A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on August 30, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV, and based on Eph 6:10-20:
The Whole Armor of God
"10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."
When I was kid, I used to watch old movies with my friends after school, including Grade z Gladiator movies made in Italy, Hercules, various super heroes, and … The Three Musketeers.
I can vividly remember them gallantly crossing their swords and crying out together, “All for One and One for All!”
It was a rallying cry, urging the Musketeers on into war. In a similar way, the Apostle Paul urges us to take up the full armor of God, and issues a rather similar exhortation that we'll call
“4 Alls for prayer in the Spirit”. Namely:
1) all times
2) all prayer
3) all perseverance
4) all the saints
These ‘alls’ come from v. 18 of our reading from Ephesians Chapter 6, in which Paul instructs believers in prayer, and this verse comes in the context of Paul’s exhortation to believers to Put on God's armor because we are engaged in spiritual warfare.
Verse 12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The evil we see manifested around us starts as a spiritual force.
We are by nature spiritual beings who have a physical body. We are enfleshed spirits. Therefore, to keep a truly Christian outlook and mindset, we must think in spiritual terms. Not to think spiritually is to be led by the flesh, as Paul tells the Corinthians:
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way.” (I Cor. 3:1)
Flesh and Spirit are contrasted here as opposing one another. The flesh is understood as an evil principle that dwells within me and which can drag me down into sin, but the Spirit is the source of life and peace, as in Eph 5: 18: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit”…
To be focused on the flesh at its worst is to indulge in debauchery, excess, or pleasures of the flesh which dissipate our life energy, or which may cause us to be addicted to various substances or actions, such as gambling or drinking. In a more subtle way, we become fleshly when we seek to be self-sufficient and do things “my way' without any thought of the Lord or what He wants.
We may not be engaging in any gross or carnal sins, but I guarantee that every one of us struggles with self-centeredness and self-sufficiency every day. It's as natural to us as breathing. And that's the point: it's natural or fleshly. We don't have to think about it or choose it, we do it as the default setting.
To be filled with the Spirit is the opposite of being fleshly. It's God’s plan for us to become fruitful as Christians. The result of being filled with the spirit is found in Eph. 5:19,20:
“…addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
So then, the primary fruits of the spirit are gratitude to God and worship of God, accompanied by mutual submission to our brothers and sisters in Christ – in other words, the fulfillment of the two great Commandments: Love God and Love others.
To be led by the Spirit is to be directed by and controlled by the Spirit, just as Jesus was when he was here on earth. His continual practice was to only do what he saw the Father doing and to speak that which the Father wanted him to speak. In Henry Blackaby's terminology, Jesus observed what God the Father was doing, and joined him in it.
If we are to emulate Him and do greater things than he did, we must be Spiritually minded and we must be led by and directed by the Spirit. We do this on a day to day basis primarily through prayer.
To pray in the Spirit is to pray in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. We are not naturally able to do this and we are pitifully limited when it comes to understanding God’s will for us, but Thanks be to God, …”the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. “ (Rom. 8: 26, 27)
So we really don’t know what we’re doing when we pray, but Prayer is the fuel that starts us up and keeps us going as a Christian, and it is the vehicle that God has determined to use in order to get things done. So Paul instructs us when to pray, how to pray, and for whom to pray in this very short teaching on prayer ‘in the spirit”.
Let’s look at each of these All’s individually:
1) All Times: We are to pray always, in all circumstances (v.16), to pray without ceasing (I Thes. 5:17), (Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.) In Luke 18:1, Jesus tells us that we “ought always to pray...
So how do we do that?
2) All Prayer
One of the oldest applications of this exhortation to pray always is called the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This is simple and basically says everything we need to say in prayer. And it has been used as the basis for continual prayer for thousands of years. One technique of applying this is to use of prayer rope and to intersperse the Our Father along with the Jesus Prayer. The idea is to practice this to such an extent that it becomes the “Prayer of the Heart”, as natural as breathing. TheAnglican Rosary is based on this idea.
But there are perhaps as many ways to pray as there are people. Here are some possible ways we can pray:
Memorize Scripture and pray it back to God.
Sing to the Lord in Prayer
Pray in a 'Prayer Language”
Pray while you walk around the neighborhood
Pray over every step you make while you slowly walk around your
yard or garden.
Read a passage of Scripture slowly and then stop when something stands out to you, contemplating it and then praying over it to God. (Lectio Divina)
Use a map of the World to pray over hotspots and the work of different churches or ministries. Last week, we prayed for Justin and Hunter, who will be studying in Evanston and Scotland respectively. Our friends, Larry and Cathy Westfall will also be travelling to Scotland to help establish a church so we could go to Mapquest pray over Illinois and Scotland.
Write out a list of answers to prayer and thank God for them.
Pray in concert with others for revival – as we did during the Divine Experiment.
Establish a prayer room– as we wish to do at Hope House and then line up as many people to pray as possible, establishing a 24/7 approach to prayer. The Moravians have actually had a prayer room going continuously for 130 years! Now that's prayer without ceasing!
Pray the daily offices using the forms from the Book of Common Prayer. Last night Cindy and I had the interesting experience of logging on to Skype and praying Compline with a group of folks from Chattannooga! The list is endless.
Our prayer is worship in the Spirit, just as Jesus said in John 4: 23, 24: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship is spirit and truth.”
