Above All, Love - Serve Him!

1 Peter 4:7-11 NIV

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of Godʼs grace in its various forms. 

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

A) Pray Soberly

"The end of all things is near."

 

To be ready at all times.

"Be alert and of sound mind"

We need clarity to pray.

Love fevertly 

Love's Priority : "above all"

Love's Recipient: " each other"

Love's Safety : "covers.... sins"

Proverbs 10:12 NIV

“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.”

Love's Duty : " offer hospitality"

1 Peter 1 - Peter writing to strangers..

Hebrews - entertain strangers cos you never know you are entertaining Angels

Love's Attitude :" without grumbling"

John 13:35 NIV

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.””

Serve Faithfully - you cannot live without serving 

4 observations:

The principle: Each one has received a gift! 

The practice : Each one should use it to serve others! 

The Ministry Equation 

GIFT + LOVE  =MINISTRY 

God requires us to exercise Love else it just a gift.

The privilege: Each one should serve by God's grace! 

Charis = Grace  

The purpose: Each one should serve to glorify God! 

We serve to please God not to please ourselves.

God @ Work - The Gift of Prayer

Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’”

Purpose of Prayer: 

A) Build relationship with God

 Matthew 6:9 NIV

““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,”

This is actually from the Jewish old synagogue.

Jesus also uses "Abba" as Father

Mark 14:36

It is intimate term in calling our Heavenly Father.

The purpose of prayer is not only to ask for favor but relationship with God.

At times we take it for granted. 

Jesus also "hallow be your name" that states you need to come to God in fear also. He is not your buddy even though He is your Father.

He is both near and holy.

B) Jesus priority is souls be save.

“your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:10 NIV

As you pray, let God's agenda be your agenda

Jesus wants us to join God in kingdom purpose adventure in redeeming lives.

C) Entertailment vs Previlage 

“Give us today our daily bread.”

Matthew 6:11 NIV

Ephesians 2:3 NIV

 “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”

God's provisions is a Previlage. 

We need to pray that every Previlage is God's blessing. 

James 4:2 NIV

“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.”

God doesn't owe you.

It's truly His provision.

We come to Him to acknowledge and thank Him for His provisions. 

Matthew 4:4 NIV

“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ””

D) Potential of Prayer : Relationships Restored

Matthew 6:12 NIV

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

1 John 1:9 NIV

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

there is no sin too great for God to cover.

God wants us to restore the horizontal relationship 

Jesus uses "Us" that the Lord's Prayer which meant to be corporate prayer, community prayer

Matthew 18:18-20 NIV

““Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.””

E) Power of Prayer : Faith in Temptations and Testings

Matthew 6:13 NLT

“And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

James 1:12 NLT

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

As you pray , and experience Him in your prayer,  God is our:

Romans 8:32 NLT

“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

God @ Work ~ Gospel at Work

Gospel at Work is a Lifestyle.

 

Daniel 6:1-4 NIV

“It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.”

A) Be Devoted ~ Daniel 6:1-8

Person |  Purpose 

B) Be Dedicated

Daniel 2:48 NIV

“Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.”

Daniel 6:3 NIV

“Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”

C) Be Different 

Daniel 6:4-5 NIV

“At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.””

Daniel chooses: 

We are made Holy by Jesus Christ

To be effective - change

By the redeeming grace from God.

D) Be Determined 

Daniel 6:10 NIV

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.”

Prayer | Posture

Colossians 4:2-4 NIV

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”

Pray for open doors 

Pray for open hearts

Pray for God to touch your boss in a special way

Be Wise 

Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders

Be Discerning

Make the most of every opportunity

Be Gracious in Your Speech

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt

God @ Work ~ Relationship @ Work

What is Trust? 

If self orientation goes Up, Trust goes Up!

What is the equation for healthy good relation @ work?

Philippians 2:1-16

A - Relationship @ Work is actually Jesus Centered Relationship. 

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Philippians 2:3-4 NIV

If you want to build relationship on Jesus 

centered:

1) Add value to the lives of others

2) Value People Wholeheartedly 

Wrong / Barriers @ Work:

Mutual accommodation of self-need

- relationship becomes transaction , manipulate for self need.

- stepping stone as career advancement.

- Self interest

If focus on self, think of ourselves as King and others as servants. 

So sometimes at work, they response to you like dirt. 

But if we focus on other, what can I do for you, treat others as Kings, meet other needs, people will reciprocate to your needs. 

How are you treating  people at work?  

B- Model: Phil 2: 5-13

Jesus as our model.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

Philippians 2:5-13 NIV

Jesus must be willing to sacrifice in order to save us.

