, US etc so they can attack Jesus.  A number of our enemies who stand against us will be like the sand at the beach.  You can’t count them, there will be millions of people with Generals etc that are well trained.  This is the time for us to fight against this army.  Don’t fear, the power of God is above all.  Fire comes from heaven to destroy all the people.  In your life, don’t fear, God is on your side every time, just accept God to play a role in your life and to guide you.

 

One night I told my mum that I didn’t want to sleep in the bedroom because I saw a mouse but she told me to go back to bed but I didn’t want to.  She told me that the mouse is there because you didn’t clean your room so you have to accept to sleep with the mouse.  I jumped under my blanket and my ears were awake and I would be ready to scream if I heard anything.  I spent the entire night shaking and I couldn’t sleep. 

 

I was very tired the next day at school.  They called my mum because I was sleeping in class.  I had to tell the teacher I didn’t sleep because of a mouse, because of fear.  My mum said, you will clean your room.  She kicked my mattress out of the room and the room was a big mess and I started to discover peanuts under the bed etc and as I was collecting my books, I found the nest of the mouse.  Sometimes we invite strangers to take control of our lives.  I was forced to pick up the nest.  No vacuum cleaners in those days so I had to do it all by hand.  When I was trying to push it away, I was screaming and mum put the babies on my head and I screamed but mum told me I have to look after myself and that was the last time I left my room messy. 

 

When Jesus comes back, your body will be decomposed but he will make you a perfect person. The Resurrection coming.  There will be two: (1) those in Jesus (2) those not in Jesus.  It is time now to prepare ourselves for the role we will play for the 1000 years in Jesus.  We are going to do 1000 years, what is your plan for that time?  When you go to school, or University, teachers expect you to do your own reading and research and that is the same for God.  You live with your Bible and God trusts you to work.

 

I had a lawyer who forgot about my case in front of the court and he started to talk about someone else’s case.  Imagine you are given a role to play in the Kingdom of God and you don’t know what you are doing. 

 

Let us prepare ourselves for the first resurrection.

Mountains

By Hayley Boud

 

“I can move the mountains” Mathew 17:20

 

What would happen if we did move the mountains?  What would happen if I moved Mt Ruapehu and put it here in Hamilton?  Wouldn’t that be a disaster?  I would destroy everything along the way as I dragged the mountain from one place to another and then plopped it right in the middle of Hamilton.  There would be earthquakes as the mountain shifted.  It would be frightening.

 

I would destroy people’s houses, cars, and even their livelihoods.  Those who worked on the ski fields at Mt Ruapehu would no longer have a job and those who worked in the CBD of Hamilton would no longer have a job.  Everything would be destroyed.  We wouldn’t celebrate that the mountain had moved, we would consider it a natural disaster. 

 

For example, in the movie Bruce Almighty, Bruce thought it would be romantic to move the moon closer to the earth so it would look big and beautiful for his wife.  Yet, the next morning he woke up and realised he had made a big disaster around the world with flooding and tidal waves: people’s lives were destroyed. 

 

Therefore, I don’t think God wants us to move physical mountains.  So what kind of mountain is God talking about when He says we can move mountains?  I think he is referring to spiritual mountains and mental and emotional mountains: the things that seem really difficult to get over.  Tell me, what are the spiritual mountains in your life?  These can be sickness, losing your job, not finding a job, temptations (such as anger, disappointment, laziness, lack of self-control, impatience etc), strained relationships or relationships you didn’t want, studies, financial worries, loneliness, depression, fears, doubts etc.

 

According to the verse, if we had faith we could move these mountains.  That is what the Bible says.  However, I’m not sure that we should move all mountains in our lives.  Maybe there are those mountains we have to move but maybe there are mountains that have to be climbed rather than moved.  Maybe those mountains require faith to remove the barriers that stop us from climbing the mountain rather than faith to move the mountain.  I say that because if we moved some mountains, we would never get to climb it and there is so much to be learnt from climbing a mountain.  There is also incredible victory when we reach the top.

 

What is the importance of physical mountains?  They make rain.  The sun evaporates the water in the lake and the water becomes a cloud.  The wind pushes the cloud and when the cloud passes mountains, the water precipitates and rain falls.  Rain is water which brings forth new life.  Therefore, without mountains, we wouldn’t have life.  Hence, the spiritual mountains in our life are a blessing and therefore, not always a good idea to move them – it may be a better idea to climb them.