Moving on to the third of our 'Alls”, we must pray with:
3)Peseverance: In Luke 18:1 Jesus tells us that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Much of our prayer will be dry, dusty, cold and mechanical. It's just part and parcel of being human, made of dust. We can't endure very much excitement or extraordinary spiritual experience. It wears us out. Therefore, we should expect that our prayers will be routine.
This is not sinful or unspiritual. Many people who criticize Christians for praying mechanically have never tried to pray regularly much less always. Anyone who has every tried to pray frequently can tell you that the human body does not cooperate well with regular or constant prayer. It gets tired and is easily distracted. God knows this and is not offended. What he likes is when we press through the tiredness and pray anyway!
Francis DeSales had this to say about dryness in prayer:
“Be willing to accept dryness and lack of consoloations for however long they last. Beat upon the heavens with your cry but, at the same time, preserve a kind of holy indifference. “God, I will endure this as long as you want me to. Just support me.”...This kind of prayer, the prayer which we force ourselves to make, is most acceptable to God. “ (The Committed Life, pg.138).
Finally, 4) All the Saints:
Paul shows us the way here as in many of his letters he tells the believers he is praying for them:
Romans 1:10: ...”without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers”...
Phil 1:3,4: “ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy”...
Col. 1:3: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you”...
Col. 4:12: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers”...
1 Thes 1:2: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers”...
2 Thes. 1:11,12: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ”.
We echo this in our prayer cycle during the prayers of the people, praying not only individual prayer needs, but for other churches on our list. We pray for 'all the saints' – yet another reason why our church name is significant, and possibly why it is such a popular name for Anglican churches.
Summary
God is looking for people who want to know Him, who want to communicate with Him and Cooperate with him in his work. The way we do this is to Pray in the Spirit. I invite and challenge us all to Pray always, in all manner of prayer, with all perseverance, for all the saints. As we do this we will indeed become God's intimate friends and partners in His work. AMEN.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 09, 2009
No Rotten Words
A sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on August 9, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV, and based on Ephesians 4:25-5:2.
Complete the following sentence: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but ….(words will never hurt me.)
True? … Not so much.
I think all of us can remember experiences like this one. You’re playing on the school playground and the smartest and most athletic kid in the class repeatedly upbraids you for mistakes you make, calling you stupid. You put up a brave front at the time, but afterward you run home and pour out your heart to your mom, cut to the quick, almost inconsolable. You then remember this incident for the next 43 years!
Words have amazing power to hurt us – which is why the Apostle Paul tells us emphatically: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Eph. 4:29). Let’s hear this same verse in several different versions.
Here’s the New American Standard:
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
The New International Version: 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
The Message: 29Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
The Amplified Version: 29Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it.
(Note: Many different versions of the Bible can be viewed easily at biblegateway.com; or crosswalk.com)
The Greek word sapros, translated in the ESV as “Corrupting” also applies to“bad” (putrid) fish (Matt. 13:48) or “bad” (rotten) fruit (Luke 6:43), hence the title for today’s sermon: “No Rotten Words”. I was also thinking about “Yucky Ucky Words… but you get the drift.
As a professional counselor, I think I could build an entire practice on this one verse. All of us get in trouble because of the words we use. The Apostle James warns us:
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. (James 3:5-10).
YOW! This is an example of having a problem with the parts of the Bible you do understand! The Tongue is set on fire by Hell, full of deadly poison, rotten to the core, a restless evil! Whoever can tame it is a perfect, or whole, complete person. The rest of us suffer because of the things we say to one another.
God’s Purpose for our Communication:
In today’s reading from Ephesians we not only see a description of unwholesome communication, but several key purposes that God desires for our conversation:
V. 25: Be Truthful: Speak the truth to one another
V. 26: Be Angry: But use your anger for righteous purposes.
V. 29: Build up Others: (Edification)
V. 29: Give Grace to Others
V. 32: Express Kindness
V. 32: Extend Forgiveness
This type of communication has an overall goal: To walk in love, imitating our Savior, and to be unified with others. The practice of these virtues will lead to a wholesome church and family life, confounding the Devil, who always seeks an opportunity.
So, our challenge is before us. What I’d like to do for the rest of our time together today is outline some observations about why we so easily get off the track and use rotten language, and then offer some suggestions about how to get back on track when we get derailed.
Relapse Triggers
In the world of Drug and Alcohol recovery, the concept of Relapse Triggers is central. These are the things that predispose us to failure. They’re very mundane and are often summarized with the acronym HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.
In our family, we used to see these things very acutely when our children were small. We’d have them out in public and they would get tired and hungry and then just suddenly have a meltdown – usually in the most embarrassing situations.
When my daughter Lindsey would get angry with her sister Leah, she would lash out at her verbally with an intense hiss that sounded like a wildcat. I used to call her Little Miss Oral Aggression – a title which would hardly fit her today, by the way.
I think you can supply plenty of your own examples to illustrate the point that we are frail physical creatures and our bodily needs can easily lead us to ‘tongue failure”.
Failure to Communicate
Clint Eastwood had a famous line in one of his movies. Fill in the blank again: “What we have here is a: (failure to communicate).
The most common thing I observe in my counseling work is that we fail to communicate because we so easily get off the subject.
