Rev. David Holwick I Church Covenant #8
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 26, 2006
1 Peter 3:8
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Church Covenant: "To be zealous in our efforts to advance the Kingdom of our Savior,
and we further promise to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember
each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate
Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech."
I. Fired with zeal.
A. Is zeal the same as "jihad"?
1) A Christian may be executed in Afghanistan.
Abdul Rahman, 41, was arrested last month after his family
accused him of becoming a Christian.
He has been charged with rejecting Islam.
Abdul confessed to converting to Christianity 16 years ago
while working as a medical aid worker for an
international Christian group helping Afghan refugees.
"We are not against any particular religion in the world.
But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,"
the judge said.
"It is an attack on Islam."
A leading Islamic preacher had a more direct response:
"We should just take him and cut his head off."
Death is the only sentence allowed for this crime, according
to Islamic Shariah law.
The prosecutor said he had offered to drop the charges if
Mr. Rahman converted back to Islam, but he refused.
"He would have been forgiven if he changed back.
But he said he was a Christian and would always remain one."
A Christian aid worker in Kabul said the number of native
believers is only in the dozens or low hundreds.
#30799
2) Christian equivalent in Crusades.
a) Movie "Kingdom of Heaven" portrays their fanaticism.
3) What is the place for zeal?
a) Jesus was zealous for true faith. John 2:17
b) It must be based on knowledge. Rom 10:2
c) Paul tells us to keep it lit by serving God. Rom 12:11
B. Advancing the Kingdom.
1) We have something better than swords or bullets. 2 Cor 10:4
"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the
world.
On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds."
a) Our weapons are words and persuasion.
b) Force, whether by governments or individuals, does not
serve God's purposes.
2) We should love people into God's Kingdom.
a) Some people are persuaded by God's truth.
b) More people are persuaded by a relationship with
a Christian.
II. Watching over one another.
A. There are different kinds of watching.
1) "I'll be watching you" song by Sting:
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you.
2) Similar to Laban's words to Jacob in Genesis 31:49:
"May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are
away from each other."
a) Often used as a wedding blessing, but it is a curse!
"If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives
besides my daughters, even though no one is with us,
remember that God is a witness between you and me."
b) Many feel that churches specialize in this kind of
watching.
B. Brotherly love kind of watching.
1) Tender care over one another.
a) Be aware of what is going on in people's lives,
especially significant events.
b) Make contact.
c) Follow up on occasion.
2) Does anyone really care?
Bob Laurens is a professor at Judson College in Illinois
and he also speaks at youth rallies.
One day a girl followed him after a concert.
He was so overwhelmed by the crush of young people he did
not get a chance to talk to her but gave her his address.
She wrote him a letter saying how good she felt hearing him.
But she was still lonely, and had thoughts of suicide.
The next day Bob announced a "pop" quiz in his class.
All the students moaned, of course.
Then he read the girl's letter.
Bob stood there.
The students waited, pencils in hand, but he never said
anything.
The end-of-class bell rang, and the students quietly filed
out of the room.
All but one.
With tears in her eyes, she asked the professor for the
girl's address.
She wrote to her and they became good friends.
In time, the girl got saved and later attended Bob Laurens'
New Testament class at Judson.
#356
One person who cares can change a life.
But will anyone care?
3) People leave churches when they feel care is lacking.
Example of a member here who was laid up for a while.
Her mind started working on her.
Those hypocrites don't really care about me!
Fortunately, the church body heard of a development in
her condition and surrounded her in prayer and love.
III. Remembering in prayer.
A. Importance of prayer.
1) Prayer is to God.
a) We can communicate our deepest needs to him.
b) He has the power to do anything.
2) Prayer can be about people.
a) Often, this is our main focus and it's not a bad thing.
b) Don't limit prayer to their physical needs.
c) Their spiritual wholeness is just as important.
B. Remembering.
1) We must keep in touch with people.
2) Bulletin's prayer list can help.
If the long lists of names is intimidating, pick out a
few to concentrate your prayer on.
C. Be practical.
1) Join the church's prayer chain.
2) Keep a journal or prayer diary.
These can not only remind you what to pray about, but
can record the answers you get from God.
IV. Giving aid.
A. In sickness and distress.
1) Physical crisis becomes a turning point for many people.
a) Some find God then; some reject him.
b) Healing was a huge part of Jesus' ministry.
1> Before he healed, he felt compassion for them.
2) Perhaps we cannot heal like he did, but we can care.
a) Loneliness is a common experience in sickness.
b) Be their friend and helper.
B. Maybe they will see Jesus in us.
Carolyn Gillette tells the story of a chaplain named Larry
who befriended Mary, an 80-year-old hospice patient.
The chaplain visited her many times, and he was impressed by
her faith.
One day, he got a call that she had taken a turn for the
worse.
He was told if he wanted to see her alive, he'd better go
that day.
Larry went to visit his friend, and found her in a very deep
sleep.
