Worshiping community of Hope Church

The ones who are leading the worship grew up in our Sunday School and today the Lord is using these precious young people to lead our congregation into this beautiful melody of worship with their talents and anointing.  Hope Church has always inspired members to seek God's kingdom and righteousness with all their hearts, minds, souls and strength.  The Lord has truly been good to us!

When God Ran lyric version

This is so amazing to know how God's love never changes.  How many times we have to be reminded of this love because we know the depth of our own sinfulness and find it so hard to believe that God still loves us.  But that is what God has demonstrated in his story of love for fallen humanity.  If you are there struggling with the question of whether God would still love you; yes he does.  This love is only a Repentant heart away; the moment you turn from your futile life and take your steps towards the Love of God; he will be there because he runs, and runs so fast that you will be surprised.  If it had not been this kind of love of God, I wonder where I would be today!!

Glimpses of Hope Church, June 2010

Mrs. Bhatta was able to visit our church in Kathmandu this summer and ministered there for two weeks.  These are few glimpses of her visit and ministry

But Because You Say So!

“But Because You Say So” (Luke 5:3-5)

As a professional fisherman, Peter knew how to fish, when to fish and when not to fish. But there was a night when he had caught nothing even after trying the whole night. As the morning came, people began to come to the shores of Galilee. To make matter worse, Jesus also had come along and many people were crowding to listen to his words. The worst came when Jesus chose Peter’s boat to sit and speak to the people from afloat the water so that they would not press him down to get a glimpse of him. Here was Peter and his friends, tried all night and without any fish in their boat, listening patiently to the man called Jesus of Nazareth.

As Jesus took longer than they expected, there may have come a feeling in Peter to tell Jesus to stop and go away from his boat because by nature Peter was an impatient man who could not wait for the things to happen, he was a kind of man who made things happen. But this morning, he was tired, he was disappointed of not catching any fish and now all hopes for the day were gone due to the crowd and there was no chance of any fish remaining near the shore there with that kind of noise.

Just as Peter was getting agitated and about to tell Jesus to go out of his boat, Jesus stops preaching and looks to Peter, seeing the frustration in his face asks him to put out the net into deep water for the catch. This would have really surprised Peter, not because of the catch but because of the absurdity of the command. May be there was a sarcastic smile in his face when he said “we have tried it all night”. But something in Peter made him to obey…he had been listening to Jesus just before the command came. Jesus was teaching to people and something in his teaching must have made him to think differently. That is why, when Jesus asked him to put out the net, he said “But because you say, I will put out”. Well, as he put out the net because of the words of Jesus, we know the result.

Just like Peter, many times we are also in that kind of situation. There may come a time when all our hopes are gone, when whatever we try does not work; we too become so cynical of anyone who tries to help us out. We say, what is the use of prayer, what is the use of trusting God, what is the use of going to church? What is the use of trying anymore?

Well, just like Peter, if we can listen to God’s word, if we can say like Peter, “because you say so…I will…(you can fill in the blank). Whatever situation you are facing, find out what God’s word says about it and then put that word into practice by saying “God, because you say so, I will obey, I will do”. If you can put your trust in God’s word, God will surely make your path straight. In proverbs 3:5-6 God’s word says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight”.

The situation might not be turning around in a moment, but just like Peter, if you can be patient and listen to Jesus and then when he speaks to you, you obey what he says; things will change for the better. God will surely bring salvation to your way, he will bring deliverance to your way and he will bring victory over the circumstances of your life. Life is victorious when we live in obedience to God’s word!

I pray for God’s victory to come your way!

God will make a way where there seems to be no way- Don Moen

Life of faith always requires new level of faith. So far as our life in Christ is concerned, we are sure of our salvation and we know that heaven is our home for sure. But, living down here on earth requires a different kind of faith; it is a faith for small things of life, the mundane things of life. It is a kind of faith that looks to God for each new meal, for each new pair of clothes, for each new cup of water and a new ounce of oxygen for us to make one more moment ahead in this world. For those of us who are sure of heaven and life eternal, we will always have faith for the bigger challenges of life such as facing all kind of persecution and even death for Christ. But such faith becomes more wanting when it comes to meeting our smaller challenges in making through this world. Having worked so hard, you come to a place where the bills are not paid, car is broken down, roof is leaking, and the kids are outgrowing their clothes. You sit in your living room, not knowing how you are going to pay the bills, how you are going to repair the car and the roof and when you really can buy new pair of clothes for your growing children. You hate to see yourself becoming so weak and helpless. It is in times like these we also wonder if God really cares for us because you did pray, you do have some kind of prayer time in your home either at the dinner table or before the bed time, you go to church, you try to put some kind of offering and once a while you may also pay your tithes, you do read your bible often and you love God with all your heart. You won't let any sin control you because the moment you know you have made mistake, your hearts breaks before God and you beg him to forgive you of your sin and a new faith rises up in you and you begin to appreciate the cross of Christ and the grace of God more in your life.

But then, now you are sitting your living room, may be alone, and you don't have a clue whether God really cares for you. You have heard many prosperity preachers telling you how God wants to bless you financially and sometimes you tried to believe what they preached, you tried to memorize some of the famous promises of God, confessed them. You heard many people giving testimony of how God miraculously provided their needs...but when you look around your living room and every object in the house tells you that you are in deep trouble and there is no help coming out from anywhere; they are telling you that you are broke and busted. Because of such financial pressure, lately, you have not cleaned your house and many of these objects are covered with dust.