We do this because we tend to ramble in our statements, to verbally attack each other and to become defensive when attacked.
Let’s just take a common scenario. Both parties start off with good intentions as they talk about something potentially problematic, such as how to use money. Almost immediately conflict arises in the mere statement of “The Problem”. Someone uses the word “You” and follows it with a criticism couched in a generalization: “You never spend money the right way”. You always spend money the wrong way”. You never save enough. You always save too much…etc., etc.
There are at least four things wrong with these types of statements.
1) They start with the word “You”, making whatever follows PERSONAL.
2) They use generalizations which cannot possibly be universally true. Too much for what? What is the right way ? The Wrong way?
3) They fail to specify the actual problem. What specifically are you complaining about?
4) They contain no suggestions about how to solve the problem.
We could say that these statements are “semantically ill-formed”. They don’t really convey meaning accurately. They are faulty or Rotten.
Because our statements are faulty, they lead others to misunderstand us and to become defensive. When we hear sentences that start with the word “You”, we immediately brace ourselves for a possible attack - even when what follows is positive.
If a personal attack does come, we then immediately put up our defensive shields and mount a counter attack: “Oh, yeah! So’s your Old Lady…” It’s a “1,2” action: 1) Defend, 2) Counterattack.
This quickly degenerates into name-calling and raised voices.
Now if we had any sense, we’d stop at this point. Someone would say, “You know what, I think this is getting out of hand. We need to stop and regroup.”
But, no. In our desire to be right and to WIN, we keep on going, usually making things worse by the minute. We defend and counterattack back and forth, and before long we have completely forgotten what it was we were talking about. Instead of trying to solve a problem, we are now “fighting about fighting” – and no one wins. And by the way, the unwritten rule about arguing is “The first person to raise his or her voice loses.”
In other words, you lose your credibility when you yell. The other person quickly observes that you’re out of control and they conclude that they don’t have to listen to anything else you say. You lose – even if you’re right!
So that’s a pretty good description of some things we do wrongly as we try to communicate. What should we do instead?
Here are four suggestions to address the four errors we mentioned before.
1) Use the passive voice. The active voice is very clear and direct: “I deposited money in the bank.” The subject acts directly on the object. Easily understandable.
But the active voice can also take the form of a direct attack: “You spent all my money!”
It’s often better to state a problem in the passive voice.
Instead of saying “You spent all my money!”, use the passive form to avoid the personal attack: “There’s a problem with our finances.” Or, if you want to really take a ‘one-down’ position:
“I have a problem with my checkbook.”
If this seems a bit contrived to you, just ask yourself whether the goal is to express your anger at the other person, or whether you want to solve the problem. The answer to this question may help with the motivation to ‘think first, talk later”.
2) Be specific. The old saying is: “All Generalizations are false, including this one.” Avoid using the big ‘universal qualifiers” such as ‘always’ and ‘never’. Instead of “all my money”, specify 20 dollars, 200 dollars or 2000 dollars, etc.
3) State the problem in concrete, specific terms (again using the passive voice to avoid personalizing the accusation) “On Tuesday at 4:00 pm I got a call from the bank saying that they are going to freeze all our accounts”…
4) Be specific with your request to solve the problem. Now I say ‘request’ because every time you communicate with someone, there is an underlying, embedded request: “Will you please listen to me?” is perhaps the most basic request we make of casual acquaintances and friends. With family, the request is: “Will you please love me?” These are broad, assumed requests. The specific form of the request might be “Will you please love me by helping me solve this bank problem?” We don’t normally state this underlying request, but it’s important to know it’s there because even when you are addressing a problem, you are actually asking for something good from the other person – their time and attention, their cooperation in solving a problem.
Then when we do make the actual proposal to solve the problem, it must be stated specifically: “Will you please sit down with me tonight after supper and look at the bank statement?” Will you please help me set up a budget?”
If you are asking for something more personal, use the same technique. Don’t say, “Will you please love me more?” Instead ask:” Will you please talk to me, or hug me, or go for a walk with me?” The cardinal rule is: “If you want it, you have to ask for it.’ Don’t assume the other person knows what you need and will simply supply your need when you want it, without you having to ask for it. That’s called ‘mind-reading’ and it just doesn’t work.
Remember, you are asking for something good, so ask for it in a good way. Instead of using the rotten form: “Why don’t you ever…” use: “Will you please…” You are much more likely to get what you want if you ask for it positively and specifically.
The corollary to this is that if someone else is asking you something in a general way, ask: “What specifically can I do to make it better for you?” The goal is to get the request stated in concrete, behavioral terms such as: “I would like you to pray with me right now about our finances.” This is a ‘doable’ request.
You can even ‘check it out’ to make sure you understand the request: “So… you want me to pray with you right now about this?” If the other person nods their head up and down and says, “Yes.” you’ve hit pay dirt and you’re well on your way to solving the problem.
This is especially true if you are being personally attacked. If they say, “You’re bad or wicked!” You respond (not sarcastically) “In what way do you think I am bad or wicked?” This, I believe is a concrete way we can “turn the other cheek” as Jesus said. The goal is to get the complaint stated as clearly and specifically as possible and then to actually solve the problem with a specific solution.
