selective sinning

As Christian which of the 5 below would we consider to be the worst sin?

1. stealing a sweet
2. stealing a purse from an O.A.P
3. having a gay relationship
4. breaking into a house
5. murdering someone

As human beings we may consider murder as the worst but in the eyes of God sin is sin but even as Christians we seem to look on some sins as not as bad as other sins. Do we HATE sin in the same way that God does or do we pick and choose which sins we wish to target more than the others?

I had a conversation with my girlfriends 14 year old daughter and we started looking at sin. At first glance the idea of murder was worse than stealing a sweet because it had a direct effect on the person and their family but stealing a 60 pence mars bar had no real effect on anyone.
We also looked at someone having a gay relationship and that can be said has no effect on anyone as well. We came round to the idea that it could effect the parents etc as they have lost the chance of grandchildren but for all intents and purposes it has no major effect.
The real question on her mind was why are we selective when it comes to sin?

As Christians we tend to say "I believe it is a sin because the Bible says it is" and sometimes we do tend to compromise and say "well stealing the sweet is not as bad but its still a sin"

If we are ready to HATE SIN in the same way as God does, then can we really pick and choose which sin we are comfortable with?

Trust

TRUST IN GOD

Trust in God - 2 Corinthians 1 verses 3-11

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Some of you may remember that poem from the film 'Four Weddings and a Funeral.' It was penned by W H Auden. It captures the pain of grief in a very powerful way. I am sure many of you can identify with those words. It may not have been a death but at some moment in life you literally wanted 'to stop all the clocks.' Quite literally you did not know how you were going to face, no mind live through, another minute. I am sure many of you can identify with such sentiments. What happens at the moment the devastating news arrives? To whom do you turn when the storms of life literally overflow the bows of your little boat? Where do you find the strength to get up off the floor and put one step in front of another?

Let me say to you I am not speaking from some theoretical point of view. I am speaking as someone who has known deep loss personally. In my time I have known times of so much pain, loss, grief and betrayal that I truly wondered how I would survive as a Christian. It was to passages such as this that I turned to find again the comfort of God as a Father and strength from His Word to continue to walk with Him and trust Him. So I am not speaking to you from a theological ivory tower but as someone who has experienced this for himself.

Let me give you a word of warning as I begin. This blog may be easy to accept in your mind but it will be harder to accept in your heart and in your life's experience. You may listen and agree with all I say from God's Word but do not be surprised when suffering comes that you ask, as many of you have in the past: What have I done wrong? What is God trying to tell me? Some of you may even doubt your relationship with God because of the suffering you are going through. Look to 2 Corinthians 1 verses 3-11.

2 Corinthians was written in the autumn of AD56. Titus has arrived as a pastoral assistant to Paul and brought news of how the Corinthian church had positively received Paul's first 'severe letter' (7.6-16). Titus also brings disturbing fresh news about the Corinthian church. Paul exhorts them in this letter to complete their promised collection for the church in Jerusalem before he arrives. He also wants them to examine and judge themselves before he arrives so that they would be able to distinguish true apostles from false apostles and to spare Paul the need to exercise discipline in the church. The passage before us falls into two main thoughts:

Verses 3-7 Gratitude for Divine Comfort.

Verses 8-11 Deliverance from Death.

