by Pastor Alvin
Deuteronomy 10:12-19
1. Justice begins with a right relationship with God
Deuteronomy 10:12
Most unjust thing a person could do is to disown parents or say to God "you didn't create me. Let me live the life I want to"
What is Justice?
1. Mishat - 200 times in the OT
2. Basic meaning : Treating people equitably (in a fair and impartial manner)
3. Commutative Justice : dealings between persons and is concerned with remedying wrongs committed by one party against another
4. Distributive Justice : It is concerned with ensuring that there is a fair distribution of social goods and services
2 words closely linked together :
"Righteousness and Justice"
Righteousness (tzadeqah) is primary justice and Justice (Mishat) is rectifying justice.
They are closely related
Righteousness means being right with God and therefore, committed to putting right all other relationships in life
- Alec Motyer, Bible Scholar -
Psalm 33:5
The Lord loves righteousness and justice, the earth is full of his unfailing love
Social Justice
Based upon his love and grace (Deuteronomy 10:14)
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To represent the just God (Deuteronomy 10:16-18)
Why does God wants us to observe just laws and decrees?
Deuteronomy 4:6
Is there a need to examine your heart today?
James 2:14
Represent God to do what?
- to exercise right judgement
- who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes (commutative justice)
Leviticus 19:15
Liviticus 24:22
and special care for the marginalised
Deuteronomy 10:18
Doing charity is not a ....... it's a command if God has blessed you in any way
Psalm 31:8
Deuteronomy 27:19
Luke 11:39
A litmus test would be to test whether you are generous to the physically poor, spiritually poor or the needy poor.
How do we help the needy?
3 levels of doing justice :
1. Relief/Refuge (hand-out-fish)
2. Development (teaching them to fish)
3. Social reform (building a port eg. concept of the jubilee in Israel, or petition against LGBT, casino, moral decay of society etc)
As the redeemed ones of Christ
- for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt
To conclude :
# Justice begins with a right relationship with God based upon His love and grace, to represent the just God, to exercise right judgement and special care for the marginalised as the redeemed ones of Christ.
"I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the Cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?"
- John Stott -
by Pastor Lee Meng Cham
Psalm 139:7-10
The fact and the favour of God's presence makes all the difference
God is Here!
3 aspects :
1. God is Omnipresence
2. His Indwelling Presence
3. His Manifest Presence
3 examples of manifest presence of God :
- The burning bush (Moses had to turn aside)
- Adam hid from God's presence
- Jonah flee from God's presence
- the road to Damascus (Saul had to stop because he was blinded)
- the gathering of the church (God's presence is here)
God is Here?
Isaiah 6:5
2 kinds of fear :
- His Absence
- His Presence (Luke 5:8)
Jesus' name is Emmanuel
Whatever I see, He sees
Whatever I say, He hear
Whatever I think, He knows
Isaiah 57:15
God is Here.
If God is here, where are you?
by an unknown Methodist Group
When God answers your prayers, He is increasing your Faith.
When God delays in answering your prayers, He is increasing your Patience.
When God does not answer your prayers, He has something better for you!
by Natasha Crain
1. What Evidence Is There For God's Existence?
3 Major Arguments that provide compelling, objective evidence for God's existence :
1. Cosmological Argument
2. Design Argument
3. Moral Argument
1. Cosmological Argument
- The Universe had a beginning
- Anything that had a beginning must have been caused by something else
- Therefore, the universe was caused by something else, which we call God
2. Design Argument
- The Universe and life at least have the appearance of design rather than having the appearance of formation by chance (if you were to find a watch in an empty field, you would instinctively conclude that it was designed and not just an accidental formation in nature)
- Imagine you just discover upon a cabin in the woods, you discover your favourite music is playing, your favourite video game is on television, your favourite drink is in the refrigerator. Would you think this existed by chance or assume someone prepared it for you? It would be hard to imagine that a place so perfectly tailored to your personal needs would have formed that way by chance!