The very most important things to communicate are Apology and Forgiveness. If you tell me I have sinned against you, I MUST, as a Christian, seek your forgiveness and make specific restitution if possible. If I ask you to forgive me, you as a Christian, MUST forgive me and reckon the offense “Paid in Full” by the blood of Christ. The request for, and extension of Forgiveness is Christian Communication par excellence and it’s what keeps us unified as family, friends and church members.
In almost every case, the use of these communication techniques will help you fulfill the ‘ministry of reconciliation’ and help you actually get what you want more often than not.
Summary
These are just a few pointers that relate to the most egregious ways that we let Rotten words come out of our mouths. Remember again that the goals of our communication with others are to:
Speak the truth to one another
To use our anger for righteous purposes
To Build up Others
To Give Grace to Others
To Express Kindness
To Extend Forgiveness
If you do these things, you will show yourself to be a mature, Christ-like person, one who not only says they love God, but actually demonstrates it in conversations with others.
May God give us Grace to practice this discipline – and Grace to extend to each other as we do so. AMEN.
Complete the following sentence: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but ….(words will never hurt me.)
True? … Not so much.
I think all of us can remember experiences like this one. You’re playing on the school playground and the smartest and most athletic kid in the class repeatedly upbraids you for mistakes you make, calling you stupid. You put up a brave front at the time, but afterward you run home and pour out your heart to your mom, cut to the quick, almost inconsolable. You then remember this incident for the next 43 years!
Words have amazing power to hurt us – which is why the Apostle Paul tells us emphatically: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Eph. 4:29). Let’s hear this same verse in several different versions.
Here’s the New American Standard:
“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
The New International Version: 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
The Message: 29Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
The Amplified Version: 29Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it.
(Note: Many different versions of the Bible can be viewed easily at biblegateway.com; or crosswalk.com)
The Greek word sapros, translated in the ESV as “Corrupting” also applies to“bad” (putrid) fish (Matt. 13:48) or “bad” (rotten) fruit (Luke 6:43), hence the title for today’s sermon: “No Rotten Words”. I was also thinking about “Yucky Ucky Words… but you get the drift.
As a professional counselor, I think I could build an entire practice on this one verse. All of us get in trouble because of the words we use. The Apostle James warns us:
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. (James 3:5-10).
YOW! This is an example of having a problem with the parts of the Bible you do understand! The Tongue is set on fire by Hell, full of deadly poison, rotten to the core, a restless evil! Whoever can tame it is a perfect, or whole, complete person. The rest of us suffer because of the things we say to one another.
God’s Purpose for our Communication:
In today’s reading from Ephesians we not only see a description of unwholesome communication, but several key purposes that God desires for our conversation:
V. 25: Be Truthful: Speak the truth to one another
V. 26: Be Angry: But use your anger for righteous purposes.
V. 29: Build up Others: (Edification)
V. 29: Give Grace to Others
V. 32: Express Kindness
V. 32: Extend Forgiveness
This type of communication has an overall goal: To walk in love, imitating our Savior, and to be unified with others. The practice of these virtues will lead to a wholesome church and family life, confounding the Devil, who always seeks an opportunity.
So, our challenge is before us. What I’d like to do for the rest of our time together today is outline some observations about why we so easily get off the track and use rotten language, and then offer some suggestions about how to get back on track when we get derailed.
Relapse Triggers
In the world of Drug and Alcohol recovery, the concept of Relapse Triggers is central. These are the things that predispose us to failure. They’re very mundane and are often summarized with the acronym HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.
In our family, we used to see these things very acutely when our children were small. We’d have them out in public and they would get tired and hungry and then just suddenly have a meltdown – usually in the most embarrassing situations.
When my daughter Lindsey would get angry with her sister Leah, she would lash out at her verbally with an intense hiss that sounded like a wildcat. I used to call her Little Miss Oral Aggression – a title which would hardly fit her today, by the way.
I think you can supply plenty of your own examples to illustrate the point that we are frail physical creatures and our bodily needs can easily lead us to ‘tongue failure”.
Failure to Communicate
Clint Eastwood had a famous line in one of his movies. Fill in the blank again: “What we have here is a: (failure to communicate).
The most common thing I observe in my counseling work is that we fail to communicate because we so easily get off the subject.
We do this because we tend to ramble in our statements, to verbally attack each other and to become defensive when attacked.
Let’s just take a common scenario. Both parties start off with good intentions as they talk about something potentially problematic, such as how to use money. Almost immediately conflict arises in the mere statement of “The Problem”. Someone uses the word “You” and follows it with a criticism couched in a generalization: “You never spend money the right way”. You always spend money the wrong way”. You never save enough. You always save too much…etc., etc.
There are at least four things wrong with these types of statements.
1) They start with the word “You”, making whatever follows PERSONAL.
2) They use generalizations which cannot possibly be universally true. Too much for what? What is the right way ? The Wrong way?
3) They fail to specify the actual problem. What specifically are you complaining about?
4) They contain no suggestions about how to solve the problem.
We could say that these statements are “semantically ill-formed”. They don’t really convey meaning accurately. They are faulty or Rotten.
Because our statements are faulty, they lead others to misunderstand us and to become defensive. When we hear sentences that start with the word “You”, we immediately brace ourselves for a possible attack - even when what follows is positive.