Verses 3-7 Gratitude for Divine Comfort

Paul would normally begin his letter with an introduction (which he does here) and follow it with thanks for the divine grace evident in the lives of the believers in the church to which the letter is addressed. This would be followed by a summary prayer request for them. However, in verses 3 and 4 Paul praises God for consoling and encouraging him. This is very unlike Paul. He rarely is concerned with his own sufferings and distress for the sake of the gospel. Ten times in verses 3-7 Paul mentions comfort/consolation or encouragement - which all come from the same root word 'parakelsis' - which is 'praclete' which is the name that Christ calls the Holy Spirit in John 14.16 - the Comforter, the one who walks alongside you and helps you. Verses 3 and 4 are part of the liturgical formula of a Jewish blessing. This blessing began the Shema prayer in the synagogue. Paul offers this prayer of blessing for the comfort, consolation and encouragement that he has recently received. If you look at verse 3 you can see that Paul says God is revealed and known as 'God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.' He goes on to state that God is the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort. God is the all merciful Father as the BCP collect said: "whose nature is always to have mercy ..." He is the God of all comfort - that is He is the source of comfort, consolation and encouragement to the believers in all circumstances. If you look at verses 8-10 for a brief moment you will see that Paul is speaking here from personal experience. This is a theology of suffering and consolation birthed in personal experience of suffering, almost to the point of death. Through trial and tribulation Paul has known God's comfort, consolation and strengthening. God's comfort not only enabled him to endure the suffering but to find blessing in the suffering and from that to comfort others. Here is the ultimate purpose of God's comfort in Paul's life - to enable him to bring comfort to others. There is almost a cyclical process created here by God - God comforts the one in distress and suffering so that they might learn from that situation to be able to bring God's comfort and blessing to others who are suffering distress.

read verses from Lamentations 3, verses 22-24. God's compassion or comfort is new every morning and it never fails. I could have taken you to Psalms 102, 135, 143 or 146 and asked you to read similar verses about God's encouragement to those in distress and suffering.

Verse 5 - What is the purpose of all this suffering and comfort? Is that not the question we always ask ourselves and we hear others asking in times of suffering? Why? Why me? Why now? Etc. Paul begins verse 5 with the little word 'For.' 'For' supplies the reason why suffering equips the Christian to mediate God's comfort. Whenever Christ's suffering were multiplied in Paul's life; God's comfort was also multiplied through the ministry of Christ. 'The sufferings of Christ' - are those which befall every Christian disciple (12.2). If you turn to Acts 14.22 and Colossians 1.24 you will see that these sufferings contribute to the fulfilment of the suffering destined for the body of Christ. Added to which if you turn to Acts 9.4-5 you will see that Christ continues to identify Himself with the suffering of His church. Then if we turn to Matthew 20.23 - these words of Jesus are true in Paul's experience, and no doubt in the experience of many of you here this morning. Paul, and the Corinthians, would not have had to suffer if they were not 'in Christ' but also because they are in Christ they receive divine comfort.

You see, Paul wants them to realise and to understand that the measure of comfort, consolation and encouragement they receive from God is far more than they need or require but is an abundance to be shared with those in need of comfort, consolation and encouragement. They are blessed by God in and through their sufferings so that they might be a blessing to others. They are blessed not in order to store it away for their own future benefit but for the benefits of those in the body of Christ, around them, who are suffering as they are.

Verses 6-7 - can be summarised in the following sentence: Whether we be afflicted, it is for your good: or whether we be comforted, it is for your good. In verse 6 Paul restates verse 4 - that in suffering he becomes a better pastor to the believers at Corinth. Because he has endured, received consolation and encouragement from God he will be able to comfort them and encourage them to keep going in and through their suffering. He makes explicit what he has assumed up to this point in the letter - he argues from his experience of suffering to their experience of comfort and deliverance. Then in verse 7 he explicitly states his unshaken hope (and remember in the NT hope is not some vague wish but something of which the speaker is certain) - namely that they would triumph over suffering because of the comfort brought to them by the experience of Paul, and others, who have been comforted by God through suffering.

Verses 8-11 Deliverance from Death.

