God's workmanship (Connect Group 01)

Connect Group 01 

Text: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2.10

Icebreaker: Could you share a moment in your life when you got disappointed because you did something wrong or you didn’t do something as well as you could have done?  

I remember my first service on the island of Guernsey when I remembered Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD”, but because I was nervous and my English wasn’t the best, I said: “If you have breast Praise the Lord”. You can imagine that no one responded, and those who did were laughing a lot - and I had no idea what I had done!  Situations like this made me want to give up and to complain to God that He had chosen the wrong person for the job. In one moment I even said: “God I could speak and communicate better in Brazil, why did you bring me here, they have better people here”. God responded, “I never used you in Brazil because of your Portuguese, I used you because I wanted to and you were open”. Then I was reminded of this text that says that we are the fruit of God’s hands. So today, there are few truths that God wants to speak to us:

1) God made you (Yes you).

God made you, and that means that you (and I) are not a mistake. You are part of God’s plans - and all His plans are perfect.

That also means that He made you to be you! Of course, we can, and we should, become more and more close to Jesus. In this process, the old bad habits will go, and the new will come. But we don’t need to be someone else to try to impress God or anyone else.

God made you because only you, with His power, can help to do something specific that will help to transform the world. You are like a piece of lego that finishes the wall, and if you are missing the wall will never be completed.

2) God made you for good works.

Just imagine for a second that God - the most powerful being in the whole universe made you for good works. He made you for works that will help the world to see Him.

God made us to have abundant life and not just to survive; that is only possible when we understand that we were made for more of God, and not more of “stuff”, as many people believe.

This is also valid when we are about to do God’s work. Sometimes I look and think, God I need this or that gift to do your work better. Although I agree that we all can improve, we need to remember that God is enough, and His will is what is the best for us and through us.

3) What you do matters.

Because we are the product of God’s hands, and because His will is to bless the world, we can say that we are God’s instruments to reach and transform the world.

Remember that you matter and whatever you do matters to God. So you are not just working and having your ‘normal life’, you are an agent of miracles and transformation in that place. Remember Christ in you is the hope of Glory.

Conclusion: I came across this phrase recently: “When the power of my shame encountered the power of Your grace, You reminded me of who I am and that you made me”.

So GO and be blessed and be a blessing – because that is how God made you to be.

The One-Word Telegram

The following account may or may not be historical. Either way, it’s true.

It was Christmas Eve, 1910. General William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army was invalid and near the end of his life—it was impossible for him to attend the Army’s annual convention. 

Someone near the General suggested that Booth send a telegram to be read at the opening of the convention to the many Salvation Army soldiers in attendance as an encouragement for their many hours of labour serving others throughout the holidays and the cold winter months. Booth agreed.

Funds were limited and telegrams charged by the word, so to ensure as much money as possible would still go to help the needy, General Booth decided to send a one-word message. He searched his mind and reviewed his years of ministry, seeking the one word that would summarize his life, the mission of the Army and encourage the soldiers to continue on.

When the thousands of delegates met, the moderator announced that Booth could not be present due to his failing health. Gloom and pessimism swept across the convention floor until the moderator announced that Booth had sent a telegram to be read at the start of the first session. He opened the message and read just one word:

“Others!” 

Signed, General Booth.

 That’s the nature of Jesus. May it be ours, too.

The journey with God

Recently I talked to a group who wanted to know more about evangelism and Salvation in the 21st century, and how these are affected by our postmodern culture.

The question is a vital one for all of us, not only because churches are struggling to be relevant in the present age, but because Salvation and evangelism have become taboos that many churches struggle to overcome, or even reach beyond, in a postmodern culture that is increasingly individualistic. 

 I wish I had a simple answer for such a question. Still, whilst I don’t, I am reminded that W. B. Fitzgerald once summarized John Wesley’s understanding of Salvation in what became known as the “Four Alls” of the historic Methodist movement. 

These statements were formed from what was understood about evangelism for almost three centuries, in many countries and across many denominations.

The “Four Alls” are as follows:

All need to be saved 

All can be saved 

All can know they are saved

All can be saved completely[1]

I want to explore each one of them a little, to help us to understand the meaning behind them.

All need to be saved

The first “all” reminds us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God[2]”. No matter how good or how bad you think that you, or the next person are, we all need to be saved - we all need Salvation, and what we need can only be found in Jesus. 

All can be saved

Often, I have judged other people, thinking that they were lost causes, but when I did this, I was not seeing my own position truthfully;  without Jesus I was as lost as them, precisely the same as anyone else. There is no one too good who does not need to be saved, no-one who can be saved by default, and there is no one so terrible or so lost, that the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross cannot save them.

The Apostle Paul affirms that God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth[3]”.

All can know they are saved

Unfortunately, many people live without the hope that comes from knowing that there is salvation in Christ Jesus.  This reality only becomes known to us when we walk with Him, as our Saviour.

The Bible says “For you did not receive the Spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God[4]”.

So, when we are with Jesus, we can have the assurance of Salvation, the confidence that we belong to God and that we are His children, sons and daughters in Christ. 

All can be saved completely

The last ‘all’ talks about how a person can be saved completely, or to the uttermost. Salvation in Christ is not just a ticket for avoiding hell or emptiness, but a work that will transform us from inside out.

God reminds us many times in the Bible that when we are with Christ, we are a new creation, having a new position in the eyes of God; that the “old has passed and the new has come”[5]. 

As we walk with Jesus, we will continue to renew our minds, being filled with more of God. Through this process, we will be controlled less by our sinful nature and more by the Holy Spirit. This process is not forced or artificial, rather it is based on the natural development of our relationship with Jesus.

So…. let’s go out there and share the good news that Jesus has died our death; that He paid the price for our forgiveness and gave us His life in the process. Go and share the gospel with everyone, in all circumstances possible, and trust in the work that God will do in the lives of the people that you tell about Jesus!

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[1] W. B. Fitzgerald, The roots of Methodism (London: The Epworth), p. 173.   

[2] Romans 3.23

[3] 1 Timothy 2.4

[4] Romans 8.15-16

[5] 2 Corinthians 5.17