You have thought about sharing your situation with some friends, but somehow there is a sense of shame and loss of dignity...honestly, you have no other way out of your situation.

Finally, one more time, you gather the courage and instead of going to your friends or relatives for help, you begin to look to heaven, you begin to pick up your Bible and you begin to turn to pages that you had read many times over and with heavy heart, you start reading verses like Matthew 6:33; 7:7; 17:20; 21;21-22, Mark 9:23, John 15:7, 16 and many more from the Old Testament; specially from Psalms and Proverbs, a new kind of faith begins to take shape in your heart. You begin to really believe that God's word is true and if you allow it to rule your thinking, it will produce the kind of fruit it says it can. You begin to speak to your bills to be paid, you begin to your car and roof to be repaired and begin to speak for your children's clothes to come in existence not because you think that is right but because you have taken God's word very seriously; you have taken Jesus' words in Matthew 6 very seriously and are convinced that God does care for you, he cars for your bills, he cares for your car and roof, he cares for your children; he cares for you. A holy boldness wells up within your heart and you begin to look to God with a different attitude knowing that he is a father who delights in giving good things to his children and from Romans 8:32 you realized that he did not spare his only begotten son, then why would he spare any other good things from you...your faith for the daily living begins to come to the fore and you jump from your chair, start praising God, start singing, knowing that God will make a way where there seems to be no way.

Now, you are not concentrating on paying the bills, but on God meeting your need, you are not concentrating on what is broken but what God can do for you...you also begin to remember about the past...you remember in time past as how God had met your need miraculously!

Instead of gloom, there comes a smile in your face, instead of depression, you begin to rejoice for the fact that God in heaven cares for you and he has promised in his word to take care of all you need and with Paul, you begin to say that my God will supply all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus!

For the first time, you begin to take God's word very seriously, not because some prosperity preachers told you but because you read in the Holy Book and the Spirit of God quickened your heart and granted you faith to overcome your daily, mundane and ordinary needs of life...and to your amazement, you begin to see answer coming to you in many forms. Long before you shared you needs with anyone, someone comes to you with new pair of clothes for your children, some even can approach to you with hard cash, not knowing why you need them for! As such evidences begin to flood you, you begin to move beyond the shadow of doubt that God does care for you...the reason people come to your aid is not because you were poor but because when you looked up to God and trusted his word, he also began to speak to the people about you...God always uses people to meet his children's need (of course he can miraculously drop help from the sky, but he chooses people to be his instrument). When God begins to meet your need, don't feel humiliated, but rather praise God and pray for those individuals...and when you have experienced such provisions, then, it is your time to be sensitive to the voice of God about the needs of people who might be around you. When God begins to show you, prompt you or direct you, be obedient to him to be his agent of blessing to some one because in this way, your life of faith takes a new heights and you are no longer afraid of the small challenges in your life! God will make a way either for big or small things in our lives!!

He Will Carry You - Jonathan Moore

This is one of those classic songs that would instantly minister to our spirit when we feel bogged down by the problems of this world.  God does care for us!  Sometimes when things get tough in life, it is natural to wonder if God really cares for us? But then, when we stop and look around, we soon realize that if it was not the care of God, we couldn't have made even that far.  So, if you are feeling down today, I want you to look over your shoulder and know that God is watching over you; he cares for you so much that he gave his only begotten son.  There is nothing God would spare to give you and thats why Romans 8:32 says, "he will not withhold any good things from us".  

If you are facing a mountain today, just know that God has the ability to take you over that mountain.  Believe in his goodness for he will surely come to your rescue.  As a loving father, he does not take pleasure in your suffering, Jesus has suffered all for us and he has redeemed us from the curse that kept us in the bondage.  Jesus took upon himself all our infirmities and sickness and by his stripes we are healed.  Jesus because poor for us so that through him we might become rich in every way so that we can become generous in every opportunity.  He bore our shame and sin so that we might not be ashamed and have life.  No, my friend, God does not take delight in your sorrow and pain, he sorrows with you, he suffers with you and soon he will take you out of this suffering and sorrow because he is God and he has already overcome the power of sin and death.

Even if there is no one to give you a shoulder to cry, know that Jesus stands tall beside you in the power of his Spirit.  His love is so deep that we cannot comprehend, he is am amazing and loving father.  So, just as Jesus said, if anyone is heavy and burdened, let him come to me and I will give you rest.  Right now, you can come to him, pour out your heart to him with trust and gratitude and you will be amazed to see how he will be so real to you in times of your troubles and difficulties.  He will never let you be there for too long.  The sooner you come to him the quicker your problems will be solved.

Sunday is my best day!

Sunday for me in Korea has always been a tiresome day.  In my early days in Korea, I used to travel from one city to another to help begin Nepali Churches; there are now three such congregations and all of them I ministered by travelling every weekend.  In those days when the weekend came, I felt two kinds of emotions; on the one hand I was excited to meet new people with whom I would spend long hours to share the love of God and also with the believers to teach from God's word.  But on the other hand, I had to leave my family behind since it was not practical for them to travel with me for long distance every week.  I wished for the day when I would be able to go to the church together with my family.