Paul now shares with them his own heart and experience of suffering. In verse 8 we have a description of the affliction that Paul had come through. I want you to note that Paul does not go into any great detail as to the nature of the suffering or affliction. He simply but profoundly states that it was overwhelming, leaving him with a feeling that he was going to die under this affliction. This has led many commentators to conclude that it must have been some sort of illness that Paul thought he would not recover from. The affliction, whatever it was, was so heavy on Paul that he despaired of life itself. I am sure many of you can identify with that. I am sure many of you have sat down in a chair and thought 'stop all the clocks...' Here is Paul expressing what Elijah expressed back in 1 Kings 19 when he asks God to let him die. Here is Paul expressing what Jonah expressed as he sat down under the vine - let me die. Can you identify with such feelings? I am sure you can because I know there have been times in my life when I thought it would be a joy if Christ was to come back that night and I did not have to face another day of what I had experienced that day. Yet do not stop at verse 8, read verse 9. What a verse. What a lesson to learn. What a hard lesson to learn. You know I can imagine Paul laying down his pen at this point and pushing his chair back from his desk and sitting back and thinking - do I really mean those words? Is that what I learned in this affliction? Then with confidence borne only from experience of going through the fire of suffering and affliction he lifts up his pen and writes with confidence verses 9-11. Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego - would never know the strength of God that surpassed their strength if they had not stepped into the fiery furnace. Noah would never have known the strength of God if he had not built the ark and brought his family inside. Abraham would never have known the faithful consolation of God if he had never raised his hand to strike Isaac lying on the altar. I could go on in Scripture with countless examples of men and women who trusted God in the midst of suffering and learned that God's strength was sufficient to meet the moment. A man in a garden prays to His Father in heaven - and receives the strength to literally pick up His cross and carry it to a hill called Calvary and there to stretch out His arms in love for the whole world and die for the sins of those who nailed Him and lifted Him between heaven and earth. The Father's comfort, consolation, encouragement and strength was all that the Son needed to go to the cross for you and me.

Paul wanted them to know that the trial he faced had brought him to a point where he despaired of his life. The affliction that he endured had brought him to a point where he was forced to renounce all hope of survival. Paul uses a rare word here - exaporethenai - which implies the total unavailability of an exit from oppressive circumstances. Humanly speaking there was no exit but death for Paul. That is what he writes in verse 9. There then follows what Paul can only call a 'resurrection.' Only divine intervention enabled him to retreat from the portals of death tot he realm of the living. Paul makes it clear there was no human hope in his affliction. He wants the Corinthians to know that he had no strength and had abandoned himself totally to God in this situation - which was part of the purpose of the affliction. Paul had many reasons for self-confidence - you can read them in Romans - but this affliction brought him to the brink of death and he knew that in God alone were comfort, consolation, encouragement, strength and resurrection from the dead. Paul knew that in the providence of God he had been allowed to go through this affliction that he might be brought to a full realisation and recognition of his own utter helplessness and abandoning all self-confidence, learn to trust God...who raises the dead. Verses 10-11 - from this experience Paul can pen these words. In verse 10 he wants the Corinthians to know that God is pre-eminently the God of resurrection. He had raised Christ from the dead and he raises men from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. He will raise mankind on the last day - at the general resurrection. Nothing but the hand of God could have effected such a deliverance from affliction, death, for Paul. Then in verse 11 Paul wants them to understand the power of intercessory prayer. Their prayers for Paul were effective because the God, to whom they prayed, was the God of all mercies and consolation. He alone is the God who raises the dead. When God answers prayer in such dire circumstances all know that it is the work of God and to Him alone belongs the glory and to Him alone should the praise be given.

Application.

As I said at the beginning - you may well find you can agree intellectually with what has been said but in your heart and experience you may, or will, struggle to agree and live by this teaching. Why is that? Well part of it to put it simply is because so many, even Christians, fail to think with a biblical mind and understanding. Partly because we live in a fallen world and sin has affected every area of our lives. Also, and i suspect this is actually the dominant reason, many Christians have unconsciously accepted that God is there to make them healthy, wealthy and happy. So many people, including Christians, see suffering as a bad thing. Dr Paul Brand, who discovered the cause of leprosy, once said that he wished he could give his leprosy sufferers the gift of pain. Not all pain or suffering is bad - it is actually for our benefit and for our good. Paul here clearly teaches that when we suffer we should know that God is there to bring comfort, consolation and encouragement that we might learn to trust totally on Him and from that experience be a source of comfort, consolation and encouragement to others.

There is no greater challenge to trust in God than suffering in our lives. C S Lewis in his book: The Problem of Pain - addresses that issue and I recommend it to you. Our trust in God is not just for when times are good and all is well. Trust in God is most evident in the afflictions of life. It is when all human strength and hope is gone that the pure gold of faith rises to the surface and we know, in a way that we could not without the affliction, the comfort, consolation and encouragement of almighty God. From that experience our trust in God deepens and our ability to comfort others is enabled. Amen.

CHRISTIANS HAVE HUMOUR

How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?

Charismatic: Only one. Hands already in the air.