 

Last weekend, Dad and I decided to walk up Hakarimata Summit Track in Ngaruawahia.  It is apparently 4.6 km of stairs.  When we arrived there, we looked up the mountain from the bottom and it seemed impossible for me (someone who NEVER exercises) and my dad (almost 70 years old) to climb.  We thought, we can’t do this.  But then we saw others coming down the mountain who had climbed to the top and completed it.  Their faces were so happy and they had words of encouragement.  We thought, if they can do it, then so can we.  When we climb spiritual mountains, we have those have gone before us and faced similar situations.  They encourage us with their actions and words. 

 

We too can encourage others when we have climbed the mountain.  If we were to remove all the difficulties we face and never have to go hard times, how could we possibly encourage others when they are facing difficulties? 

 

So me and dad started climbing this mountain and after a few steps, I thought, how long have I been doing this?  It seems like ages.  I asked Dad, “how long have we been going?” and dad looked at his watch and said, “only 20 minutes”.  I was shocked.  Then I looked up and saw stairs after stairs after stairs.  I was instantly discouraged.  But someone came just at that moment and said, “keep going, you’re doing great”.  We need each other.  When we are feeling discouraged, it’s good to be around other Christians because they will spur us on.  It’s also good to be around God and His Word (nothing more encouraging than the Word of God).

 

We kept climbing and my legs started to hurt.  I couldn’t breathe normally, I was huffing and puffing.  Another 20 minutes went by and then I realised, I’m only a quarter of the way.  That was so discouraging.  I really, really wanted to give up then.  But, another person coming the other way said, “keep going, it is worth it”.  It didn’t seem worth it to me but I believed them.  Sometimes in life we feel discouraged but it’s important to remember that what we are facing will be worth it, in the end.  In the end there is eternal life with Jesus.  On this earth, if we persevere we will also be rewarded.  If you keep going with your studies, you will have a degree at the end and it will have been worth the hard work.  If you persevere with your husband, your sickness, your job…it will be worth it…in the end.

 

We kept walking up the mountain but now my legs were really killing me.  They were literally shaking.  I started to feel like giving up.  There was no one around anymore to encourage me.  I had to encourage myself.  Sometimes, we have to find our own encouragement.  For me, that is when I turn on some Christian worship music which always encourages me to pray which then encourages me to read the Bible.  We have to find strategies to encourage ourselves.

 

As we were walking up the mountain, we had to move the barriers that got in the way of us climbing it.  For me the barrier was all in my mind.  Spiritually, that is the biggest mountain – our minds.  Therefore, when we make a decision to climb a spiritual mountain, we have to make a decision and keep it.  E.g. if I decide that I’m no longer going to smoke cigarettes, then all I have to do is make a decision and keep it – it’s only my mind that will stop me.

 

As we were climbing the mountain, there were markers that told us how far we were from the top.  Those markers kept us on track.  There are 20 markers so you know when you’ve reached marker 5, that you are a quarter of the way there.  When you reach marker 10, you are half way.  This is very encouraging.  In life, we can put up our own markers so we can be encouraged along the way. 

 

For example, when Colleen started her masters, it looked so big (like the mountain) but she only had to look at the first step which was to complete one paper in the first year.  When she completed that, she could do the next paper until all papers were completed.  Now she’s doing the thesis so she starts with chapter one and works her way slowly through each chapter until she is finished. 

 

In life, it is really important to make goals and then decide how each step of that goal will be accomplished.  For example, we know that reading the Bible is important but we struggle to read it.  Maybe, we can make a goal to read it for 15 minutes a day.  At the end of the week, we have read 1 and a half hours of the Bible and it wasn’t hard.

 

Me and dad kept climbing the mountain.  We reached the top.  What a victory!  We were so happy to be at the top that we immediately forgot how hard it was to get there.  In life, this is exactly what happens.  While we are facing the difficult time, we think it is the hardest thing we have ever faced.  But suddenly, the problem ends and the joy is so great.  I think it’s important to remember that when we are facing problems – to remember that very suddenly that problem will end and there will be joy (Eccl 7:8).