From this year beginning though, my wish came true.  An English Church in Daejeon asked for my service while the Nepali Church in Seoul was also wishing for my return.  I choose Daejeon and finally we all could go to the church together; well not together.  The thing in Korean Church is that a minister must be present in the Church from wee hours of Sunday and remain in the church until the midnight.  Fortunately for me, the church asked to come only from 7 in the morning to attend the staff meeting and then plan for the International worship and go home whenever it was done!  So, even if we cannot go to the church together, we can at least come  home together!  This has also helped us grow spiritually and by the time we are home on Sunday, I feel a great sense of satisfaction and achievement.  Unfortunately, not many Korean pastors and ministers can have the luxury that I have to spend time with my family.  They are there in the church all the time while the spouse and children create their own kind of existence at home.  I have met many individuals who are so tired of being a pastor's wife or husband and the same thing goes with the children.  How true is God's word that if we fail to take care of our own home, how can we take care of the family of God?

Pastor's job is not without challenges, but for me, I would not give up this calling for a world of other things.  It is in this calling that you get the privilege of entering in the world of other people where there is sorrow and joy, loss and gain, tears and cheers.  When I see someone being touched with God's word and smile coming back on their faces, my mission is accomplished.  In my early years, I never knew that what I say would make a difference in anyone's life, but may be the kind of experiences I have come from has accumulated something in me that finds resonance with those who are hurting in some ways.  Even after staying years in Korea, I can never get hold of Korean language, but am so grateful to God for opening an opportunity where I could minister to Koreans and foreigners in English.  Sunday has finally become the best day, not just for the ministry but also for the family!

It has bee a while

For those friends who were looking for us as what we are up to, sorry to say that for the last few months we really had no time for the blogs and things like that.  Life seems to have its own seasons in which you have time for everything and then suddenly you freeze in the business of this world.  Once this business gets on the way, even the mind does not have words to put forth.

Yesterday my wife reached Nepal and today she is ministering in the church.  Me and Martin, two men without a  woman in the house seem to have a lot of time but only to make the house dirty.  Whatever we cook, tastes terrible and I could not sleep the whole night...got up in the morning to find my head splitting with aches.  I never knew that I was this much dependent on my wife...can't imagine life without her.

It will be another few weeks until she comes back and wonder how we are going to manage...in two days we have already started the signs of panic in the kitchen.  But the good thing is that Martin has begun to take things seriously, he makes his own bed, even made breakfast for me.  Poor fellow, he can't sleep late in the morning because he has taken up the responsibility of looking after two dogs and two cats along with one hamster for his teachers who are on a long summer vacation.  Every day twice he has to take the dogs for walk out in the woods and then change the litter for the cats and feed them.  Sometimes I too accompany him to see those animals and how sad to see that even the animals feel lonely and depressed...unless Martin stays there, one of the dogs won't eat...when I see these pets, I am upset with their owners...why did they buy in the first place if they can't be with them always?  Poor animals really feel abandoned...wish they knew that their owners will surely return.  So, if the animals have the right to feel lonely, I think I have more to do so...only thing is that I know my wife will come in a few weeks, but wonder if these animals are so sure.  They may have waited a few days thinking the master is returning, but now it is already two weeks and they have kind of given up hope and are just happy to see at least Martin coming to see them twice a day.

This feeling tells me that life is all about relationships and even God is a Trinity, indicating that he is also a relational God.  The very reason he chose a human heart to reside also tells us how much God values our relationship with him.  My body is the temple of God where he dwells by his Holy Spirit...it is God's temple and I must treat it well and take care of it, keep it clean so that God can make me his dwelling place, so that I can feel his presence in my lowly body.

Ok, with his I hope to be posting few things daily in here and let the friends know that I am here and doing well even though am missing my wife.  Tomorrow is Sunday and I must be ready for the service but since tonight Korea is playing, I might stay up late once again.

A friend of mine left this car with me; an old DAEWOO but after repairing twice, its now running well...hope it does for a while.  We always wanted to visit surrounding areas of Daejeon and hopefully with this car, we can do that as a family...but the mileage is terrible!

Power of Asking Prayer (video)

http://www.cgntv.net/cgn_player/player.asp?bit=medium&vid=61890

Sermon Series from Philippians

Reasons to rejoice in adversities (Philippians 1:12-21)

Introduction: From verse 1-11, Paul expressed his heart to the Philippians. He thanks and appreciates them for supporting him in his mission from the very beginning. As he is the servant of Jesus Christ, but his service is rendered to God by serving the saints in places like Philippi. When he addresses them, he has highest respect and affection toward them; is filled with compassion when he remembers them. He just longs for them and wishes that they would know the best way to live while here on earth and when the time comes for them to appear before God, they would also appear as blameless and holy in the sight of God, bearing the fruit of righteousness for the glory of God. The way Paul writes to them, it appears that there had been a constant communication between Paul and Philippians all along the way; they knew what had happened to Paul and how he was in Rome. They were aware of his suffering and adversities.

Therefore, in our text today from verse 12-20, Paul explains as how he rejoices in the midst of all the difficulties that they have heard; all the suffering that Paul went through, the Philippians were aware of and therefore, he encourages them to be joyful in all adversities, sufferings and difficulties by giving his own example as how he rejoices in it.

