dear brothers and sisters,
as some of you know i attend a prayer/Bible study group with verbum dei every tuesday evening. and this tuesday, 10 may 2005, i have been asked to preach/talk on 'to be Christ'. this will incidently be the first time i have done such a thing, so i ask for your help, guidance and prayers on tuesday, should start at 7.00pm bst.
i have typed below my draft of what i propose to say and would welcome any and every constructive and Spirit lead criticism and comments on the contained. thank you for reading
to be Christ. what does it mean to be Christ. are we to read in the Bible about what Christ did, to read about all the good things that Christ did while He ministered on this earth and then step forth and try and re enact them? are we to mimic His life of healing, praising, preaching and more? yes, as i see it yes we are, but are we not also to act correctly, to act as Christ Himself acted.
before Christ started His ministry on this earth He gave Himself in prayer. He gave Himself to our Father and let our Father fill Him with the Spirit.as shown in Luke 4:14 - Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in Him, returned to galilee. How can i pretend to be a Christian, how can i assume that i can work for the Lord or for my fellow man if i do not first have love? without love i am nothing, without love i can do nothing. this is something Christ knew, this was fully understood by Christ, which is why He gave us this example in Luke 4 and in Luke 22:41-43 - then He withdrew from them, about a stone's throw away, and knelt down and prayed. 'Father,' He said, ' if You are willing, take this cup away from me. nevertheless, let Your will de done, not Mine'
where even though jesus knew about what was to come for Him again He spent time in prayer. time alone with our Father, time in true dialogue with Him. time were He re-affirmed His own faith, time again where Christ re subjected Himself to His and our Fathers wishes.
if we, if i am to try and live a life, if i am to truly try and be like Christ then i must first and foremost pray. only in a life based upon prayer can i even attempt to be Christ. only in a life based on prayer can i experience the love and grace that Christ brings and gain the power to step forth in true love. only through prayer can the Spirit take a foothold in my heart and melt my icecaps so as to give me a heart of love, through which i am able to allow Gods love to flow through me, a love that can then be seen and more importantly passed on to others.
we as Christians are called to be part of the body of Christ. we are all different, with differing and separate functions within the body of Christ. yet we are all necessary. we together are a united body, we together and only together are one, and as one we can and do become the body of Christ in this world. romans 12:4-8 - just as each of us has various parts in one body, and the parts do not all have the same function; in the same way, all of us, though there are so many of us, make up one body in Christ, and as differing parts we are all joined to one another. we are different but we are the same, we are part of the same, the body of our Lord jesus. we are part of the body, we are part of Christ, we are part of Christ in this world and we are part of Christ to this world.
how do we become Christ? how are we to be Christ? how are we to live this love and to be an active Christian?
are we not called to serve God? are we not called into this world, into service? Christ was a servant. Christ was the servant! Christ was the ultimate example of service, service to our Father and service to us all. we are called not only to have a life of love and prayer, but also to have a life of service. we are called by God to serve all people He places before us. Matthew 20:28 - 'your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life' and in Luke 12:27 - 'you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength, and will all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself'.. we are not called into this world to have the good life, but rather to live a good life, a life of love, a life of prayer, and a life of service. are we not called to be apostles and to wash the feet of those placed before us, as Christ washed the feet of the apostles?
how do i live this life of service? what life of service am i to lead? we are all so different, so different in our abilities, in our talents, in our gifts, and in our experiences. every one of these has been given to ourselves by our Lord. everyone one of these is a gift and grace from our Lord, from above, uniquely and individually for ourselves. so that only each one of us can live the life and the mission that Christ has called us to, no one else can life our lives for us, and no one else can serve as we can serve. no one else has received the blessings that we have and as such we are compelled to use the gifts and graces for the purpose that they are intended.
whatever we are good at, whatever we do without seeking any form of reward, whatever we are passionate about and whatever is done with enthusiasm, whatever we may do simply for the satisfaction of doing and when done with love is effective, then this is what we should be doing. this is what we should do to glorify Christ, this is our mission and this is our simple praise for our Lord. to do what he wants is reward enough.
for it is only on doing what we have the God given talent to do that we can and do become effective at. it is only by doing what the Lord created us to do that we fulfill our purpose on this earth, and by doing so we glorify His name. it is only through doing the work set before us that we become satisfied. it is only by doing these tasks in love, in prayer and in faith that we become Christians.
in short we live and we love, we pray and we act. we set forth our life to Gods will, using our God given gifts and abilities to be Christ for all. 2cor9:12 - for the help provided by this contribution not only satisfies the needs of God's holy people, but also overflows into widespread thanksgiving to God
again i thank you for spending your time reading this and i look forward to reading your responses
may the Lord bless you and keep you in His fold
scrappy
as some of you know i attend a prayer/Bible study group with verbum dei every tuesday evening. and this tuesday, 10 may 2005, i have been asked to preach/talk on 'to be Christ'. this will incidently be the first time i have done such a thing, so i ask for your help, guidance and prayers on tuesday, should start at 7.00pm bst.