 

Then me and dad starting going down the mountain.  On one hand it was easier to go down than up (it was certainly faster) but on the other hand it was harder to go down.  Going downhill requires a lot of concentration otherwise you can easily fall.  This is the same with our Christian life.  When things are easy (no problems etc) we can easily neglect the Bible, prayer, God, other people, the church etc.  When things are easy that is when it is easy to fall into temptation.  For example, I might decide to have one glass of wine with dinner because I’m free as long as I don’t get drunk.  But if I’m not careful that glass will turn into two and then three and then I’m drunk.  If I’m not care, this will become a habit and suddenly I’m an alcoholic.

 

When things are easy we have to concentrate so we don’t fall.  When we are going up a mountain, we are focused completely on the task.  When we are facing difficult times, we are focused completely on God because we know he is our only hope.  When we are going down the mountain, it’s easy so we start to walk faster and then to run without thinking.  If we are not careful, we will trip and fall.  After being a Christian for a few years, we might think this is easy and stop concentrating and then fall.  Be careful because the devil is like a lion looking for someone to devour.  Walk with God each day and keep alert.

 

When we fall down a mountain, it is very likely we will take others with us (like dominoes).  When we fall into temptation, we very likely cause others to stumble too.  Many Christians think they are free but we have to remember we are not free to sin and we are not free to cause others to sin.  We are free FROM sin. 

Bread

By Odon Bulamba

 

Jesus said, “Father give to us our daily bread”.  Why didn’t he ask for a monthly bread, or weekly or yearly?  Our lives day after day depends on God.  Bread doesn’t only mean what we eat or see but it means the signs of life.  Bread means food but before to become food it is a plant.  The plant is turned into flour.  The flour is mixed with water and sometimes yeast added.  The ingredients then must be baked.  If I take some wheat flour and put it on a plate with a glass of water and put a fire there and ask you to now eat, you will say, “this is not food” because you can’t eat wheat by itself. 

 

Bread is really tasty.  It takes time to make bread.  When I was a child I used to bake a lot and I would steal some wheat and oil from my mother’s kitchen and take it into the bush. I would make my own bread hiding in the bush because my mum wouldn’t let me bake because according to my culture only women can bake.

 

The colour of the outside is different to the colour of the inside of the bread.  There are two different colours.  The outside is in contact with the heat from the fire (or oven) and becomes the colour of that the wheat plant is initially which is a golden colour.  The inside remains white.  The outside gets a little bit burnt but the inside remains intact.  When Jesus broke the bread, He told people, “Take this, this is my body”. 

 

Some versions say, He broke it and then blessed it but other versions say he blessed it and then broke it.  We are the body of Christ, maybe Ange is the leg, Robbie the arm etc.  All together we make up that body and when Jesus rose up His hands and broke it, He wasn’t saying He is breaking Himself.  He was saying, “I am breaking you in Me because whoever sees you will see Me in you”.  This reminds us that God said at the beginning, let us make man in our image.  Once you are broken, God continues to pray for you (HOLY SPIRIT will intercede for you).

 

When you are saved, he breaks you and tells people to eat you.  You are the food for others: your actions and your words will make people to be fed spiritually.  How can I become a bread for others? 

Wheat is a plant and easy to grow.  You are a plant that God uses.  God looks at the life inside the plant.  The plant has a role to collect food and feed the branches.  It will collect from the soil and suck the food and feed the plant.  The roots will bring it to the trunk that will take it to the branches and then flowers and then fruit.  If the roots say no, then the plant will die.  When Jesus says I break you it means for you to become a servant to feed others and if you say no, those people will starve to death, they will die from lack of knowledge.

 

Ex 12: Moses was given a mission to help the Israelites to leave Egypt.  Wouldn’t you be proud to lead all these millions people out of Egypt?  Everyone likes to be a leader.  But to look after millions of people is a big job especially when you can’t look after your own family.  Moses couldn’t look after his own family.  His wife was doing work that Moses was supposed to do.  God said regardless of your weaknesses, you will take my people out of Egypt.

 

God knows your weaknesses but His purpose is for you to lead His people.  Moses came up with a good excuse, “whenever I speak I stutter and people laugh”.  God said, “you have to go”.  Very often I present my excuses to God.  I tell God, “not today, what about tomorrow”.  Excuses can take us far.  God said to Moses go and God chose Aaron to walk with Moses. 