Suffering, adversities and difficulties are the part of our life. Yes, we long for a smooth life with no bump along the way; we wish things would just work out well for us so that we would not have to worry for the next day. May be when we are young and haven’t faced many difficulties, then such wish and longing may not be there as strong as in many of us who have spent more years on this earth. We wish and long that our bodies were perfect with no pain or sickness, we wish that our families were perfect and our finances would always be plentiful, our relationships with people would be always joyful, our jobs would be always delightful without any stress. We all long for an easy ride; it would be either foolish or ignorance to say that I like sufferings, difficulties, adversities and all kinds of problems in my life. No, any human being who knows about life would like to have easy and comfortable like and that is why we work hard, we do all that we do in order to make our lives livable and comfortable. But the fact is that we all face one kind or the other kind of sufferings, difficulties and adversities in our lives. There is suffering; there is difficulty and adversity and when they come our way, we cannot avoid them.

When we face such adversities in life, then we begin to ask many questions. As long as things go well in life we don’t ask these questions, but the moment sufferings and adversities hit us, we begin to wonder and ask questions as countless people do; why is there suffering in the world? Why do we suffer? What is the reason for suffering and how can we avoid it? What relationship does it have with God? Why does God allow suffering in human life? Why can’t God take away all suffering from this world? I don’t have the time to dwell in all these questions for now, but I would like to touch the question of “why is there suffering?” before I go into the text and see the reasons for rejoicing in the suffering and adversity. To shed a little more light on this question, we need to see that there are various kinds of suffering and all of them have their origins and solutions. But these origins and solutions might not be what we wish them to be. So, I would put the suffering basically into three categories;

One: Suffering because of disobeying God. What I mean by this is that God is the creator and when he created the material world, including man, he set this world into motion and laid down the laws that would govern its operation. When the creation was perfect, and without sin, there were no suffering and no laws of nature were broken. But the fact of the matter is that these laws are still there and the moment we break these laws, we invite suffering. Our body has certain ways in which it works perfectly, but if we don’t eat and sleep in time, if we abuse it, then we are headed for myriads of diseases that can inflict unbearable suffering in our life. Even after the fall of man, when man became sinful and lost the right relationship with God, God still wanted man to live and therefore he gave him the moral law. With the natural laws and moral law, God wanted man to overcome the suffering that had come after the fall of man. The only condition was that man was supposed to obey these laws and if man disobeys these laws, suffering is the only outcome. This suffering can come in one of the three ways; it can come from self, others and nature. One can bring a lot of suffering on himself or herself. Others can bring terrible suffering on the innocent people and even the nature if tampered with can case unbearable damage. If the people of Haiti were careful and had built stronger homes and lived in safer environment, many would have survived the earthquake and the same thing goes with people in Bangladesh where every year thousands die of flood because of the deforestation in all the mountains surrounding the nation. So, sin bring all kind of suffering on self and others.

Two: Suffering because of obeying God. This world has become so hostile to God and every time you want to live for God you face a lot of suffering and adversities. When you want to believe in Jesus, your family, friends and co-workers can cause a lot of suffering. Even in Christian families, when you want to live for God, at times the family members can become very harsh on you. People in the world who have decided to disobey God will do anything they can in order to make your life miserable. This suffering primarily comes in two ways; one from the people and the other from Satan himself. Some times we blame all such suffering on Satan, but the reality is that people do have the freedom to choose to make us suffer when we believe in God. But other times, Satan himself will try to cause you to suffer so that you would abandon God.

Three: Suffering because of unknown reason. There are times when we have no idea as why we have to suffer. May be being human itself is the reason for this kind of suffering. In such suffering, it is possible to become bitter and blame God, but the best thing in such times is to trust God and believe that he is able to change our suffering. Suffering is not the will of God but when we face it, we must believe in and hold on in the goodness of God. God does not enjoy when we suffer, in fact if we suffer for doing good, God suffers with us. Suffering and adversities may come to us, but they are not supposed to be our life long lot; even in suffering, we must always believe that God wants me out of this suffering but I don’t know why I am in it right now. My suffering, my adversities will come to an end, even if it means that I have to go to heaven to see its end.

So, if we suffer because of disobeying God, it is time to obey so that we could be delivered from the suffering either in this life or in the life to come.

If we suffer because of obeying God, it is time to rejoice because great will be our rewards in earth as well as in heaven and if we suffer because of unknown reasons; it is time to trust God to see us through this suffering.

But today, I want to talk about Suffering because of obeying God and what are the reasons that we should rejoice in suffering and adversities when we suffer for God. Peter also talks about rejoicing in suffering for good. If we suffer for our evil actions, we deserve it but if we suffer for doing well, we should rejoice (1Peter 4:12-16) instead of being ashamed of it. Paul is also talking about suffering and adversity that come because of obeying God. Suffering and adversities themselves are not the reason to rejoice, there is nothing good in suffering itself. But what Paul is telling us in this passage is that we can rejoice in spite of suffering because God is able to use our suffering for our own good and for his own glory. When we suffer because of obeying God, there is possibility of being delivered, but when we suffer because of disobeying him, and then unless we repent, there is no solution for our suffering. Now, let’s see today’s text verse by verse and see how Paul faced adversities in his life for obeying God?