If a personal attack does come, we then immediately put up our defensive shields and mount a counter attack: “Oh, yeah! So’s your Old Lady…” It’s a “1,2” action: 1) Defend, 2) Counterattack.
This quickly degenerates into name-calling and raised voices.
Now if we had any sense, we’d stop at this point. Someone would say, “You know what, I think this is getting out of hand. We need to stop and regroup.”
But, no. In our desire to be right and to WIN, we keep on going, usually making things worse by the minute. We defend and counterattack back and forth, and before long we have completely forgotten what it was we were talking about. Instead of trying to solve a problem, we are now “fighting about fighting” – and no one wins. And by the way, the unwritten rule about arguing is “The first person to raise his or her voice loses.”
In other words, you lose your credibility when you yell. The other person quickly observes that you’re out of control and they conclude that they don’t have to listen to anything else you say. You lose – even if you’re right!
So that’s a pretty good description of some things we do wrongly as we try to communicate. What should we do instead?
Here are four suggestions to address the four errors we mentioned before.
1) Use the passive voice. The active voice is very clear and direct: “I deposited money in the bank.” The subject acts directly on the object. Easily understandable.
But the active voice can also take the form of a direct attack: “You spent all my money!”
It’s often better to state a problem in the passive voice.
Instead of saying “You spent all my money!”, use the passive form to avoid the personal attack: “There’s a problem with our finances.” Or, if you want to really take a ‘one-down’ position:
“I have a problem with my checkbook.”
If this seems a bit contrived to you, just ask yourself whether the goal is to express your anger at the other person, or whether you want to solve the problem. The answer to this question may help with the motivation to ‘think first, talk later”.
2) Be specific. The old saying is: “All Generalizations are false, including this one.” Avoid using the big ‘universal qualifiers” such as ‘always’ and ‘never’. Instead of “all my money”, specify 20 dollars, 200 dollars or 2000 dollars, etc.
3) State the problem in concrete, specific terms (again using the passive voice to avoid personalizing the accusation) “On Tuesday at 4:00 pm I got a call from the bank saying that they are going to freeze all our accounts”…
4) Be specific with your request to solve the problem. Now I say ‘request’ because every time you communicate with someone, there is an underlying, embedded request: “Will you please listen to me?” is perhaps the most basic request we make of casual acquaintances and friends. With family, the request is: “Will you please love me?” These are broad, assumed requests. The specific form of the request might be “Will you please love me by helping me solve this bank problem?” We don’t normally state this underlying request, but it’s important to know it’s there because even when you are addressing a problem, you are actually asking for something good from the other person – their time and attention, their cooperation in solving a problem.
Then when we do make the actual proposal to solve the problem, it must be stated specifically: “Will you please sit down with me tonight after supper and look at the bank statement?” Will you please help me set up a budget?”
If you are asking for something more personal, use the same technique. Don’t say, “Will you please love me more?” Instead ask:” Will you please talk to me, or hug me, or go for a walk with me?” The cardinal rule is: “If you want it, you have to ask for it.’ Don’t assume the other person knows what you need and will simply supply your need when you want it, without you having to ask for it. That’s called ‘mind-reading’ and it just doesn’t work.
Remember, you are asking for something good, so ask for it in a good way. Instead of using the rotten form: “Why don’t you ever…” use: “Will you please…” You are much more likely to get what you want if you ask for it positively and specifically.
The corollary to this is that if someone else is asking you something in a general way, ask: “What specifically can I do to make it better for you?” The goal is to get the request stated in concrete, behavioral terms such as: “I would like you to pray with me right now about our finances.” This is a ‘doable’ request.
You can even ‘check it out’ to make sure you understand the request: “So… you want me to pray with you right now about this?” If the other person nods their head up and down and says, “Yes.” you’ve hit pay dirt and you’re well on your way to solving the problem.
This is especially true if you are being personally attacked. If they say, “You’re bad or wicked!” You respond (not sarcastically) “In what way do you think I am bad or wicked?” This, I believe is a concrete way we can “turn the other cheek” as Jesus said. The goal is to get the complaint stated as clearly and specifically as possible and then to actually solve the problem with a specific solution.
The very most important things to communicate are Apology and Forgiveness. If you tell me I have sinned against you, I MUST, as a Christian, seek your forgiveness and make specific restitution if possible. If I ask you to forgive me, you as a Christian, MUST forgive me and reckon the offense “Paid in Full” by the blood of Christ. The request for, and extension of Forgiveness is Christian Communication par excellence and it’s what keeps us unified as family, friends and church members.
In almost every case, the use of these communication techniques will help you fulfill the ‘ministry of reconciliation’ and help you actually get what you want more often than not.
Summary
These are just a few pointers that relate to the most egregious ways that we let Rotten words come out of our mouths. Remember again that the goals of our communication with others are to:
Speak the truth to one another
To use our anger for righteous purposes
To Build up Others
To Give Grace to Others
To Express Kindness
To Extend Forgiveness
If you do these things, you will show yourself to be a mature, Christ-like person, one who not only says they love God, but actually demonstrates it in conversations with others.
May God give us Grace to practice this discipline – and Grace to extend to each other as we do so. AMEN.
Believe
A sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on August 2, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Ctr., Huntington, WV and based on John 6:24-37
So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
I believe it will rain today…
I can’t believe I found a parking place right by the door!