 

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh on nine occasions and each time God was turning Aaron and Moses down.  Pharaoh refused to listen.  Moses would perform miracles and still Pharaoh would not give up.  Sometimes God sends you places and then puts a barrier there to see how you react.  You ask, “God why didn’t it work”.  God tells you, “I’m baking you because you were wheat and water and I’m the fire and this is the cooking process and cooking is a long process and takes time”.

Nine times they went back and finally God said, Aaron and Moses this is now your first month – start to count it from today.  God changed the calendar.  God can change your plan and you were thinking to do something in 2012 and you don’t get it.  You can think about ideas but only God can make it happen. 

 

Moses and Aaron had to go to all the families and ask them to slaughter a lamb and put the blood around the door frame.  Pick up animal blood and put it around the house – what will your neighbour say?  The role of the door is to come in and out.  What leads your body?  Your mouth, nose, ears, eyes, feelings? Someone can become angry and punch the door so the outside will reflect the inside.  That is the door that God said to paint with blood. 

 

The role of the blood to purify and sanctify.  Repentance should be at the frame door of your mouth, ears, eyes or wherever there is a danger for sin to come in.  God is reminding us that if we don’t put blood there, God will come down and any house without blood, He will kill the first born.  The first born is Jesus.  Maori culture respects the first born because they are the representative of the family and they are there to teach the family.

 

When my father died, I was given His clothes because I am the first born.  Jessica (my youngest sister) calls me father because I am the first born.  Every first born child and animal of every family will be killed without the blood on the door frame. To kill the lamb was not enough.  Jesus dying for us was not enough if we don’t apply His blood on our door frames.  My door according to Revelations 20 is the heart.  If you hear the knock, you can open and let Him in.  The door of your heart should be painted with blood of Jesus.

 

Jesus said, “This is my blood, drink it”.  There are around 4000 components in blood.  Four major things: red, white cells, plasma, platelets.  When you cut yourself you can see blood coming out but platelets will be alerted and they run to secure the position in the body of the person to protect them.  Some of our brothers are getting lost.  Blood is supposed to be in the body. The platelets are very quick thinking.  Platelets will run. 

 

If you are hurt in your arm, you will hold firmly there to stop the blood being lost.  Platelets will say, praise the Lord we can act now and they will start to make the blood coagulate.  The blood flow will stop while the platelets are very small.  However, it won’t work if you don’t put a tourniquet around the arm so the platelets can work. 

 

In the event of anything, pray to God, “this is my problem, I am hurt, there is a cut over here, I am holding it”.  How many times do people wound you?  You hear words that shock you and you lose control.  Is your mind painted with blood of Jesus? When you see the power bill, you become angry or you become worried.  Is your mouth painted with the blood of Jesus? You can say yes I’m saved, I have Jesus in my life, He has paid the price for me, but you need to paint the blood on all the entries of your body and your heart.

 

Jesus said, “Take this wine” and they drank like you and I this morning and when we drank the grape juice for communion.  Jesus said, “remember me”.  How often do you remember about the blood circulating in your body? You don’t think about it.  You have no idea but Jesus said to remember that blood that was given to you.  How often do you remember that Jesus died for you?  When I have an accident, I remember but do I remember His blood which means that every step we make we should think about the cleanliness of our heart.  Is my heart clean?  If Jesus comes back now, am I really clean, am I ready to go?  When I see something, is it really important for me to see this? Am I really ready and clean if Jesus comes now?  It’s only when I cross hardship that I remember Jesus. 

When we were taking communion this morning, not many people took the outside part of the bread.  Most took the inside because the inside is soft while the outside is tough and maybe people were worried what had touched the outside (a fly?).  This reminds us that the outside of our bodies is always burnt by the fire but our soul and spirit is not attacked. 

 

A blessing will start with your body.  You feel like stealing, the thought will come first by your eyes and sends the message inside that what you are seeing looks good.  Then your legs move and your hands take it.  Your conscience will tell you, “No I don’t want to think about the blood of Jesus.  Be away from me God.” Then you thank God because no one caught me and now I have what I wanted.  I have heard of armed robbers praying before going to steal.