i have typed below my draft of what i propose to say and would welcome any and every constructive and Spirit lead criticism and comments on the contained. thank you for reading
to be Christ. what does it mean to be Christ. are we to read in the Bible about what Christ did, to read about all the good things that Christ did while He ministered on this earth and then step forth and try and re enact them? are we to mimic His life of healing, praising, preaching and more? yes, as i see it yes we are, but are we not also to act correctly, to act as Christ Himself acted.
before Christ started His ministry on this earth He gave Himself in prayer. He gave Himself to our Father and let our Father fill Him with the Spirit.as shown in Luke 4:14 - Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in Him, returned to galilee. How can i pretend to be a Christian, how can i assume that i can work for the Lord or for my fellow man if i do not first have love? without love i am nothing, without love i can do nothing. this is something Christ knew, this was fully understood by Christ, which is why He gave us this example in Luke 4 and in Luke 22:41-43 - then He withdrew from them, about a stone's throw away, and knelt down and prayed. 'Father,' He said, ' if You are willing, take this cup away from me. nevertheless, let Your will de done, not Mine'
where even though jesus knew about what was to come for Him again He spent time in prayer. time alone with our Father, time in true dialogue with Him. time were He re-affirmed His own faith, time again where Christ re subjected Himself to His and our Fathers wishes.
if we, if i am to try and live a life, if i am to truly try and be like Christ then i must first and foremost pray. only in a life based upon prayer can i even attempt to be Christ. only in a life based on prayer can i experience the love and grace that Christ brings and gain the power to step forth in true love. only through prayer can the Spirit take a foothold in my heart and melt my icecaps so as to give me a heart of love, through which i am able to allow Gods love to flow through me, a love that can then be seen and more importantly passed on to others.
we as Christians are called to be part of the body of Christ. we are all different, with differing and separate functions within the body of Christ. yet we are all necessary. we together are a united body, we together and only together are one, and as one we can and do become the body of Christ in this world. romans 12:4-8 - just as each of us has various parts in one body, and the parts do not all have the same function; in the same way, all of us, though there are so many of us, make up one body in Christ, and as differing parts we are all joined to one another. we are different but we are the same, we are part of the same, the body of our Lord jesus. we are part of the body, we are part of Christ, we are part of Christ in this world and we are part of Christ to this world.
how do we become Christ? how are we to be Christ? how are we to live this love and to be an active Christian?
are we not called to serve God? are we not called into this world, into service? Christ was a servant. Christ was the servant! Christ was the ultimate example of service, service to our Father and service to us all. we are called not only to have a life of love and prayer, but also to have a life of service. we are called by God to serve all people He places before us. Matthew 20:28 - 'your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life' and in Luke 12:27 - 'you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength, and will all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself'.. we are not called into this world to have the good life, but rather to live a good life, a life of love, a life of prayer, and a life of service. are we not called to be apostles and to wash the feet of those placed before us, as Christ washed the feet of the apostles?
how do i live this life of service? what life of service am i to lead? we are all so different, so different in our abilities, in our talents, in our gifts, and in our experiences. every one of these has been given to ourselves by our Lord. everyone one of these is a gift and grace from our Lord, from above, uniquely and individually for ourselves. so that only each one of us can live the life and the mission that Christ has called us to, no one else can life our lives for us, and no one else can serve as we can serve. no one else has received the blessings that we have and as such we are compelled to use the gifts and graces for the purpose that they are intended.
whatever we are good at, whatever we do without seeking any form of reward, whatever we are passionate about and whatever is done with enthusiasm, whatever we may do simply for the satisfaction of doing and when done with love is effective, then this is what we should be doing. this is what we should do to glorify Christ, this is our mission and this is our simple praise for our Lord. to do what he wants is reward enough.
for it is only on doing what we have the God given talent to do that we can and do become effective at. it is only by doing what the Lord created us to do that we fulfill our purpose on this earth, and by doing so we glorify His name. it is only through doing the work set before us that we become satisfied. it is only by doing these tasks in love, in prayer and in faith that we become Christians.
in short we live and we love, we pray and we act. we set forth our life to Gods will, using our God given gifts and abilities to be Christ for all. 2cor9:12 - for the help provided by this contribution not only satisfies the needs of God's holy people, but also overflows into widespread thanksgiving to God
again i thank you for spending your time reading this and i look forward to reading your responses
may the Lord bless you and keep you in His fold
scrappy