Paul was attacked and arrested in Jerusalem, and at one time they nearly tore him apart. The Jews wanted him to try and put to death in Judea but because he appealed to Caesar, they had to send him to Rome as a prisoner. To be a prisoner in the ancient time was not a pleasant thing. In his old age, he is now living in prison and writes this letter. Paul is not rejoicing because he is in prison, because he faces all kinds of adversities but why is he rejoicing? He rejoices…

1. Because of Paul’s suffering in Roman prison, Christ is preached and because of this, Paul rejoices (Phil. 1:12-13).

a. Paul’s suffering helped in advancing the gospel. How?

i. All palace guards know that Paul is in prison because of preaching about Jesus Christ. Every time Paul testified in the court or he met the guard keeping watch over him, he did not fail to explain the gospel. Whenever Paul was brought before the officials, he would explain his conversion testimony and they would listen and possible many of the believed.

ii. Everyone knew Paul was in Prison because of the gospel. Paul realized that God had allowed him to be in chains so that he could testify to the powers in Rome and therefore, he rejoices.

b. What about us? Every time we suffer or face some kind of adversity, that can be either the reason to be bitter and grumble or we can rise up to the occasion and show our character as true believers in Christ and allow others to see how we can turn the suffering as a witness for Christ. If Christ can be preached because of our suffering; that should be reason to rejoice. So, we must be in the look out as how we can testify for the name of Christ. We must live for preaching the gospel. Paul never let any opportunity to slip by whether in good time or in bad time to be the witness for Christ. Jesus said, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, then you shall be my witnesses”. We are to be the witness of Christ, even if it means through suffering and when we do that, we can rejoice. Secondly…

2. Paul’s suffering helped the brethren to be bold in their witness of Christ (Phil. 1:14).

a. They saw their Pastor turning every hardship into opportunity to witness for Christ. They saw the grace in suffering and also realized that what Paul was preaching, he was actually living what he preached. They saw how gospel was reaching to the highest office in Rome and they were not afraid to die for Christ.

b. Example from my Pastor: When I was a new believer in Christ, I was arrested and put in Police custody for being a Christian along with 24 others (Christians were severely persecuted in Nepal in those days). Our pastor, Rev. Joseph Shrestha, was one of us in the custody. He was just about forty with three young children at home with his wife. He had a good government job and a house and with a middle class living standard, was enjoying the best time of his life. But then, we 25 were arrested and the next day, we would be sent to the district court to be tried and if convicted, we all would go to jail from 3- to 7 years in Prison and possibility was that Pastor and some of us would be sentenced to 7 years. But the place where they locked us in was not very secure. Since they did not tie us down, if we wanted, we could make our way out of the station in the middle of the night. On top of that, as the evening darkness fell, all the guard on duty were drinking and all of them fell headlong fully drunk. When we saw that they were not moving and when we teased them, they could not even move from where they were. Realizing the opportunity, some of our brothers began to urge us to run away. If we ran away, it was possible that we could avoid being re-arrested by hiding or going into India. But the Pastor urged all of us not to be afraid even if we had to go to jail. For a while all of us sat there in the dark but one by one the brothers began to disappear through the back hole. Some said that they had young children to look after; others also gave many excuses. Some even used Jesus’ words “run from one city to another”. So, the Pastor could not convince them to stay on. Finally, four of us and the pastor decided that we would stay there and suffer for Christ instead of running away and bring the name of Christ and Christianity into disrepute as cowards, criminals who run away from police custody. I too was wondering about my future, I was ready to go to Bible College and there in that night, was staring in the face of at least three years in jail, and even had thought about running away and going to India where I was already accepted in a Bible college. But when I saw the dedication and the commitment of my Pastor, I was ashamed of thinking of running away. He was a man of God who was willing to lay down his family, his good government job and comfortable life for the life of prison for the sake of Christ and his example gave me the courage to stand on trial for the sake of preaching the gospel. Somewhere late after the midnight, the guards came out of their drinking binge, and when they saw the room empty, only five people remaining there, they were furious and gathered all five of us and brought to another room. They called their senior officer and began to threaten of charging us, in addition of preaching the gospel, for helping the prisoners to escape. They harassed us nearly for one hour and then the sober officer really began to listen to us. My pastor showed him the government servants Id and explained to him what we were doing in that place. It is not that easy to charge a government employ. Finally after listening our stories; the man calmed down and said that if we would sign a document saying “we will never come to this district for preaching Christian religion”, he would release us. We agreed not to come there because we had come from a different district (we had gone to that district for a funeral of one of the members of our branch church), and all those who were from that place had already run away. So, he wrote the document and as we were sitting in a row in front of the officer, he read to us before asking us to sign. In Nepali language Christianity is called “Isai”. This police officer after the drinking and all, messed up his writing and instead of saying “we will not come here to preach “Isai” religion”, he wrote, “we will not come here to preach “Islamic” religion. Oh, when we heard that, we were willing to sign ten times! The first brother signed, the second was Pastor, he signed, I was the third and the fourth brother also signed. The fifth brother was a bit slow in comprehension. May be when the officer read, he did not pay attention or something, and also when we were speaking with our eyes, he never really understood. So, he wanted to read the document for himself, and blurted out “No way, we are not Muslims, we are Christians, how come you accuse us of being Muslims, you must change this “Islamic into Isai”. All of our shoulders collapsed and how mad we were with that bone-head. But than, may be the Lord only gave me the courage to speak. Words came out, “Sir, do you know why you have arrested us in the first place? How dare you accuse us being Muslims? Don’t you have any idea as what Islam is? What proof do you have that we are Muslims?” As I was on and on, the man got so mad and I still remember his shouting “shut up or I will burry your spectacles in your eyes”. He was so furious because he did not know the difference between Islam and Isai. Out of his anger, he tore the paper and shouted at us “get out of my sight, go back to where you came from and never visit my district again”. Praise God, by the wee hour of the morning we were back in the home of the person whose daughter we had gone to burry. The end of the story looks humorous, but the beginning was not and the courage of my pastor still becomes the reason for my strong faith in God even in the midst of adversity. So, we must live not only for our faith, but also for the faith of the fellow believers. Thirdly…