 

Your body will go through fire and will change the colour of your body.  When your body is burning with the desire, do you stand firm in Jesus? When you have blessings and all that God allows, do you stand firm in Jesus?

 

When I was a child I was sent to buy bread and a list of other items but my mother insisted that I should not forget the bread.  I bought butter milk instead of butter and milk and then I saw yoghurt and bought it for me and I thought I’ll throw away the receipt so my mum won’t know.  When I got home, my mother asked, “Where is the bread?”  That’s when I woke up.  I told my mother, “I can go back’.  But I knew in my heart the money was used.  I went back to shop with intention to steal the bread.  God was so good, when I walked in to the shop and walked over to the bread, I looked left and right and when I put my hand on top of the shelf to pull the bread, the man on other side said, “Hi son”.  I left it. 

 

I came back to try again and then heard a whistle, so I left it again.  Then I tried for a third time.  When I took bread, this little lady asked me, “Who are you buying this for, let’s walk together”.  I thought, “Why is everybody after me?”  This lady knew I was stealing and she told me, never steal anymore.  I came home crying?  I told my mother I was sorry.  To steal was the sin but I forgot about my actions and I thought my plan was good and that I was more clever than God. 

 

When we sin, we think we are clever because no one will see me and it’s fine and I’m enjoying it.  We have to stand firm in our sin.  We are gold and when we go through fire, we will never burn.  So stand firm in the fire.  In a physical fire, our body would get seriously burnt and we would need to go to hospital.  For temptation there is no hospital but we have to persevere.  That is all you can do even if you call 111 for God, He will tell you persevere.  When you go through hardship, people run from you and leave you alone and that is the hardest time in life to find yourself abandoned and when you tell them the people, they believe you are a complainer.

 

I watched this movie called Shrek.  A character on that movie was a donkey, and he could talk.  Shrek became annoyed and told him, “stop it donkey”.  Sometimes your problems will not interest other people, it will sound just like a cymbal in their ears.  When people don’t have time to listen to you, praise God and ask him to help you persevere.

 

Jesus said, “My time is arrived where My body will be given and My blood seen”.  All the disciples ran away.  He was tortured for many hours where He was alone and He had to endure.  Sometimes people tell you persevere but you feel that you can’t take it anymore.  Their encouragement to persevere will become a discouragement.  Jesus told us that sometimes you call God for help and He won’t answer or intervene at that time.  As Jesus said, “Why have You have forsaken me,” He is asking God, where are You? 

 

Your problems will sometimes make you doubt God exists, “where is He, I can’t see Him, He doesn’t answer my problem”.  That is the way God is baking you to make your inside soft and edible.  You go through difficult times (fire) so your body gets the proper heat and then everyone will choose your inside.  People will say, “He is a nice guy” about you.

 

If people described you in two words, you might be shocked.  Some will hammer you while you believe you are a good person because they only see the outside which is not well cooked.  When you are cooking bread and the bread is not ready, if you put your finger on the bread, it will go through the bread because it is not well cooked.  Yet, if the outside accepts to get burnt by the fire then all will be perfect on the inside.  But we don’t want that.  We want the inside to get cooked so the outside can look beautiful.  God allows temptations on the outside. 

 

If you are given money you will be happy and call it a blessing.  But money can sometimes be a curse.  Apreacher was saying he got $140M and IRD asked for tax, the bank needed insurance. You have money but you have to pay for money again.  The more money I have, the more I lose.  The money decreased while he wasn’t even using it.  Money is not a blessing.

 

God gave us a soul to look after.  The only way to be ready on day of resurrection is to accept your body to go through fire.  If you can’t say no to satan or temptation and you can’t persevere, then your soul will perish.  That will be your responsibility. 

 

Many people when they eat bread will use jam.  Some will use honey or margarine.  They will believe bread requires something else.  Sometimes those things will make the bread lose its taste.  You can have your soul and body and when you add on top of it, it will start to lose taste and God who sees the inside will start to worry.  That’s when you hear people say, “In my church we don’t believe the Old Testament is a part of the Word of God.  The Old Testament is only for the old time.” Yet the New Testament says that God is the same God that is there yesterday, today and forever.  Some people will say according to my culture, or God will understand, I’m human but God also understands He created you in His image and you are His son/daughter.

