Sermon 15 Sept 2013
Rev Dr Kow Shih Ming
God can meet all your needs for community
TEXT: John 17: 20-21
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (novel), a 1964 semi-autobiographical novel of a teenage girl's battle with schizophrenia by Joanne Greenberg, written under the pen name of Hannah Green.
It was also the tittle of a popular song.
Long lasting lonliness can be very debilitating
No man is an island
We were made for community
It is not good for man to be alone.
God can meet your need for community
Emmanuel "God with us"
Not only at Christmas,
not only New Testament times
But also as of old
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
The mystery of the triune Godhead
Father, Son, Holy Spirit remain in eternal harmony.
Holy Spirit
Will teach you
remind you
guide you
will not speak on his own
focus is on Jesus
to convey what Jesus wants you to know
Focus of Jesus
To bring glory to the Father
"The Father" is greater than I
Jesus submits to Holy Spirit,
allows himself to be brought to wilderness
for 40 days temptation
Jesus submits to God's will
"not my will but thine"
Obedient even unto death on the cross
God says of Jesus
"This is my son
In whom I am well pleased
Listen to him"
Each member of the trinity point unselfishly to the other
There is PERFECT COMMUNITY in the trinity.
We are called to be part of this community
Rom 12:5
so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Jesus gave himself so that we could be invited into the trinity.
The price he paid was his life and the breaking of community with Father and Holy Spirit.
Eph 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Endeavouring (Strong's concordance 4704)
keep (Strong's concordance 5083)
4704 spoudazo spoo-dad'-zo from 4710; to use speed, i.e. to make effort, be prompt or earnest:--do (give) diligence, be diligent (forward), endevour, labour, study.
5083 tereo tay-reh'-o from teros (a watch; perhaps akin to 2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly, by keeping the eye upon;
Intensely keep the unity!
But gossip
slander
power struggles
desecrate the community
tear the fabric of unity.
Many of us are guilty of conflict avoidance
Bad situation where one member is troublesome
addicted to something
obnoxious behaviour
difficult....
should we just leave them alone?
No!
There is a need for us to approach them with gracious talk
to find a way to help steer them to right behaviour.
Jesus expects other people to join into the trinitarian community because of what we do, in response to us inviting them in.
Small group setting (cell group) is the best place for us to live out the trinitarian community.
BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR AGNES
Tony Campolo is the professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and is a popular Christian author and speaker. In his book, “The Kingdom of God is a Party,” he tells the story that happened when he had a speaking engagement in Honolulu. Long before dawn, he was wide awake, as his body’s clock had difficulty getting reset. So at 3:30 in the morning, he found himself wanting breakfast, wandering the streets and finding that everything on the island was closed, except for a greasy spoon diner — the kind with bar stools and an unshaven, grizzly chef in a white T-shirt.
The closest thing that the diner had to breakfast was a stale donut. So as Campolo sits, chiseling away at the donut and sipping coffee, in marched about a dozen provocative and boisterous ladies of the evening. The diner was small, and they crowded around the bar on both sides of him. Their talk was loud and crude, but as he was about to make his way out of the restaurant, he heard one woman say, “Tomorrow is my birthday” and another bark back, “What do you want from me … a cake?”
Campolo lingered close by the diner until the ladies left and he returned to the grouchy chef. “Do those women come in here every night?”
“Yup — every night. Why do you want to know?”
“Because I heard one say that tomorrow was her birthday. What do you think about us throwing a birthday party for her — right here — tomorrow night?”
A smile crossed the chubby cheeks of the chef. “I think that’s a great idea.” Calling to his wife who was cleaning in the kitchen, “Tomorrow is Agnes’ birthday and this guy out here thinks we should have a party.”
Campolo gathered streamers and signs, the chef baked a cake and his wife made plate after plate of food. She must have also gotten out the word because at 2:30 the next morning, the diner was literally wall to wall prostitutes … and a preacher.
Agnes was flabbergasted when she walked in the door. Her mouth fell open. Her legs seemed to buckle. A friend steadied her and led her to the counter where a chorus of “Happy Birthday” rang out. And when Harry (yes, that really was the chef’s name) carried out a birthday cake with candles, Anges lost it and openly cried.
Agnes, who had never had a birthday party, never had a birthday cake, picked up the cake and carried it to the door, saying, “I need to take this home. I will be right back. I only live a block away.” Everyone else just stood motionless as she left. When the door closed, there was a stunned silence in the place.
Not knowing what to do, Campolo said, “How about let’s pray?” It was weird, but he said he felt it was the right thing to do. He prayed for Agnes. He prayed for the other ladies. He prayed that their lives might be changed and that God would be good to them.
Harry leaned over the counter and with a trace of hostility in his voice, growled, “You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?”
“I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.”
Harry snipped, “I would join a church like that.” Wouldn’t we all?
I think I am getting better at using sketchnotePro
Especially in flood-painting:
Flooding the bigger panels but not the individual note balloons
Pat on the back to self for icons
Rose Garden
Loneliness
Island (no man is)
Compolo's birthday cake
This sketchnote had no post production work.
Text and icons done real time and flood painting at choir teatime.
Graphic editor to chop the sketchnote into 6 pieces for blog post
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