Church Retreat - Talk 6: The Presence of God for Life
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6/7/2017
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Talk 6
The Presence of God for life
2 Timothy 4:1-2
I
charge you in the
presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
2
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
= Presence of God is “in Christ”
= Between his 1
st
& 2
nd
Appearing
Presence of God
in 3 Tenses
16
At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!
17
But the Lord stood by me
and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So
I was rescued
from the lion's mouth.
18
The Lord
will rescue me
from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Presence of God
“in Christ” for Paul
Abandoned but not alone Alone but not lonely Attacked by not defeated
The Presence of God in 4 ways
God’s Spirit (1:14) God’s grace (2:1) God’s Word (3:16) God’s Model (3:10)
= Why Timothy can
also
fight the good fight & finish the race!
God’s Model (3:10)
10
You, however, have followed
my teaching,
my
conduct,
my
aim in life,
my
faith,
my
patience,
my
love,
my
steadfastness,
11
my
persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured;
yet from them all the Lord rescued me
.
= Presence Jesus in ALL of Paul’s life
But there is a battle (3:10)
12
Indeed, all who desire to live a
godly life
in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted,
13
while
evil people and impostors
will go on
from bad to worse
, deceiving and being deceived.
= Choose between real and fake models
The Battle for People
The
Age
we live in The
Society
we live in The
Reality
we live with = Be prayerful & mindful
The Age we live in
From rural to urban
age
More distanced from God, more depraved
Nature-deficit leads to God-deficit
More cities of Babylon, less city of Jerusalem
Revelation 18
= Come out, come out of Babylon
A Tale of 2 Cities
Babylon
Jerusalem
Self-made God-made Self-ruled God-ruled Self-glorifying God-glorifying
Society Today
Most
t
ransient in human history
A Challenge to:
Christian Stability Christian Fidelity Christian Authencity
= Christian Maturity
Physically close,
Relationally distant
People people everywhere, BUT no ONE to call your friend
Specialisation & Fragmentation
In society In 21
st
Century church
Families:
* From extended to nuclear families * From nuclear to singular * From lifelong to serial marriages
= Later & fewer marriages = More divorces, older divorcees
People Lostness
More & more dehumanised More & more depersonalised
= Less & less presence of God
Freedom
The movement from People
t
o
P
ersons
= The idol of individuality
God’s Answer
From individuality to FAMILY
1 Timothy 5:1-2
God’s Answer
The Centrality of the Cross
= All about God creating & redeeming people!
= All abut God LOVING people!
God’s Answer
The Trinitarian God
The most ugly vs beautiful people!
Miserable vs meaningful.
2 Timothy 1:10-12
and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus,
who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11
for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,
12
which is why I suffer as I do.
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed,
and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that
day what
has been entrusted to me.
[
c
]
What’s your opinion of
People
2. Life
3. Death
What’s your obedience to
Jesus?
2. About People?
3. About Life & Death?
Paul’s
Model (3:10)
10
You, however, have followed
my teaching,
my
conduct,
my
aim in life,
my
faith,
my
patience,
my
love,
my
steadfastness,
11
my
persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured;
yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
= Presence Jesus in ALL of
OUR life!
Where is God?
If Jesus is not Lord of your moments, He is not Lord at all. = Are you fake or real?