I believe you’re right about that …
My neighbor believes in reseeding his lawn every fall.
You wouldn’t believe how long it took me!
The undersecretary for congressional obfuscation replied, “I believe so, Senator…”
We use the word ‘believe’ in many different ways, some of them casual and offhand, some of them more thoughtful and considered. Throughout the Bible, God tells us to believe in Him. Today we’re going to consider some of the consequences of Belief and Unbelief in this message entitled “Believe!”
Our Gospel lesson today ends with Jesus’ powerful assertion:
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
He addresses this statement to a crowd whom he had just fed miraculously the day before and who had sought Him out to get some more of that good free food. He calls them out on their transparent greed and admonishes them to labor for the food that endures to eternal life - food that He himself will give them; the food from Heaven, which they are to receive as they do the work of God, namely to believe in him whom God has sent – Jesus.
As always, the crowd displays amazing spiritual depth and insight as they ask, …”what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?”
They don’t realize that they are reenacting the same error that their ancestors made in the wilderness. They just got done eating the loaves and the fishes, the manna from heaven if you will – and they haven’t the slightest clue that pita bread ain’t the real Bread that God has to offer. They saw the sign, but seeing didn’t see!
This crowd illustrates the tragicomic effects of unbelief: spiritual dullness, preoccupation with the belly, and eventual death through lack of true spiritual food.
Jesus is trying to help them understand the blessings of belief in him – Life and Fullness – but they just don’t seem to get it. They are spiritual blockheads. But lest we be too judgmental, let us consider that those of who say we believe may actually struggle with truly believing ourselves.
In the latest issue of Christian Counseling Today magazine, Josh McDowell writes about the “The Beliefs that Impact Everyday Life” He reports about the “Third Millennium Teens” study done by the Barna Research Group, which reveals some startling information. Among the group of teens surveyed, religious beliefs and spirituality were found to be very important. 70% surveyed attended some church youth group and 80% claimed to be Christians.
The Vast majority [of this group] (80%) believes that God created the universe and 84% believe that God is personally involved in people’s lives. Yet in spit of these orthodox views:
63% also believe that Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and all other people pray to the same god, even though they use different names for their god.
87% believe Jesus was a real person who came to earth and 78% believe He was born to a virgin;
yet nearly half (46%) believe He committed sins, and over half (51%) say He died but did not rise from the dead!
48% of teenagers today believe that it doesn’t matter what religious faith you associate with because they all believe the same principles and truth;
58% believe that all religious faiths teach equally valid truth.
67% suspect that there is ‘no way to tell which religion is true”!
Religious Smorgasbord
McDowell comments that these teens are “putting together their own religious canon in a smorgasbord style, believing it is best to pick and choose from the various ideas, concepts of God, and religions around them and construct a tailor-made ‘faith’ that’s just right for them. That way, it will be theirs personally and will offend no one.”
“….the majority of young people have been conditioned to believe that truth is not true for them until they choose to believe it. That’s why 81% claim that ‘all truth is relative to the individual and his/her circumstances.”
Their pragmatic idea that ‘what works right now is right for now’ will eventually lead them down a path of self-destruction” says McDowell. (Quoted in Christian Counseling Today Vol. 16, No. 3.)
Remember, this is a description of teens who mostly identify themselves as Christians! The study goes on to describe the practical effects of unbelief in teens’ lives. Young people who lack a basic biblical belief system are:
· 36% more likely to lie to a friend.
· 48% more likely to cheat on an exam
· 200% more likely to steal
· 200% more likely to physically hurt someone
· 300% more likely to use illegal drugs, and
· 600% more likely to attempt suicide
When the Bible says ‘The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), this is what it looks like. And while this study described teenagers, it doesn’t take much imagination to extend this description out to adults. We see it all around us in the constant public scandals and swindles that come to light almost every day. Overt Unbelief is harmful to individuals and to our society as a whole. But the Postmodernist smorgasbord approach to spiritual things that accepts anything as true is also harmful because it rejects Ultimate Truth altogether. Postmodern Relativism is very absolute about the idea that ‘All truth is relative’. Practitioners of this philosophy says things such as:
“The crisis of this moment has … do with the great Western heresy - that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God. It’s caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of all being.” (Kathryn Jefferts Schori in an address at the recent Convocation of the Episcopal Church).
Any belief system is acceptable to relativists – Buddhist, Hindu, Green - except one that insists on personal belief in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord. When it comes to an exclusive belief in Christ, this must be denounced as heresy and ruthlessly pushed out.
Our own Fr. Peter Schoew has experienced this first hand, having been deposed as a priest in the Episcopal Church for not renouncing his ordination vows when he and his colleagues were found to be too conservative. This is only the most blatant form of persecution. What we must grieve over is the more subtle effects of this intolerance on those who are left to live in this toxic environment.
Here are a few points to emphasize about unorthodox beliefs:
· Heretical, non-orthodox beliefs are corrosive to vibrant faith.
· Continued exposure to unbelief deadens the spirit and leads us away from the Lord.
· Ongoing, undiscerning exposure to unbelief leads not only to deadening of true faith, but to persecution of those who really do believe.
· We must stand for truth for our own sake so that we may experience the fullness of what God has for us – Intimacy with Him, and being fed and watered by His Spirit.
