God’s Chisel
Dear Whyalla Baptist Church Family
We read in in Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
Looking at what’s happened in the world over the last 18 months, certainly demonstrates the simple truth and reality of this scripture. However, even when we don’t understand the why, or like the plans God have chosen for us, we trust in the Lord with all our heart and we don’t lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5), we proclaim that God’s plans are for us to prosper, that His plans are for hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), and we acknowledge God as our Shepard and that we lack nothing (Psalm 23:1).
So despite another COVID curveball this week, my hope and prayers are that you will join us in worshipping and praising our great and amazing God and Father, and that you will be blessed by this time spent in the presence of our Creator.
Thanks to Mel Coad for our communion message and worship songs, and to Tess Badenoch and Tim Bayly for providing the prayer for our city as well as uploading everything online. Today’s message is a Skit Guys video, followed by questions for self-reflection, and finishing off with prayer.
Heloise
Worship
Communion
“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” – Luke 22:19-20
Communion is a time to remember what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. The bread and wine are tangible, physical reminders of Christ’s love for us. Every time we eat and drink, it is a reminder of the sacrifice of Christ. Just as we depend on food and drink to survive physically, we can only live spiritually through Jesus Christ because of His sacrifice on the cross. Amen!
At the same time, communion is also a time to examine ourselves and our walk with God, as instructed 1 Corinthians 11:27-29. It is a time to do a heart check. Are we walking out our faith and living in an active relationship with Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to move in our lives and to sanctify us. Or are we living life according to our choices and only partaking in communion ritualistically? It’s all about communion and fellowship with God. The dictionary describes communion as: “a close relationship with someone in which feelings and thoughts are exchanged:”
Examine yourself and determine how much time you spend with God. Time is a precious commodity that we give to things that mean something to us. We give our time for work because it pays our bills. We give time to our families because they are special to us, we take time to go on holidays or have “me-time”, etc. How much time do you give to fellowship with God? The answer to this question reveals how much your treasure Christ and love God? Is Christ your delight and the love of your life? We seek to find satisfaction in the things that we want to achieve, but the truth is that you will only truly be satisfied when you are satisfied in Christ. Praise God.
Prayer
Please use the comment section at the bottom of this page to share your prayers.
Sermon
The greatest gift God gives us is salvation in Jesus Christ. When we accept God’s gift, we have eternal life. But God doesn’t expect us to sit back and cruise through the rest of life. God expects salvation to be worked out in us for the rest of our days. The longer we live as followers of Jesus, the more our lives should look like his because of God’s work in us and through us.
Sometimes this process of becoming more and more like Jesus in every area of our lives can be pretty challenging—and even painful. It doesn’t take long before we’re faced with areas in need of improvement. Christians still struggle with issues such as anger, pride, jealousy, and bitterness. While those sins are indeed forgiven because of what Jesus did on the cross, the effects and consequences of those sins remain. That’s why God desires that we deal with them constructively.
At the beginning of the video, Tommy’s character prays and asks God to do whatever it takes to make him into the image of Jesus. That type of honest prayer is one of the most dangerous (yet Christlike) a Christian can utter. What Tommy prays sounds a lot like Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: “May your will be done.” Opening our lives to God in such a manner won’t leave us the same as we were before we prayed.
The idea of God with a chisel and hammer chipping away at our lives may not sound like a lot of fun, but such painstaking work is exactly what must take place for us to become the people God desires. This process of God chipping away with a metaphorical chisel is known as “sanctification.”
Note what Tommy recalls writing in his journal at the time he received salvation from Jesus: “I can’t wait to see what God’s going to do with me.” He was referring to sanctification, whether he knew it or not.
Questions for self-reflection
1. If you were to be so bold as to echo Tommy’s prayer for God to “do whatever it takes” to make you into the image of Jesus, what would God “chisel” first in your life?
2. What “tools” might God use to chisel away areas of your life that need to be reshaped or removed altogether?
3. What do you think would be the most painful or uncomfortable thing about the chiselling process?
4. Has there been a time when you felt like God was “chiselling” on your life? If so, describe it. If not, why do you think it has never happened to this point in your life?
Prayers
“O Lord God, destroy and root out whatever the adversary plants in me, that with my sins destroyed you may sow understanding and good work in my mouth and heart; so that in act and in truth I may serve only you and know how to fulfill the commandments of Christ and to seek yourself.
Give me love, give me chastity, give me faith, give me all things which you know belong to the profit of my soul. O Lord, work good in me, and provide me with what you know that I need.” —Columbanus, 550-615
“Lord, make us to walk in your way: ‘Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance; where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor annoyance; where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice; where there is
peace and contemplation, there is neither care nor restlessness; where there is the fear of
God to guard the dwelling, there no enemy can enter; where there is mercy and prudence, there is neither excess nor harshness’; this we know through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” —Francis of Assisi, 1182-1226
“O God, grant that looking upon the face of the Lord, as into a glass, we may be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory.
Take out of us all pride and vanity, boasting and forwardness; and give us the true courage which shows itself by gentleness; the true wisdom which shows itself by simplicity; and the true power which shows itself by modesty.” —Charles Kingsley, 1819-1875
“O God, what I really need to tell you today is…”
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