3. Paul rejoices because what people intended for his harm, God used it for good (Phil. 1:16-18). There were Christians who were opposing Paul and they wanted to cause more trouble for him. But Paul says that even in their selfish and wicked intension, they had actually preached Christ and therefore, Paul rejoices.

a. Some preach with good motives. They were the brothers who were encouraged by seeing Paul’s example and were willing to lay down their lives for preaching the gospel. Even though Paul was confined in Prison, God was using other brothers to spread the gospel as they were becoming bold from watching Paul’s example and courage.

b. Other for selfish and envious motives. They were Christian people who were against Paul. Instead of being bitter, Paul rejoices because God is able to use for our good what Satan or people intended for our harm.

c. When we face such people, we must seek God in such a way as how their evil actions could be used for our good and for God’s glory.

d. God will always give us victory over our adversary if we live for the purpose of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ by our words and actions. Fourthly…

4. Paul rejoices because there are people who love him and pray for him (Phil. 1:19-20).

a. Philippians prayed for Paul.

b. When people pray for us, God does answer. Paul believes in the prayers of saints on his behalf.

c. Because of their prayer, God will not allow Paul to be ashamed but will see deliverance. When we suffer for God and for good, we will not be ashamed. Eventually we will see the victory. God will hear the prayers of saints on our behalf. We also need to pray for our leaders so that they would be delivered from the enemy; either physical or spiritual. Fifthly…

5. Paul rejoices because whether in life or death, God will be gloried (Phil. 1:20-21). Our ultimate aim is the glory of God. If we have a kind of life that does not glorify God, it is of no use. But even when we die, if that will bring the glory to God, that death is worth dying for. It is easier to die for God but harder to live for God. Paul wants to see God’s glory whether he lives or dies in Roman prison.

Conclusion:

So, there are many reasons to rejoice when we suffer for obeying God.

1. Christ will be preached and people will be saved. Our aim in life is to save as many people as we can. Whatever we acquire in this world, it will be left behind. Houses, cars, and any material possession, that will be left behind. What good it is to acquire material wealth whole of your life and then die at the end; leaving behind all that you spent your life for? But if we live to be the witness of Christ, we shall be instrument of God in saving someone’s life from hell and will take these people with us to eternity. Paul lived for that purpose and we too need to live with this purpose in our heart. If you have non-believers in your working place, they should be in your heart, in your prayers and you should look out for every God ordained opportunity to share your life and testimony so that they would be saved. Also, we must use our materials possessions very wisely, and invest them into God’s kingdom where no thief can steal; no rust and moth will destroy it. Jesus said “where your treasure is there your heart also will be”. So, not only we should be witnesses, we also should use our material possessions for the work of God in which the gospel is preached and people are saved.

2. Secondly, we must live to strengthen the fellow believers. We are not to live all for self and self alone. We are to do good to the household of faith. We must encourage the fellow believer. If you want to grow in faith, you must start thinking about others. Surrender yourself to God and then trust him to take care of you while you try to pray for your fellow believer. We all need some one to give us a hand once in life and should the opportunity come, we must extend that hand of help. This can start from praying for the fellow believers, praying for your church leaders as the Philippians were doing for Paul.

3. Thirdly, we must live for the glory of God. Actually, dying for God is easier but living for God is rather difficult. There are too many difficult people, too many difficult situations and circumstances and often time, we lose sight of what we are here for and do things that do not glorify God. Some of us if we have to choose between life or death for believing in Christ, we may not be afraid to die. But if we have to forgive, if we have to surrender, if we have to be humble, if we have to be holy and if we have to sacrifice, we may back away from that demand and look for easier way. Therefore, we must live for God as Paul says “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”.

If we live for the purpose of saving the lost souls, if we are living for helping the fellow believer and if we are living for the glory of God, than only we can rejoice in all kind of adversities. Than only we can find reasons to rejoice as Paul commands us in this passage. Let’s be willing to suffer for obeying God and when we face adversities, let’s use that opportunity to be the witness of Christ by demonstrating godly character and by utilizing every opportunity to share the gospel. Let’s rejoice in our adversities and suffering knowing that God can turn that into his glory and our deliverance. Amen!

