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Qualified to a Great Inheritance

November 19, 2012 cm-admin Uncategorized 0

Nov 19 2012, by Adeline Lum CM-

On November 18, I attended the Renewal Lutheran Church (RLC), a delightful and charismatic service by Pastor Joshua Yee, entitled “He keeps you with the power of His Good News.”

And the Good News is that the bible is not just a book of laws, but it is a book about the complete redemption by Jesus Christ at its center! So, how does God keep you in power with His Good News?

Qualified to a Great Inheritance

Firstly, Christ has already qualified you to a great inheritance.

Worship team at the beginning of the sermon

“Friend, your disqualification is your qualification,” said Joshua. “If God can use Ruth who is a Moabite and Rahab who is a prostitute as a lineage for Jesus Christ, God can use us too.”

In fact, Paul considered his qualifications as rubbish in comparison to the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:8).

What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

“Your qualifications if you focus on it only, can be a disqualification,” said Joshua. “ And in Him all things hold together (Col 1:17b).”

Hence, if you have a problem at work, marriage, family or friendships, then count on God because all things hold together in Him.

It is not about self-effort

Excellency is achieved not through our human effort or ability, but by the power and energy that out God gives us by His grace.

Experts tell us that the leading reason of depression is preoccupation of self. In Genesis, and Jude, God did not look upon Cain’s offering with favor (Genesis 4:5; Jude 11).

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion (Jude 1:11)

Would God not look to Cain’s offering with favor if he did what is right to God? (Genesis 4:7). Before Christ, the shedding of blood is used to atone for sin before God.

Abel being aware that he was sinful seeks forgiveness from God by sacrificing the best of his flocks– the fat portion of his firstborns. Cain, on the other hand, may not see his need to be forgiven and sacrificed the fruits of the soil instead. Cain depended on his self-wisdom and choice to offer to God. But God rejected it because Cain did not offer what was right.

Thank God that Jesus Christ is the perfect lamb for our sins (1 Peter 3:18).

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18)

Worship crowd alive with the spirit! — Worship crowd

Christ Death has Made You Complete

Complete in Greek means make full, fill to full and abundantly supplied.

Christ work in the cross is complete. There is no “Christ-plus-something” and “grace-plus-something” for us to make up for our sins.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us ALL our sins (Colossians 2:13)

And ALL means your past, present and future sins. Forgive, called aorist tense in Greek, means FULLY completed action in the past. So, does that mean we can sin more? If you understand the full extent of forgiveness, you will not desire to sin for Jesus said in Luke 7:47 that for those who has been forgiven much, they would loved much as well.

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little (Luke 7:47)

He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

Similarly, it is not about laws in marriage, but it is the centrality of Christ in the relationship.

Joshua said, “Marriage is not about one-half looking for another half. It is not for people who are looking to receive, but for people who are wiling to give. If you have all the pain and hurt expecting the other person to fulfill it, you are setting to destroy the relationship.”

A wholesome person makes a wholesome marriage. A person comes to marriage to give out of the abundance and wholeness of heart.

Key to life and all blessings is a big heart

Lastly, Joshua shared that Jesus was directed to a house of an unnamed person who graciously prepared a room for His Last Supper (Mark 14:13-15). Why was this person chosen? It is because God knew he had a big heart for Jesus!

Sometimes, our heart may not be too big for God to use but if we are honest with God of what we are struggling with our life, God will enlarge our hearts.

“When it comes to giving, God is not concerned with how much you give but how big your heart is in the process of giving,” said Joshua.

Are we keeping in power with Christ’s Good News?

Lord, I pray that we would have an understanding of Christ’s perfect sacrifice for our sins, that in You Lord we are made alive to worship you with joy!

Renewal Lutheran Church (RLC)

RLC started off in the humble beginning of the second-storey of a building in year 1988. After three years, RLC bought over a factory lot for $2 million. In year 1997, RLC purchased and moved into a $23 million building with many facilities for worship, education, conferences, concerts and others.

It is a vibrant and dynamic church, with a strong youth ministry who are given the free rein to lead worship every Friday! His wife, pastor Carey, minister side-by-side with pastor Joshua in the mandarin service. Come join and soak into the Holy Spirit.

For more information, please visit: http://www.oasisofcare.org/index.php?cat=28&page=53