Ordinary Christians in the Hands of the Extra –Ordinary
God.
Part 2:
Ephesians
3:10 -12 and 16 – 21 NIVUK
So that through the church the manifold wisdom of
God might now be made known to the rulers
and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according
to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we
have boldness and access with confidence
through our faith in him…………… 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be
strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may have strength to comprehend with all the
saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of
Christ that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do far
more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work
within us, 21 to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen
I grew up in the South Wales Valleys, were the
common themes for many were Chapel, Rugby and the Colliery, the threads that
would often hold those communities together would be those mentioned above, the
hymns of the Chapel such as Guide me, O
Though Great Jehovah would be sung with at least equal gusto on a Saturday
Afternoon watching the Rugby.
In many ways, our lives would have been
influenced and affected by the strong religious traditions of something best
described as chapel culture, when we spoke of the church, we would often have of thought of the Anglican Church with their vicars etc, to many people from a chapel
background the church was a strange place that could be described it’s church, but not as we know it!.
The traditions of Chapel Culture would be at
least influenced by protecting and promoting Welsh Language and Culture, and to
distinguish it against the English Language and Culture. I would say
that in the Village where the Church I was raised in, half the Chapels would
speak Welsh in all their services. I love Wales
We have made idols of so many things in the
Church, whether that be our traditions, heritage and our national or cultural
identities, our churches have become monuments to past moves of God, or to the
men who God raised up to move his Church forward. The Church has become known to what we’re
against rather than what we for, we fight battles and wars with society rather
than supporting and encouraging society, yes there are anti-Christian influences and challenges facing us today, with the prospect of Gay Marriage and the attempts of our
politicians to force change in the legal definition of marriage.
When people
think of Church they think of a dying religion and something that is part of
the establishment. We should stand against the enemy, the devil but our weapons
aren’t the weapons or the strategies of the world, see 2
Corinthians 10:3-5 .We try to convict the people we meet whose lives aren’t
in accordance with scripture of their sin but we aren’t the Holy Spirit who
convicts the world of sin and shows them God’s righteousness see John
16:-8-11 instead we’ve alienated those He sent us to show His Love and
Compassion to.
When Jesus walked the streets of the lands of
Bible Times, he wasn’t part of the
establishment, whether than was the political or the religious establishment,
Jesus is God’s ultimate revolutionary, he isn’t some kind of Jewish Che Guevara,
he was and is the Son of God, who came as
baby, lived a normal life, then for the last 3 years of his life, bought God’s message of transformation,
hope, redemption, salvation, deliverance and peace to those he meet regardless
of their sexuality, disability, cultural or ethic background,
he raised up normal men and women, that were often the lowest and sometimes the
most despised people in society, like his ancestor King David, who’s mighty men
came from those in debt, distress or the discontented, see 2
Samuel 22:3, he died an
agonising death on the
cross, of all the tens of thousands than were crucified by the Roman and other
empires, only one death made a difference, Jesus took the entire sin of the
entire world from that day until he day He returns, and died as the sacrifice
for not only the sins of the church, but the sins of those yet to know Him.
He arose Victorious from the tomb, and entered Heaven after preparing His early
disciples and sending the Holy Spirit see John
20 so that His Church may go forward and see people saved, lives
transformed, hope restored and renewed and salvation bought to the ends of the
earth.
Today, we the Church like David’s Mighty Men
and the early Disciples are God’s Mighty Men and Women of Faith, who have been
tasked by our
Saviour and Lord to advance His Kingdom and His Church into our streets, neighbourhoods,
communities, regions, nations and the nations of the world.
When God commissioned the Prophet Isaiah in
Isaiah 6:8 see
here for context. Isaiah 6:8-9 8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom
shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I!
Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to
this people:
Throughout the History of the
Church, God has called and commissioned Ordinary People just like You and
Me, he’s not called the seemingly best
equipped or seemingly the most talented or indeed the best gifted, when God
sent the Prophet Samuel to anoint Israel’s next King he sent him to the home of
Jesse in Bethlehem, and when he looked at Jesse’s Sons he saw some great and
talented warriors but they weren’t God’s choice see 1
Samuel 16:5-13, God is calling the Ordinary People to rise up for Him see 1
Corinthians 26-29 but let us not be like the Prophet Jonah, who when God
called him to Niveveh went in the opposite direction!
Today God is calling again Whom shall I send, and who will go for us,
will we say Here am I send Me, and will we ready to Go to those who sends us
and where He sends us ?
Yours in His Grace
Blair Humphreys