· We must stand for Truth for the sake of those whose faith has been eroded through merciless destruction of True Belief.
· We must remember that those who sit under false teaching suffer.
Example: Our friends in the Worldwide Church of God for almost 30 years. There were captive to a legalistic and false doctrine and they are still grieving over it after coming out 15 years later!
God Himself grieves over those who are being lead astray.
We must pray for them that God might open the eyes of their hearts so that they might experience the Joy of Knowing and Loving Jesus.
But we must also pray for ourselves – that God would daily renew our faith and help us to act upon what we say we believe.
When Jesus says Believe, it is not a suggestion; it is a command. Failure to believe results in eventual hardening of the heart and death – eternal separation from God. As you are hearing this message, the angels are recording your receipt of it and you will be held accountable.
But that is to focus on the negative. What I’d like to leave you with today with are
Three A’s of Belief:
Assent
Accept
Apply
Intellectual Assent means agreeing with God or ‘confessing’ - ‘saying the same thing’ about the Gospel message. Assent acknowledges the plausibility of Belief.
Acceptance goes beyond Assent and opens the door of the heart to Jesus, who stands knocking and waits for admission. Acceptance means placing my trust in Christ as a trustworthy Savior.
Finally, Applying belief means taking the message I have heard and applying the principles to my life in concrete ways. The apostle James says, ‘Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works ‘(Jas 2:18). In other words, put your money where your mouth is. If you say you believe in Christ as your Lord and Savior, prove it by your actions.
Belief in God and Jesus Christ is very important. Despite what some Marine Biologists may say, Belief in Christ in not heretical. In fact Believing is mentioned 84 times in the book of John alone. Listen to a few of the references from John Chapter Six:
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Belief is what makes you a Christian!
So having said all this, the only thing left to do is to extend an invitation. If you have never believed in Christ, never placed your faith and trust in Him to be your Savior and Lord, now is the appointed day of Salvation. I invite you to pray silently with me this prayer for the Salvation of your soul:
“God, I believe that you exist and that You reward those who diligently seek You. I believe that you sent Jesus Christ to live and die for me so that I shall not perish but have everlasting life with you. Please forgive me of all my sins. Cleanse me and renew a right spirit within me. Give me the joy of your salvation and send your Holy Spirit to live within me. Make me your disciple Lord. Change me and use me as you will – and all for your Glory, through Jesus Christ and in His name I pray.”
If you prayed that prayer with me, rejoice for your name is written in the Book of Life and all the angels in heaven are rejoicing over you right now! Please let me know of your assent and acceptance of Christ so that we might begin to help you apply your new belief in Christ.
AMEN.
So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
I believe it will rain today…
I can’t believe I found a parking place right by the door!
I believe you’re right about that …
My neighbor believes in reseeding his lawn every fall.
You wouldn’t believe how long it took me!
The undersecretary for congressional obfuscation replied, “I believe so, Senator…”
We use the word ‘believe’ in many different ways, some of them casual and offhand, some of them more thoughtful and considered. Throughout the Bible, God tells us to believe in Him. Today we’re going to consider some of the consequences of Belief and Unbelief in this message entitled “Believe!”
Our Gospel lesson today ends with Jesus’ powerful assertion:
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
He addresses this statement to a crowd whom he had just fed miraculously the day before and who had sought Him out to get some more of that good free food. He calls them out on their transparent greed and admonishes them to labor for the food that endures to eternal life - food that He himself will give them; the food from Heaven, which they are to receive as they do the work of God, namely to believe in him whom God has sent – Jesus.
As always, the crowd displays amazing spiritual depth and insight as they ask, …”what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?”
They don’t realize that they are reenacting the same error that their ancestors made in the wilderness. They just got done eating the loaves and the fishes, the manna from heaven if you will – and they haven’t the slightest clue that pita bread ain’t the real Bread that God has to offer. They saw the sign, but seeing didn’t see!
This crowd illustrates the tragicomic effects of unbelief: spiritual dullness, preoccupation with the belly, and eventual death through lack of true spiritual food.
Jesus is trying to help them understand the blessings of belief in him – Life and Fullness – but they just don’t seem to get it. They are spiritual blockheads. But lest we be too judgmental, let us consider that those of who say we believe may actually struggle with truly believing ourselves.
In the latest issue of Christian Counseling Today magazine, Josh McDowell writes about the “The Beliefs that Impact Everyday Life” He reports about the “Third Millennium Teens” study done by the Barna Research Group, which reveals some startling information. Among the group of teens surveyed, religious beliefs and spirituality were found to be very important. 70% surveyed attended some church youth group and 80% claimed to be Christians.
The Vast majority [of this group] (80%) believes that God created the universe and 84% believe that God is personally involved in people’s lives. Yet in spit of these orthodox views:
63% also believe that Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Jews, and all other people pray to the same god, even though they use different names for their god.
87% believe Jesus was a real person who came to earth and 78% believe He was born to a virgin;
yet nearly half (46%) believe He committed sins, and over half (51%) say He died but did not rise from the dead!
48% of teenagers today believe that it doesn’t matter what religious faith you associate with because they all believe the same principles and truth;
58% believe that all religious faiths teach equally valid truth.
67% suspect that there is ‘no way to tell which religion is true”!