The nurse said she really needed to sleep because she'd been
in a lot of pain, so Larry didn't wake her up.
But just as he turned to go, she opened her eyes wide and
stared right at him.
She looked intently and then said to him, "Oh, for a minute,
I thought you were Jesus."
They laughed about it for a moment.
Larry said to her, "Mary I want you to do something."
What's that, she asked.
He said, "When you arrive at the gates of heaven and finally
do see Jesus, I want you to look at him for a moment and
say, "Oh, I thought you were Pastor Larry!"
Mary smiled and said she would.
Two hours later, she died, and she had that opportunity.
I believe we all ought to be mistaken for Jesus, every once
in a while.
If you're treating other people with compassion, then maybe
someone will look at your life and say, "For a minute I
thought you were Jesus."
#26533
V. Cultivating sympathy.
A. In feelings.
1) A conference full of hardened Christians.
The Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Sierra Leone,
West Africa, is held in a large church in the capital city
of Freetown.
Each day as delegates entered the large doors into the church
they passed a young girl, maybe about the age of 8, who
begged at the door.
She looked ragged, dirty, her hair was matted and knotty, and
she had on tattered clothes.
No one seemed to know her, and people brushed her aside upon
entering.
Some of the pastors tried to tell her to go away.
They were busy doing the work of the church; she was a bother.
This went on for several days.
As Sharon Rhodes-Wickett sat in the pew observing the
conference one day, her peripheral vision caught some motion
outside.
She looked out the window, and there on the patio outside the
church was a woman, a lay member of the conference.
She had a bucket and some soap.
Although dressed in a beautiful traditional tie-dye gown, the
woman rolled up her sleeves and was giving that 8-year-old
girl a bath.
She soaped up her hair and was tenderly making her all clean
and new.
She washed the clothes the child had been wearing, and they
were spread out on the bushes in the sun drying.
Hundreds of pastors and devoted lay people poured into the
Methodist Church of Freetown to do the work of the church.
But outside, on the edges, quietly and without notice, the
real work of Jesus was being done.
It was not the work of committees and reports and programs.
It was the work of soap and water and human touch and being
able to see the face of Jesus in that of an abandoned
8-year-old girl.
#26276
B. In speech.
1) Gracious words can make a difference.
2) Speak the language of the heart.
When Edgar Guest, the American poet and writer, was a young
man, his first child died.
Guest described the experience.
"There came a tragic night when our first baby was taken
from us.
I was lonely and defeated.
There didn't seen to be anything in life ahead of me that
mattered very much.
"I had to go to my neighbor's drugstore the next morning
for something, and he motioned for me to step behind
the counter with him.
I followed him into his little office at the back of the
store.
He put both hands on my shoulders and said, 'Eddie, I can't
really express what I want to say, the sympathy I have
in my heart for you.
All I can say is that I'm sorry, and I want you to know
that if you need anything at all, come to me.
What is mine is yours.'"
Years later Guest reminisced upon that incident.
He said, "Just a neighbor across the way - a passing
acquaintance.
Jim Potter (the druggist) may long since have forgotten
that moment when he gave me his hand and his sympathy,
but I shall never forget it - never in all my life.
To me it stands out like the silhouette of a lonely tree
against a crimson sunset.'"
When we show others compassion, it will never be forgotten.
How do you want people to remember you when you come to
end of your life's journey?
[list some ministry accomplishments]
I really don't care if someone remembers me for that.
I do hope that people are able to say of me at the end of
my life:
When we were sick he came to us;
When we needed help, he was there;
When I was down, he lifted me up.
In short, I hope that my ministry is remembered for simple
acts of kindness.
For if that is the case, then my life would have been worth
it and I might have come close to fulfilling the
greatest commandment in life: Love God and love
your neighbor.
#1925
C. Jesus shows us the way of sympathy.
1) Jesus became human so he could sympathize with us. Heb 4:15
a) He knows our limitations.
b) He is aware of our failings.
c) He loves us anyway.
2) The sympathy we receive from him, we can share. 2 Cor 1:4
a) Any human can show sympathy and compassion.
b) We have duty to show "Christian sympathy."
1> We feel their pain.
2> We can show them an eternal solution.
3) Come to Jesus for healing.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 356 "A Final Assignment," by Bob Laurens, given at Ohio Baptist Convention
in Columbus, Ohio, October 19, 1988.
# 1925 "A Neighbor's Simple Compassion," by Jack R. Van Ens, Arvada, Colorado,
Leadership magazine, Fall 1987 Fall, page 44. Ending comments are
adapted from Rev. Brett Blair.
#26276 "It Doesn't Take Committees," by Rev. Sharon Rhodes-Wickett,
Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations by Email,
www.sermonillustrations.com, December 7, 2003.
#26533 "For A Minute, I Thought You Were Jesus," by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette,
Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations by Email,
www.sermonillustrations.com, January 25, 2004.
#30799 "Death For Being A Christian," by Daniel Cooney, The Guardian;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1734776,00.html,
March 20, 2006.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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