 

Ange, if I were to tell you to give me the life of your daughter or give me a bag of jewellery, what would you answer. You’ll give me the bag of jewellery because you love your child.  God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us. He had a choice between keeping Jesus and saving the world.  Look how big God’s love is to give His only son to die for you.  When you speak to God, you tell Him to shut up you are busy.  Our lives are very short and we are called to look after our bread.  My body is small and easy to manage.  If you decide not to sin, you won’t.  If you decide to read bible, you will read it.  When people are sick in hospital they will make effort to listen to God.  Do you make yourself listen to God or do you tell him you are too tired?

Communion: Grace

By Hayley Boud

 Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

 

As I drive past a car sales yard, I see a sign that tells me they will take my old car and give me a new one.  That sounds like a very attractive deal.  My car isn’t that old but it has a few paint chips and scratches.  It doesn’t look as good as a new car.  I like the deal.  It sounds like a good one.  How would you feel?  If someone said, I’ll swap your old car for this brand new Ferrari?  Would you take the deal?  I’d be happy to exchange my old car for a new one. 

 

Praise God because each of us have exchanged their old lives for new lives.  We are completely different people.  However, we still try to go back to our old ways from time to time.  We sometimes try to exchange our new life for our old life.  Let’s take some time now and think about that this morning.  Let’s think about our week and ask ourselves, have we gone backwards?  Maybe I’ve gone back to my old way of complaining, or impatience, or anger.  If we have, let’s take time to get right before God and promise to exchange that old way of living for God’s ways. 

 

Let’s praise God for the bread and wine that reminds us that Jesus paid the price so we can be a new creation.  Let’s thank Him for dying on the cross to pay for our sin and for His blood that makes us clean.  Let’s thank Him because unlike the car sales yard, we get to exchange our old lives for free.  He gives us new lives that are much more attractive than our old lives – for free.  Praise God.

Waterfall

By Odon Bulamaba

 

It is a privilege to be among God’s people.  Many people prefer to live in their own corners believing that being in their own corner is easier but our Lord God gives us an assignment to learn how to live in a family of God.  He wants us to learn how to live with our enemies, to love them and to pray for them.  He wants us to learn how also to live in peace with everybody.  What a tough assignment.

 

It’s easier to say, “you are my enemy so be on your side and I’ll be on my side” but God our Father says we are not allowed to put our enemies aside but to go back to the enemy and pray for them. 

 

My prayer for my enemy might be asking God for revenge and punishment.  We might even want them to pass away because they are a pain in our backs.  But God says, “no, change your prayer” and we say, “please God take them away from me because that would make things easier for me”.  But when we think things are easier, that is when things are harder.

 

When we meet with two or three, God is among us.  Is God among us even when we meet with our enemies.

 

Today we are going to talk about the waterfall.  There are 249 waterfalls in New Zealand (I googled it).  This means New Zealand is very rich and beautiful.  When we see waterfalls, we are impressed and we think it looks good. We can take beautiful photos of the waterfall and present them to friends to show how beautiful it is.  However, if you talk to a blind person about the waterfall, you have to describe it because they don’t have sight.  Sometimes what you see as beautiful in your eyes is just darkness in the eyes of others.  Even God will sometimes find what we think as beautiful as darkness because God says, he can’t open his eyes to look at what you look at.

 

The water on the river is smooth and calm but when it gets closer to the waterfall the speed of the river starts to increase and the water becomes turbulent.  When you come close to waterfall, the water becomes louder and louder and it becomes hard to hear because of the noise.  Someone can be close to you and you are shouting and they don’t hear you because the loudness of waterfall can drown out our voices.

 

When I saw a waterfall once around Waikato I realised that the waterfall is dangerous.  I was going closer so I could get a photo but I started to get wet while I wasn’t in water.  The sound was loud and I couldn’t see below the water clearly.  The waterfall was powerful. That was a lesson for me. 

 

Surrounding the waterfall are rocks that look beautiful but they are very often slippery.  When the water comes to reach the cliff’s edge, the water goes down with power.  You can’t swim up the waterfall.  Many minimise that danger.  Many people think they can swim have an adventure with the waterfall believing they will be able to save themselves.

