Isaiah 58:12
Call
Rebuild
ruins
Raise up
foundations
Names
Repairer –
Broken Walls
Restorer –
Streets with Dwellings
Ephesians
4:13-16; 5:27
Maturity in
Christlikeness
Each member
doing its work
Radiant
purity & spotless: light of Christ shining forth
Isaiah 58
‘As If’ Religion
The biggest problem or barrier that stands in the way of the
church’s mission is the church itself.
God has told his church to go and make disciples of all nations. He’s told us
that repentance and the forgiveness of sin should be preached in the Name of
Jesus to all the peoples of the world.
The biggest problem is the church itself. The church knows
the salvation of God. We know that like sheep, we have gone astray but the Lord
kindly has chosen to lay upon the Lord Jesus the iniquity of us all.
And yet our hearts remain far from him.
The only hope for the church is to come back to God, the one
who chooses to dwell with those who are lowly and contrite in spirit - to come
back to him in humility and to ask him to transform us.
The desperate problem of sin: that even Israel’s best efforts
at religion are like filthy rags in God’s sight.
Israel’s
Pleasure; ‘As If’ Religion (Isaiah 58:1-5)
‘As if’ Israel did righteousness & did not forsake judgments of
their God; cared about God, but they don’t – NOMINALISM.
Israel did not abandon
their religion but their HEART not in it.
Not only was their religion heartless
but Israel had the gall to suggest the real problem was God: distant &
unwelcoming.
Israel had an overinflated view of their religious activities
& an underinflated view of their sin.
True faith is never confined to mere attendance: it always
makes a difference to your life & always transforms your relationships.
Instead, we see Israel oppressing their workers, quarreling, fighting or
looking down on others.
Their big concern in life was not God & his pleasure but
they themselves & their own pleasure.
Questions
for First Baptist Church:
Whose pleasure are we seeking?
Where is your altar of worship?
What captivates your heart?
Is religion one compartment of many compartments in our lives?
Does it transform our relationships?
How does it impact the way we treat each other: family, colleagues?
How does it affect our attitude to the poor?
How do we react when our pride is hurt? Do we quarrel & fight?
Are we a peacemaker, not just a peacekeeper?
God’s
Pleasure: Self-sacrificial Service of Others Isaiah 58:6-14
3 Conditional Statements: “If you
do this, then I will bless you” found in Isaiah 58:6,7 & 8,9a; Isaiah 58:9b
& 10-12; Isaiah 58:13 & 14.
This is not telling someone how to
become a member of God’s people because Israel was already in a relationship
with God.
What does God really want from us?
2 Visions for the Church:
Mature: Ephesians
4:2, 13
The church is characterized by a united body of believers
standing for truth, acting in patience, gentleness, humility, forbearance and modeled
collectively on the man Jesus Christ.
Holds fast to their convictions because defined by Jesus and not
by the prevailing culture knowing that the only true source of hope for them
& for the world around lies in the words of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
They cling to Truth, living it, speaking it and bringing
light in a dark world.
Immature: Ephesians
4:14
Believe the Gospel but doesn’t care much for truth,
convictions. Faith consists of hotch-potch of changing ideas with no clear
convictions.
Generally keep their faith to themselves & sees faith as
a very private matter.
They are described as infants and children, at sea being
tossed to & fro by different doctrines or teachings rather than as a united
and mature adult.
The problem stems from inability to put their faith into
practice.
They haven’t grasped that Jesus is everything & so let
other things take his place.
Which one best describes us?
How do we protect ourselves from false teaching?
By speaking the truth to one another
by asking:
What have we been learning about Jesus this week?
What struck us about the talk, message?
Ask someone to explain the talk if can’t understand it.
Asking each other what we’ve been putting into practice this week?
What we are struggling with?
Telling each other of opportunities we had to share the Gospel.
In what ways can we be better in speaking the truth to one another?
It is only by speaking the truth in love that we will grow up
to be the mature church.
Who is
responsible for building the church to maturity?
You are! I am! Every member
ministry
How?
FBC – we meet to read the Bible and to explain the Bible to
one another, and activities which have God’s Word at the heart of all of it - speaking
the truth.
We are responsible to fill our lives and conversations with
content that has lasting value; bringing the truth of the Bible and its
implications to bear on every situation in life.
FBC VISION
A Christ-centred community equipped, empowered and
networked to impact the unreached in Sarawak and the nations.
FBC MISSION
We
want:
·
to equip and empower every member of First
Baptist Church in fulfilling God’s calling on their lives and the next
generation built on the foundation of strong relationships;
· to network and share resources with other
churches in demonstrating compassion for the marginalized and the unreached in
Sarawak and the nations built on the foundation of the worth of each person.
Exciting to see the outcome as to what is the unique calling
of FBC coming from the FBC leadership themselves. Ordinary, normal brothers and
sisters willing to give full time in serving the Lord and the Body of Christ.
·
Good relationships
FBC has made the focus on relationship-oriented its cutting
edge with trust and unity as the key.
This is evidenced in inter-congregational
as well as intra-congregational
relationships. The Iban congregation
feels at home and supported by
the other congregations. There is trust and unity between the leaders.
The good relationships have led to the respect of individuals and people
as seen in the compassion ministry
of reaching out to the marginalized instead of being inward and self-centred
e.g. the Prison Ministry, SMILE,
Habitat, ELC.
This is also seen in FBC being a giving church in terms of resources, service, talent and love.
·
Empowering church
Instead of top down which is controlling,
the church is supportive and consoling: the priesthood of believers, where there is discipling, training and
releasing of believers so that everyone
can do something.
The focus is on many leaders
instead of one great leader.
There is teamwork, not one “big
shot”.
This is an “everyone church” that is people
(Community, Family)-focused, and not
corporation-focused with one great leader and where the individual must fit
into the vision and goal of the corporation.
Instead, people are respected and honoured rather than controlled. People are released to minister.
Health brings growth.
This is evidenced by natural
growth rather than hormonal,
genetically modified growth. Organic
rather than corporation type of growth.
It is important not to compare. You cannot be someone else. Be yourself with the unique calling God
has given you. Otherwise, you end up very frustrated.
·
Giving and Servant heart for others
(compassion)
This focus forms yet another cutting edge of FBC which God
will use.
·
The Next Generation
FBC is focused on the next
generation as well as the previous generation.
2014
·
Scripture Reading: Daily Intake
Every member
finishes reading the whole Bible in 2014
·
Witnessing for Jesus
Every
member witnesses to 3 persons in 2014
·
Missions: Compassionate Heart
Short Term Missions 2014 (2 weeks)
LG Missions
2014 (Weekend)