Religious Smorgasbord
McDowell comments that these teens are “putting together their own religious canon in a smorgasbord style, believing it is best to pick and choose from the various ideas, concepts of God, and religions around them and construct a tailor-made ‘faith’ that’s just right for them. That way, it will be theirs personally and will offend no one.”
“….the majority of young people have been conditioned to believe that truth is not true for them until they choose to believe it. That’s why 81% claim that ‘all truth is relative to the individual and his/her circumstances.”
Their pragmatic idea that ‘what works right now is right for now’ will eventually lead them down a path of self-destruction” says McDowell. (Quoted in Christian Counseling Today Vol. 16, No. 3.)
Remember, this is a description of teens who mostly identify themselves as Christians! The study goes on to describe the practical effects of unbelief in teens’ lives. Young people who lack a basic biblical belief system are:
· 36% more likely to lie to a friend.
· 48% more likely to cheat on an exam
· 200% more likely to steal
· 200% more likely to physically hurt someone
· 300% more likely to use illegal drugs, and
· 600% more likely to attempt suicide
When the Bible says ‘The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), this is what it looks like. And while this study described teenagers, it doesn’t take much imagination to extend this description out to adults. We see it all around us in the constant public scandals and swindles that come to light almost every day. Overt Unbelief is harmful to individuals and to our society as a whole. But the Postmodernist smorgasbord approach to spiritual things that accepts anything as true is also harmful because it rejects Ultimate Truth altogether. Postmodern Relativism is very absolute about the idea that ‘All truth is relative’. Practitioners of this philosophy says things such as:
“The crisis of this moment has … do with the great Western heresy - that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God. It’s caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of all being.” (Kathryn Jefferts Schori in an address at the recent Convocation of the Episcopal Church).
Any belief system is acceptable to relativists – Buddhist, Hindu, Green - except one that insists on personal belief in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord. When it comes to an exclusive belief in Christ, this must be denounced as heresy and ruthlessly pushed out.
Our own Fr. Peter Schoew has experienced this first hand, having been deposed as a priest in the Episcopal Church for not renouncing his ordination vows when he and his colleagues were found to be too conservative. This is only the most blatant form of persecution. What we must grieve over is the more subtle effects of this intolerance on those who are left to live in this toxic environment.
Here are a few points to emphasize about unorthodox beliefs:
· Heretical, non-orthodox beliefs are corrosive to vibrant faith.
· Continued exposure to unbelief deadens the spirit and leads us away from the Lord.
· Ongoing, undiscerning exposure to unbelief leads not only to deadening of true faith, but to persecution of those who really do believe.
· We must stand for truth for our own sake so that we may experience the fullness of what God has for us – Intimacy with Him, and being fed and watered by His Spirit.
· We must stand for Truth for the sake of those whose faith has been eroded through merciless destruction of True Belief.
· We must remember that those who sit under false teaching suffer.
Example: Our friends in the Worldwide Church of God for almost 30 years. There were captive to a legalistic and false doctrine and they are still grieving over it after coming out 15 years later!
God Himself grieves over those who are being lead astray.
We must pray for them that God might open the eyes of their hearts so that they might experience the Joy of Knowing and Loving Jesus.
But we must also pray for ourselves – that God would daily renew our faith and help us to act upon what we say we believe.
When Jesus says Believe, it is not a suggestion; it is a command. Failure to believe results in eventual hardening of the heart and death – eternal separation from God. As you are hearing this message, the angels are recording your receipt of it and you will be held accountable.
But that is to focus on the negative. What I’d like to leave you with today with are
Three A’s of Belief:
Assent
Accept
Apply
Intellectual Assent means agreeing with God or ‘confessing’ - ‘saying the same thing’ about the Gospel message. Assent acknowledges the plausibility of Belief.
Acceptance goes beyond Assent and opens the door of the heart to Jesus, who stands knocking and waits for admission. Acceptance means placing my trust in Christ as a trustworthy Savior.
Finally, Applying belief means taking the message I have heard and applying the principles to my life in concrete ways. The apostle James says, ‘Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works ‘(Jas 2:18). In other words, put your money where your mouth is. If you say you believe in Christ as your Lord and Savior, prove it by your actions.
Belief in God and Jesus Christ is very important. Despite what some Marine Biologists may say, Belief in Christ in not heretical. In fact Believing is mentioned 84 times in the book of John alone. Listen to a few of the references from John Chapter Six:
John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Belief is what makes you a Christian!
So having said all this, the only thing left to do is to extend an invitation. If you have never believed in Christ, never placed your faith and trust in Him to be your Savior and Lord, now is the appointed day of Salvation. I invite you to pray silently with me this prayer for the Salvation of your soul:
“God, I believe that you exist and that You reward those who diligently seek You. I believe that you sent Jesus Christ to live and die for me so that I shall not perish but have everlasting life with you. Please forgive me of all my sins. Cleanse me and renew a right spirit within me. Give me the joy of your salvation and send your Holy Spirit to live within me. Make me your disciple Lord. Change me and use me as you will – and all for your Glory, through Jesus Christ and in His name I pray.”
If you prayed that prayer with me, rejoice for your name is written in the Book of Life and all the angels in heaven are rejoicing over you right now! Please let me know of your assent and acceptance of Christ so that we might begin to help you apply your new belief in Christ.
AMEN.
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