He takes the role of servant to die for us. 

Put on the mindset of Christ. 

To add value in the other lives for their sake. 

The question is not can we.

Just Do It! 

It is a choice. 

C - Motivation 

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky”

Philippians 2:14-15 NIV

In everything we do, we should glorify God. Amen!

God @ Work - Life @ Work

““Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Exodus 20:8-11 NIV

1) We are made to work hard

" six days you shall labor and do all your work,"

2) We are not made to work non-stop

"....on it, you shall not do any work,.."

3) We are made to rest

"... , but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God.. He rested on the seventh day."

Sabbath - to cease, to end, or to rest

The Sabbath - 4 concepts 

A) Rhythm

God has build the rhythm of work and rest.

God's rhythm for us: 

Time to rest and time to be still everyday.

B) Refocus

Stop and focus on God.

God is the Lord of our lives.

The Sabbath day is not a holiday but a holy day.

A day where we set apart and put God in the center of our lives.

It's an intentional shift from me to HIM

It's a MOVE from work to WORSHIP 

We all need that. To get refreshed and new strength from God.

It's God in control and I am not.

C) Renewal

The state of being made new.

In our body, soul and spirit

"If you don't come apart and rest awhile, you will come apart."

-Old proverb-

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.”

Mark 6:31-32 NIV

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV

Each time you take time to rest in God, you will be renewed, sharpen faith with God, the supernatural touch from God to strength and renewal your soul.

D) Reliance

A rest of faith

No matter what we do, God is in control of my life.

One day out of six day, we stop and put God in control in my life.

Learn to honor Him as the source of my life. 

It's not what I can do, it's what God can do in my life.

God delights when we put our trust in Him

“Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

Psalm 127:1-2 NIV

““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28 NIV

God @ Work - Ethics @ Work

What is Its Foundation?

Christian Ethics is founded on the changeless character of God

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6:8 NIV

This passage states the two main Commandments.

God's REQUIREMENT of US:

1) ACT JUSTLY

2) LOVE MERCY

3) WALK HUMBLY with Your God

1) ACT JUSTLY

"To act justly..." 

Micah 6:8

The Problem of Dual Morality

The Sin of Omission and Commission

- the Sin of not doing something that is right

- the Sin of doing something that is wrong 

Benefits over Commission

Ethics over Omission

2) LOVE MERCY

".... to love mercy"

Mercy is Justice with Love: The 2nd Chance 

Matthew 5:7" blessed are those merciful "

Mercy is tempered with love.

Mercy is unexpected Kindness: The 2nd Mile

When to hand out justice when to hand out love

3) WALK HUMBLY with Your God

".... and to walk humbly with your God"

Have can we live wisely and humbly?

God is on the move in his mission 

We participate in God's mission

- Pride is the greatest Sin of life

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NIV

1 Cor 10:31

It's about God,  Not about us

We are not earning to get God on our side.

We are upworking the character of God in us.

4 Tests for Ethical Living

1) the Sleeping Test - if I do this, can I sleep at night?

2) the Newspaper Test - Would I 

3) the Mirror Test - If I do this, will I feel uncomfortable with myself when facing this mirror?

4) the Child Test - If I do this, would I mind telling my teenage child?

Can I Pray For You? - Special Speaker : Pastor Benny Ho

ALuke 10:1-9 NKJV

“After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few;

Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

We are the answer for the prayer.

Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.

Depend on God, it's urgency. 

Do not go from house to house

Keep sowing, stay. Perserve. Be patient.

4 Steps Strategy

1) Bless the LOST

But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 

Speak peace over them. 

We make peace with the lost. Everyone likes to be blessed.

We push off curses

Every time , we bless them we pushing the darkness over them.

Without strings attached, we intro grace into their lives.

Unmerited favor.

It will bring favor with the unsaved.

Often we curse the lost, than we bless them.

Romans 12:14-21 NIV

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

2) Fellowship with the Lost

And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give

3) Pray for the Lost

And heal the sick there, 

Pray prayers of faith 

It's God's will to heal not within the four walls in church but in the marketplace.

That they can feel the power of the living God.

1 Corinthians 1:22-24 NIV

“Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

God loves to answer the prayers of the non-believers. He more concern of them to be saved. 

Pre-believers are more open to receive of their prayers of their felt needs.

Pray 

4) Preach to the Lost

and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”

We are bringing the kingdom to them

Luke 10:17-20 NIV

“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.””

The key is the church is doing in the marketplace with the authority of God.