Sermon Series from Philippians (Pastoral Heart)

The Pastoral Heart (Philippians 1:1-11 )

Introduction:

Paul wrote this letter from the Roman prison to a church he had helped to be established. Paul and Silas (including Timothy and others) preached in this city and a prominent lady by the name of Lydia believed. Then Paul and Silas were put in Prison for casting out a demonic spirit from a slave woman who was being used as a medium by her master. This angered her master and attacked Paul and Silas, beat them up and finally put them in a high security prison. In the middle of the night, Paul and Silas began to sing songs and hymns to God while the other prisoners were listening and a strong earthquake went, breaking open all the Prison doors. In those days, they would not have the lights like in our days and it must have been pitch dark when the Jailer came out, believing that all the prisoners must have escaped. But in an amazing way, Paul was in control of the situation and none of the prisoners escaped. As a result of such a miracle, the Jailer, his household and possibly many other prisoners and guards believed in the Lord Jesus and a strong church was established in this very important Roman city; church at Philippi was possibly the first European Church to be established. It is likely that the first church met in the house of Lydia, a successful businesswoman, and being a commercial hub of and prominent city that bore the name it’s founder, the Philippi of Macedonia, who was the father of Alexander the Great; this church became the driving force for Paul’s further mission work in and around Southern Europe. Several times, they had financially contributed to Paul’s mission work and they continued to do so even after Paul was arrested, sent to Rome and put in prison. The church at Philippi may have begun some times in AD50 and may be it was after ten years that Paul was sent to Roman prison.

Hearing the news of their beloved founding pastor, the church of Philippi once again collected financial aid and chose a faithful brother by the name of Epaphroditus to take that money to Rome for Paul. Finally, Epaphroditus found Paul, but then he himself fell ill and nearly died. When the news of his sickness reached to Philippi, the believers were worried and Paul wanted to send this brother back to Philippi. When this brother was recovered from his illness, Paul sends him back to his home and along with him sends this letter of joy and thanks giving. It is a letter written by a Pastor and a missionary who deeply loves this congregation and the reason is the continuous partnership of sharing their finance with Paul. Paul is filled with joy every time he remembers the kind of maturity and the fruit this church was bearing. That is why this letter is also called a letter of Joy where Paul expresses his own joy while urging the Philippians to be joyful all the time; even in the midst of suffering. 16 times the word joy and rejoice occurs in Paul’s expression.

With this background, let us now go back into the text itself and find for ourselves what Paul the apostle has to say to us from this letter today.

For today’s passage, I have titled my sermon as “the pastoral heart”. I could have said, “A pastor’s heart” but then when I say a Pastor’s heart, it becomes limited only to the Pastor. Therefore, instead of focusing on a Pastor’s heart, although this section comes out of a pastor’s heart, I wish to find in this passage the Pastoral heart that we all can aspire to have. We may not be called to be in the full time pastoral ministry but we all can have the pastoral heart.

What do I mean by Pastoral heart? The word “Pastor” comes from the Greek word for “a shepherd”, a person who takes care of the sheep or cattle. The bible often pictures God’s people as sheep and God as the great shepherd. Sheep are the kind of animals that cannot survive without a guiding shepherd. That is why you see even today there are many shepherd dogs watching, guiding and warning the sheep to find their way and protect them from wondering. In Old Testament, especially in the book of Ezekiel, God’s calls himself to be the shepherd of his people, the sheep of his pasture. The famous Psalm of David, the Ps. 23 also pictures God as the great shepherd who tends his sheep in green pastures and beside quiet waters. The sheep need plenty of grass and enough clean and quiet water, not violently running river; they like to drink from a peaceful stream or a brook. In Ezekiel 34:13-17 (whole chapter), God promises to be the kind of shepherd who will graze his sheep in such a place.

Jesus also applied that title to him in John chapter 10 and said that he is that great shepherd Ezekiel prophesized. Jesus came to give abundant life and every time he looked at people who did not know God or did not hear his call, he was filled with compassion and in Matthew 9:35-36 said “People are like sheep without a shepherd” Lets read that passage “35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

So, a Pastoral heart is the heart of a shepherd, a heart filled with compassion. Jesus was the great shepherd. Even though he was the king, the prophet, and the priest, but in all of that he had this great shepherd’s heart. A heart that does not condemn people but calls them to a place of rest and peace; even the rebuke and condemnations spring from the compassion towards the people who otherwise are prone to destroy themselves.

Therefore, a pastoral heart is a heart filled with love and compassion towards all people but especially towards the people who are under the care of the pastor. It is God kind of heart. In this text, Paul expresses his loving and compassionate heart towards the Philippians believers, but we will use his expressions to find our own heart so that we can check if we have what we call the pastoral heart; a heart for others, a heart given to help and nurture of others. Now let’s see how this heart is expressed in his writing to the Philippians.