 

Mark 6:23, Herod organised a birthday party for himself. He invited the army commanders, kings, friends etc.  When we hold a birthday party, we are expecting gifts.  We put around chairs, tables, drinks and everything is organised including where people will put the presents.  The party will start slowly and quietly and then it will get bigger and bigger and become more powerful, it becomes louder and louder with more people talking and the music increases in volume (like the waterfall where the river starts quietly and turns into a waterfall).

 

When was the last time your neighbour’s had a party?  Some parties can go up to late at night.  Some kind people will give you a notice to let you know there will be a party and when it will finish.  When the time starts for the party, someone will walk in with a small gift and they are given a seat, drink and food.  After eating and drinking, the shape of the party will change.  Everything was well organised at the beginning but later there will be mess with food all over the floor.

 

In Mark 6, the king organised a big party and after drinking alcohol, he became drunk and didn’t think properly.  Although the guests had drunk and had eaten plenty of food, the king was not satisfied and he needed someone to dance for him and his guests. The dancers stood and danced to please the king and his guests.  After dancing like a competition, everyone was happy with one girl so the king said her, “whatever you want I will give it you, up to half of my kingdom because you danced so good”.

 

Micheal Jackson was a very good dancer and to dance is a gift.  Some can practice but will never be like Michael.  When this girl danced, everyone was impressed.  The king asked her what she would like.  She said she will ask her mother who was the wife of the brother of the king Herod. 

 

Imagine the queen of England asking you today what you would like?  Some might say money, houses, land, whatever is important to them.  The mother of the girl told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist.  Imagine you are given half of the kingdom if you want it.  This girl could have had anything but her mother wanted the head of John because he was against her relationship with the king.  John used to tell the king that he did wrong to take his brother’s wife for himself.  So this woman thought if she got rid of John, then she would be free of her enemy.

 

In our Christian life we have challenges.  Some of us are given a territory to control like Herod who was given an empire to control for years.  Your territory can be your thoughts, nieghbours, friends, children, those God has given you to look after and protect.  I don’t have the duty or right to go into the houses of my neighbours to control what is going on there.  I can’t ask them if they washed their dishes today.  I have to control my own house first and to take care of what God has given me properly and carefully.

 

When you ask my son to do something small, he will be annoyed but when he goes outside of the house, he will do things for others.  He can make the beds of another family but not his own bed.  Some Christians are like that, they can go to others and tell them how to live as Christians and tell them to change their behaviour but themselves are not living according to the WORD OF GOD.  Instead their role in life is to organise parties – to celebrate with others.  Many Christians celebrate things they should not.

 

Yesterday I was at warehouse and people were coming to buy gifts for Valentine’s Day.  I was saying to them praise the Lord you are alive and they would say happy Valentine’s Day.  I would ask them, between me and the Lord or between me and you?  When you say happy valentines, the world thinks it’s a way to say you love that person.  Have you stopped and thought about how much you love God and how much he loves you?  When you love someone, you can hug and kiss and you feel without that person, your life is different and you go everywhere together.  How is your relationship with God?

 

Herod made a party to please human beings.  In the same way as Christians we prepare our messages to please people. E.g. We talk about God’s love and people enjoy it because they want to hear about God being their servant but God is your commander and chief and He wants you to take orders from Him.  He is not there to take orders from you.

 

Herod made people drunk and finally, poor John was beheaded and his head was put on a platter for the girl.  Imagine, Nora if you ask for the head of Robbie, what will you do with that head? Nothing.  Sometimes we go to collect advice from the wrong source.  If this girl could think for herself and answer the king from what she wanted then she could have had up to half the kingdom.  Instead she preferred to seek advice from her mother and then pretended the decision came from her. 

 

God gave you intelligence.  Seek God’s advice first because when you seek advice from others, you will regret later.  Some can give inspired advice which is good to follow but you should be able to know when the advice is bad.  The young girl should have known to behead John was bad advice. She should have known the head of John was not a good gift.  She should have told her mother that she had no interest in killing another human being.  But instead she blindly took the advice of her mother.  We do the same, we blindly take wrong advice and follow our feelings.  We say, yes, you are right, he should die.  A decision that is simple to us can turn into a nightmare for others.