3. Moral Argument
- Objective moral standards exist outside of personal opinion
- The best explanation for the existence of objective moral standards is the existence of a moral lawgiver (Romans 1:18-23)
2. How Could A Good God Allow Evil And Suffering?
God create everything good. God did not create evil because evil is not a thing. Instead, evil is the corruption of a good thing (eg. rotting of a good tree or wound on your body)
"Corruption"
- Human Corruption or moral evil
- Natural Evil (eg. Tornadoes, Hurricanes)
Where does corruption come from?
Freewill. God wanted us to freely love Him, just like a forced love is no love at all.
Why doesn't God just stop moral evil?
God can't force us to freely make good choices. Therefore, the only way God could destroy evil would be to destroy our freedom. However, a world of automata - of creatures that worked like machines would hardly be worth creating.
What about natural evil?
Natural evil is the byproduct of good processes and/or result of moral evil. Earthquakes are the consequence of plate tectonics, or the movement of giant plates under the ocean floor. Without these plates we would have no continents. They are necessary prerequisites to human survival on the only planet known to have life. Our planet requires oxygen and a warming sun and water in order for us to live here, even though we recognize that people can get sunstroke and drown in the ocean. So too, it seems that plate tectonics are a central requirement for life.
Millions of Africans die of starvation because their corrupt governments don't allow the necessary food to reach them - not because earth doesn't produce enough food. This problem circles right back to individual free will. This example of seemingly natural evil is actually the result of moral evil.
3. Why Would God Command The Genocide Of The Canaanites?
Deutoronomy 9:5
"not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that He may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
God said His command was indeed an act of Judgement in guilty people - something in a completely moral category than an unmerited massacre of innocent lives, as is always the case when humans command genocide.
Deuteronomy 18:9-14
Leviticus 18:20-30
The land itself threw out the people who lived there ......
- so what more for God who is the most holy?
- only God knows the depth of people's depravity and whether or not they will repent in any given circumstance (Genesis 15:16)
God wasn't willing to execute judgement until their sinfulness had reached a very specific limit. It's simply not reasonable to think that humans are in a position to evaluate how fair a divine judgement was based on the limited perspective we have.
4. How Can A Loving God Send People To Hell?
God is perfectly good, and that He has written His moral laws on the human heart
Psalm 18:30
1 John 1:5
Romans 2:14-15
Sin is a transgression against those laws
Justness is the quality of fairly conferring deserved rewards and punishments against a standard of right and wrong. If sin is real and God is just, there must be a penalty for that sin. Though there's disagreement on what exactly hell is and how long it will last, we know that it's a very serious (and just) punishment of eternal separation from God.
5. How Can God Judge People Who Have Never Even Heard About Jesus?
# General Revelation :
What God reveals by natural means. God's general revelation is what He has revealed of himself through the natural world and our moral conscience. The Bible says that every human is accountable for acknowledging this level of revelation.
* What God has revealed Himself through the Natural world (Romans 1:19-20)
* What God has revealed Himself through our Moral conscience (Romans 2:14-15)
The Bible says there are no people who are ignorant of God's existence and moral requirements.
# Special Revelation :
It's not possible to simply look at the splendor of creation and our moral conscience to deduce the specific truths that an-all powerful creator had a son who lived on earth, was fully human and fully God, died for the forgiveness of our sins, and was resurrected. For us to learn about these truths, God had to reveal Himself in supernatural ways, such as through the Bible and Jesus. This is called His "Special Revelation".
What happens to those in the OT who have access to God's General Revelation but not His Special Revelation of Jesus?
There are many questions about God, our lives and eternity that we simply don't have clear answers to in the Bible and that's okay. The fact that there are questions we can't answer with certainty doesn't detract from the truth of what we do know : God is perfectly just, so we can be confident He'll do what is fair on Judgement Day.
6. Why Would God Need People To Worship Him?
Define worship : Worship is responding to all that God is with all that we are
- all that God is
- responding with all that we are
Does God need our worship?
Acts 17:24-25
The God who made the world and everything in it, being lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since He himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
Just because the Bible says we should worship God doesn't mean God needs us to worship Him. God doesn't actually need anything at all to complete His character or existence. In other words, God is perfectly self-sufficient. Any idea that God needs our worship is unbiblical and mistaken.
Does God want our worship?
YES!