1. Pastoral heart is a heart of a servant (1a): the word servant is better translated if we put the word “slave”, Paul says that he and Timothy are the slaves of Christ. In those days, everyone understood what this word meant and even for the modern world, we are still living the painful memories of what it is to be a slave. I come from the Indian sub-continent where there is one kind or the other kind of slavery still in existence and people are still struggling to free themselves. But the ancient world was rather crueler and slaves had no freedom at all; they were master’s property. Paul himself was not a slave of any human beings, but rather he came from a well to do family. But when he met Jesus Christ, he chose to become the slave of Jesus Christ and since then he always identifies himself with this title. A servant or a slave is a person who is there to serve; this servant hood is not limited to serving Jesus only…it is serving Jesus by serving his people. Jesus very clearly told that whatever we do to the needy, the poor and the helpless, we do that to him. This heart of a servant is not motivated by anything other than the love and gratitude to God. A Pastoral heart has no other motivation in serving one another and that is why in Romans 12:3-8, Paul urges every one with whatever the gift God has given for the betterment of others, even if it is in serving, do it for others; and in Colossians 3: 17 and 23 again Paul says “whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord”. As far as pastor is concerned, I think it was Martin Lloyd Jones who is reported to have said to his congregation “I am your servant, but you are not my master” and this phrase has been a kind of catch phrase to many, but times have changed and Pastor is often considered to be the employee of the church. Church becomes the master of the pastor and therefore the very heart of a servant gets lost on the way. But the biblical mandate is for all of us, including the Pastors are to be the servants to one another; to build one another, to lift up one another. This task is given to us not by churches or organizations but by God himself. We serve and we are servant because we love God and we want to be part of what God is doing in saving the lives of many people. Jesus is our best example and he is also known as the servant of God. Sadly, there are times when we see all kinds of competitions in and among the people of God for power and position in the church and ministry. Even the 12 apostles were not free from such kind of a faulty idea of being a servant of God…James and John wanted to be the main leaders of the group but Jesus said to them “if you want to be great, learn to be the servant of all” (Read Matthew 20:25-28 25Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."). Jesus corrected their faulty sense of serving God by putting his own example where he lays down his life for others. People with the pastoral heart are those that are willing to lay down their times, their resources and even their lives for others…and Paul calls himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. What an honor it is to be a servant of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings…how wonderful it will be for us to hear “well done thou good and faithful servant” when we finally see him face to face! So, the pastoral heart is the heart of a servant… Secondly…

2. The pastoral heart is the heart of Respect (1b): After addressing himself as the servant, Paul then addresses the Philippian believers as “Saints”. Saint means a holy, righteous and perfect in character. Just as he likes himself being called a servant of Christ, Paul prefers to use the word saints when addressing the believers. For example even in writing to Corinth, a church where there were too many problems and believers were caught in many kinds of sins and division which he calls carnality (see 1Cor.1:1-3; 2Cor. 1:1-2), while addressing them, he calls them holy and saints! A Pastoral heart need to see others better than himself or herself. The believers might be far from perfect, they may have come from a lower section of society, yet a pastor ought to respect the members in the body of Christ. In many church traditions, the word saint has a high degree of respect. Today when someone address you, Hi! Saint Andy…..and so and so! How would you feel? Do you feel worthy of being called a saint? I don’t think so, we all are imperfect people but God see us in a different light, he calls us saints. Therefore, as a person with a pastoral heart, instead of seeing the failings of the people and disrespecting them and calling them with all kinds of derogative names, we need to address them with respect. We need to see them the way God sees. Thirdly………….

3. The pastoral heart is the heart of compassion (2): Paul wishes grace and peace to them. Grace is what we need from God because; even though we are called saints, we still are far from being a real saint in our actual experiences; we make terrible mistakes and fall short and therefore, a pastor needs to wish for the grace of God to those who are failing. Also, we need to wish peace with God and fellow human being. As good as the Philippian church was, they still had their struggles. There were two good women who were not getting along well with one another and possibility was there that there were also some false teachers. So, the thing that is most needed in a church is peace with one another. Grace from God and peace in our heart and peace in our relationship with fellow human beings. Just think how difficult it becomes when you do not have peace with your fellow co-worker? We all need God’s grace and peace and as pastoral people, as people who know God’s grace and peace need to have compassion on those who are under our care. Fourthly…………..

4. The pastoral heart is the heart of remembrance (3-6)

a. Remember to pray for the people with joy

b. Remember their contribution: no one can become who he or she is without the help of many people in life. Here in this passage, Paul was assisted greatly by this church and Paul never forgot their contribution. They were partner with him from the very beginning. They did not stop giving and for that Paul continued to pray for them. We ought to recognize other’s contributions in our lives and pray for them

c. Make them to remember to continue to carry one the good work: we all need each other’s help until we see Christ face to face when he comes in his day. Paul here helps them to remember that they are to continue in doing what they were doing and God himself will help to be able to do what they have already begun to do.

5. Fifthly, the pastoral heart is the heart of affection (7-8): Deep personal relationship comes out of the pastoral heart. People who do not have the pastoral heart cannot develop deep and lasting friendship because they are caught up in their selfish desires, but a pastoral heart longs for relationship. Paul longs for this church, he wants to come.

a. They share in Paul’s suffering and success because they are in it together

b. Paul longs for them with the affection of Christ

6. Pastoral heart desires the best for others (9-11)

a. Love may grow in knowledge and depth

b. That they may know the best

c. That they may be true saints

d. That they may bear the fruit of righteousness

In conclusions; Pastoral heart is a heart of a servant, it is a heart of respect, heart of compassion, heart of affections and it is the heart that desires the best for others. As a body of Christ, let is pray for this heart to be given to us. That in this place, we may have the heart of a servant, heart of respect, compassion, affection and that we may always pray for others to achieve the best in their lives. Amen!

Summarizing the year 2009

Time of change

It is indeed a challenge to transition from Nepali speaking church to an English speaking one.  But the Lord has been good!  Click and See the link