 

When satan comes to you, where will you get good advice?  You can’t trust anyone but God, not the police, not the lawyer but only God because He is the only one that can be trusted and He is the only one that can take your burden.

 

My daughter wanted to go to a party at a friend’s house so I asked what kind of party it was.  She said others will drink and smoke but I won’t do it.  I asked her, “So when others become drunk, will you be able to stop someone from hitting you?” I explained to her that when something goes wrong it will be too late to stop it.  She agreed not to go.  Later at the party, things went wrong and people got hurt. 

 

Sometimes ideas start to present to us slowly (like the quiet river) but if your ideas do not involve God, those ideas will turn bitter later (like the waterfall).  You will be led by satan if you are not led by God.  It is easy to allow your child to play with other children but if you don’t teach them how to play correctly, it will be impossible to teach them later. 

 

I’ve heard of fathers taking a shower with their children while they are young.  When the child turns 10, he will wonder if this is normal.  The father thinks that we are created naked, it is natural.  I listened one time to the testimony of a man who used to shower with his father.  Later the child become gay and the father asked the church to pray for the child.  One day the child explained to the church that it was because of the father, “because he taught me to be naked in front of other men”.  What you are training your children is what you harvest one day.  What you are training your body, your body will give it back to you later.  If you are lazy, if you are sinning, if you don’t go to church, you will see the result one day.

 

Will you accept to die like John the Baptist who continued to tell the truth to others.  Herod recognised John was clean and pure.  Are you clean and pure in front of God?  Are you like the girl and want to make people happy and when asked what you would like to get, you ask for something stupid?  Will you be like Herod who was given a territory who could not control what he was given?

 

When you come close to the waterfall that looks beautiful from a distance, you will see the danger.  How many people look at you and you look like a good Christian from a distance but when they come closer, they start to see the slippery rocks, it’s a danger.  For example, anger.  How many times have people wondered if you are Christian? How many times have you rebuked yourself for a wrong action?  How many times do you say you are a nice person while you have pushed others to sin?

 

Yesterday, I was working on security at the warehouse and I could see many people stealing.  I saw a man in his 60’s put a pair of shoes down his pants and when he walked in front of me, the tag fell out.  I pulled the man aside.  He was so embarrassed and threw back the shoes.  He explained that Work and Income (social welfare) doesn’t help him and his son needs a pair of shoes for school and the only way to get the shoes was to steal them.  I shook his hand and said I’m not calling police but please don’t do it again.  Next time ask the manager for help or go back to Work and Income.

 

I saw another woman, so beautiful and looking at her you couldn’t believe she was a thief.  She came with a man and two children.  She was taking dvds and putting them in her bag.  I told her that what she did was not good but when I looked in her bag, she had removed the covers and there was only discs.  I told her, Jesus loves you.  She became angry.  I told her Jesus says happy valentines.  She came back and told me that she bought one dvd.

 

Sometimes we can be tempted but we have to know how to stop ourselves.  How many have died just by stepping near the waterfall.  Many people come into your life and they want to be like you and they want to be close to you but don’t be the source of their death by your way of living (e.g. the mother of young girl was the source of John the Baptist’s when the young girl came close to her to ask for advice).  We should encourage and help others so those who are weak can say they are strong tomorrow.  But if you are strong and you try to step on the weak, they will perish.

 

God loves you so much that he came down to this earth to save you so that you in return can help others.  Salvation is like a plant that can crawl and be seen in another corner even though the roots are in one place.  Are your actions productive?  When people see you, or your friends or family see you, what do they say about you? 

 

Smoking starts slowly.  Drinkning alcohol is the same (like the slow quiet part of the river).  You can tell your child they can have a sip but later it might be a danger (like the waterfall).  What we offer can be a danger to others.  The waterfall stays in the same place forever – don’t be such a Christian to be a stumbling block for others so they leave the church and the faith because of your behaviour.  Live in Christ and let our lives produce fruit.  Don’t let any influence that can damage your soul take control of you.  If you don’t stop and think, no one will do it for you. 

 

God will ask you what you did on the earth.  If you know how to dance, dance for the glory of God.  If you know how to invite, make parties, ask questions, do it all for the glory of God and make sure what you do doesn’t destroy souls.