1 Chronicles 16:29
John 4:23
Romans 12:1
Worshiping is responding to God with all that we are and that helps us to realize our very purpose. Worship is natural response to an appropriate understanding of who God is, not an act of reluctant humility before an attention-seeking creator.
Is it arrogant of God to want this kind of worship?
Not at all.
Arrogance involves having an inflated sense of self. God has an accurate understanding of His immeasurable worth. Rather than wanting us to worship because He's arrogant, God wants us to worship because He knows we'll be fulfilled by it.
Wo worship means to respond to God's glory with the humble devotion of our whole lives. It is a lifestyle, not a weekly event. God doesn't need our worship but He seeks it because He knows our complete devotion is the fulfilment of our very purpose.
7. Why Is God So Hidden?
Pastor Calvin Lee
Luke 10:38-42
In this passage Martha misses the point. Jesus comes to fellowship with her but she misses the one important thing.
v40
Distracted in Greek means pulled or dragged in different directions. A continual action in the past.
The distraction in our lives can cause us to lose sight of the important things in our lives. If we keep allowing things to pull us apart, we will fall apart. The antidote to our busyness is to come apart and be still before God. The challenge to our serving is to keep our focus on the Lord (not ministry or service). Our careers, families and ministries require our attention but not to the extend of neglecting our time with God.
So how do we not get distracted moving forward?
Stay healthy physically and spiritually!
1. It is about choices!
v33
She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said
How do you know you have been distracted?
- look at your calender (is it filled with overwhelmed activities that there is no gap for God?)
- look at your heart (is it filled with frustration, anger, fear, anxieties etc?)
Acronym of B.U.S.Y :
Be
Under
Satan's
Yoke
We must be intentional and disciplined to make the right choices. We need that sacred moment and time with the Lord.
2. It is about Centredness!
v40
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
Martha has a heart that's divided and distracted (career, children, cash), but Christ has to be in the centre!
What is a God centred Life?
A. A life that is directed towards the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
B. A life that is oriented around God
Some of us need to "Start" spending that devotion, reading time with God
Some of us need to "Stop" certain of the activities or things that displeases God
Some of us need to "Slow Down" in the daily things we are doing and getting distracted
Some of us need to be "Still" before the Lord and seek Him
Some of us need to be "Selah (pause)" before the Lord and hear His still small voice
3. It is about Christ!
v42
But few things are needed - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.
Psalm 145:18
Psalm 73:28
Jesus is the Prince of Peace
When you have peace with God, then you will have peace with people. When you have peace with people, then you can have peace with the rest of your surrounding.
At my Lowest, God is my Hope
At my Darkest, God is my Light
At my Weakest, God is my Strength
At my Saddest, God is my Comforter
What if....
Life isn't about finishing on top, but knowing when to stop?
Life isn't about learning to live with stress, but learning to live with less?
Life isn't about pushing yourself to the limit, but embracing every minute?
Life isn't about constant action, but eliminating distraction?
Life isn't what you chase, but resting in God's grace?
- Terry Hershey -
Pastor Scott Tey
The church is a family for single just as it is a family for married people
God created a family in the garden of Eden in Genesis and it ended with God seated with His family in Revelation
Genesis 1
Genesis 2:18
The church is a place where you can be contented whether you are single or married
1 John 4:18-19
1. To build an extraordinary family, we need God's love
- Every family/marriage will be tested. Because we are not spared from the onslaught of deveil's attack. However, because we are in Jesus love, we can cast out all fear at the door and slam it shut
Genesis 2:25
Perfect love has no confusion, no shame, no sin
Jesus not only come to redeem our sins, He also came to restore marriages to its original intent
2. To build an extraordinary family, we need God's forgiveness
Genesis 3:12
Towards our spouse :
- we need to communicate
- Don't judge too quickly
- We need to accept each others differences
- We need to look at the positive attributes of our spouse instead of the negative part
- Pray for spouse heart to be softened and transformed, release the right seeds (the word of God)
- Every seed you sow, you will reap whether it is positive or negative seeds
Ephesians 4:26-27
Proverbs 18:21
3. To build an extraordinary family, we need God's connection
How do we connect even in diversity?
The answer is the church of Jesus Christ is the only eternal connection