Pentecostal: Ten. One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against spirit of darkness.

Presbyterians: None. Lights will go on and off at predestined times.

Roman Catholic: None. Candles only.

Baptists: At least 15. One to change the light bulb, and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad and fried chicken.

Episcopalians: Three. One to call the electrician, one to mix the drinks, and one to talk about how much better the old one was.

Methodists: Undetermined. Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or
tulip bulb. Church-wide lighting service is planned for Sunday. Bring bulb of your choice and a covered dish.

Nazarene: Six. One woman to replace the bulb while five men review church lighting policy.

Lutherans: None. Lutherans don't believe in change.

Amish: What's a light bulb?

Hi
Well I have not been blogging for a while. I took sometime out to examine my own heart and commitment to God.
If I am honest with you I had lost sight of the cross and I was on a slippery slope that was pulling me down towards sin and farther away from God's grace. How could I write a blog on God's love, on God's grace when the gap between myself and God was becoming bigger and bigger.
My voice praised God but my heart was far from God.

I have learned so much in the last month a the biggest thing I have learned is DISCIPLINE.

Over the next few weeks I hope to write about this but I felt it was only right to admit my own failure and I am nothing without God

prayers for teresa

Please pray for Teresa who has been ill for sometime. Teresa is a wonderful mother, wife and grandmother.


Thanks

CAN GAY PEOPLE WORSHIP GOD

I met a gay christian in a coffee shop in Shawlands. We got talking because she was reading a book I had read by Ulf Ekman, The foundations of the Christian faith. After speaking for a while she asked if homosexuals should be allowed to worship Christ. At this point I had no idea she was a lesbian but it would not have mattered to me anyway as my answer would have been the same.
I said that we are all sinners and not one of us is worthy of Salvation and it is by God's grace that we are saved and this grace is open to everyone. I added that if we are willingly sinning then we need to stop sinning and come to that cup of grace. It was then that she told me she was in a relationship with another female and they both went to church. I could see this was troubling her and knew I would need to choose my words carefully from now on.

Being a homosexual or a lesbian or an adulterer or a thief or some one that cheats on their taxes are all sins in God's eyes but God does not hate the sinner, only the sin. I know many people believe one is born with gay tendencies but I am not going to go into that.

I shared a little about my own life and how I was saved and also how I still battle against certain things.

But moving back to the question "could she still go to church and worship God?" I said it is better to be amongst other Christians and hearing the word of God. So far she had not told anyone in her church she was a lesbian and I said that was a wise decision because so many would frown on it even though they themselves live with sin everyday.

I said it may be wise to seek advice from a pastor from another church if she does not feel comfortable speaking to her own pastor. There was a lightness to her after our conversation and I hope she does speak to someone. I knew I was not the right person at that point to guide her as I am going through my own battles at the moment.


To me sin is sin. As a catholic we used to have small sins and big sins. The bigs sins would send you to hell the small ones, well they would just attract bigger sins. In a childish way it made sense but sin is sin and we are so quick to judge.

God's grace is open to all

THE RIGHT CHURCH

If you look around Glasgow you will find there is no shortage of churches to go to but which one is the church for you?
The only way to find out is to try before you buy. I would suggest attending a few churches and then whittle it down to 3 or 4. Think of finding a church in the same way you would buy a house. No one would just look at a house from the outside and then decide to buy it. You would have a look inside and check it from top to bottom and if interested you would send in a surveyor. But when it comes to the church you will be the surveyor because only you know what you are looking for.

I would suggest avoiding fundamentalist churches because I believe they do more damage than good. Just because a church claims to follow the word of God to the letter does not make them a good church. Most of these churches miss the message of Christs love and in fact miss the message of love.
I would also avoid churches were the pastor preaches for 45minutes or more because most people can only keep their attention span for 20 minutes at a time.

Find a church that is faithful to the Gospel
Find a church that believes in the gifts of the spirit
Find a church that shows love(believe me you will know it when you see and feel it)

Remember you are responsible for you're own salvation, so its up to you to find a church were you can worship God in Spirit.

The danger is to rely on you're pastor Elder friend etc

If you seek God with all you're heart He will direct you to the right church for you