Giving
Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
Join me in The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
The biblical teaching of stewardship involves more than the practice of tithing faithfully and bringing generous offerings.
“Stewardship Includes Everything” is what we will be discussing over the coming weeks.
Today we are talking about Committing This Day to God.
Prayer
Father, long ago while we were still in our sin, You came to us offering forgiveness and new life.
When Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, committed Himself to die for us rather than to seek the counterfeit pleasure of a disobedient life, He not only brought salvation to us, but He also set, for all time, the standard for committed obedience to You.
Grant Lord that we, too, may be faithful.
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Text
1 Peter 2:9 NKJV
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Scripture Reading
1 Peter 2:1-10 NKJV
Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”
8 and
“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”
They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Introduction
Many churches have an annual commitment day, or vision Sunday.
The only reason, however, that we dare ask people to make a commitment of their lives to God is because God has already made a commitment to us.
His commitment day was marked by weeping and sorrow, darkness and angry curses.
In the midst of all the pain of a Roman crucifixion, God committed Himself to us.
Our Scripture passage today was directed to a people who had been scattered by the persecution of the Roman government.
The writer, Peter, gave encouragement and direction to the believers who wee living in exile.
These early Christians were living in fear for their lives.
They needed to know that God had made a commitment to them.
- God has committed Himself to His people.
- These were people who belonged to God.
In the midst of the terror and loneliness of exile, it must have been a great encouragement to know they were “God’s own people”, they belonged to Him.
The King James Version translates this verse, 1 Peter 2:9, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
A peculiar people, which in latin referred to property.
So the proper translation is not that they were an odd people but they were people who were God’s property.
Christians may know all kinds of pain, but they never have to experience the pain of believing they are alone.
They are a peculiar people, His property.
They belong to Him.
B. Some people do not belong to God.
To say, “You are God’s people,” is to remind us that though some are God’s people, others do not belong to Him.
That does not mean that they were not created by god or that He does not love them.
It simply means that some are not willing to come to Him.
God’s love is not exclusive in regard to race, social status, or nationality, nothing that we cannot change keeps us from Jesus Christ, but some people are not willing to accept His love.
People may go to hell unsaved, but they can never go unloved.
We can all be God’s people.
But we must be willing to respond to Him.
2. God has committed Himself to His people.
God did not send a substitute to do what He had to do Himself.
If He had remained only God, He could not have touched us.
If He had been only man, He could not have saved us.
No substitute could take His place.
Nor did God send an angel to save His people.
These messengers of God move at His will to speak urgent words to His people, but they could not die for the redemption of humankind.
A president can send ambassadors to plead the cause of his country.
Though they can often be highly effective, if the president himself chooses to go, the whole world stands at attention.
God gave Himself for us and asks for our commitment, He doesn’t ask for substitutes for ourselves but for our very selves.
3. Gos has committed Himself to His people so they may declare.
Verse 9 clearly says that God has chosen us that we may declare the strong, virtuous, and wonderful deeds of our Saviour.
God’s action always has a purpose.
He does not save us simply to count us.
He calls us to be His people that we may share aloud the glory of His deeds done on our behalf and the radiance of the light that has penetrated our darkness.
- We are to declare God’s wonderful deeds.
The deeds we praise are God’s creation of the world and all that is in it, the deliverance of His people from bondage in Egypt, the establishment of the people from whom would come the light to the Gentiles, the coming of Jesus, God’s Son, our Saviour, born to save His people from their sins, the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, who is our hope of eternal life, the building of a new people, the church “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people”, and the anticipation of the final act when Christ will return to call His people to the fulfilment of the kingdom of God.
When the power of those mighty deeds surges through our hearts, we are able to witness to a cynical world with lips and lives that are larger expressions of the joy and victory that have claimed us in Jesus Christ.
He has given us bold deeds to declare boldly.
B. We are to declare the radiance of God’s marvellous light.
In the creation of the world, the darkness was shattered by His first words “Let there be light.”
Only later came the light from the sun, the moon, and the stars.
The biblical writers have a deep appreciation for the glory of the light that shines in our darkness.
In the light of God’s presence, we are not to be filled with pride or prejudice, but with humility and amazement.
No one can declare the glory of God’s deeds or the radiance of His light if they are filled with the darkness that cuts people off from God’s grace.
Pride can be subtle and makes us draw circles around our own religious, racial, or economic groups.
We must never yield to its easy call to speak only to those who are like us.
God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
His commitment to us at Calvary is that all should believe. And to all who believe He has given power to become children of God.
Conclusion.
Because God has committed Himself fully to you, He can call yo u to commit your whole life to Him, your tithes, abilities, and time.
He has held nothing back.
He gave Himself wholly that you might be His people.
He now calls you to commit yourself to declare His wonderful deeds and marvellous light to a world in darkness.
He has come that you might go, He has loved you that you might love, He has given that you might give.
Our commitment today, is both our privilege and our responsibility.
The one question that remains is, Will we permit God’s commitment to shape the nature of our commitment?
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2021 IS A YEAR OF REFORMATION
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