Together We Can Change the World

OPENING

We are living in a very unkind world

With the growing sense of individualism, people are becoming less compassionate towards other people

We live in a time where forgiveness became a very difficult act, and people claims fairness by getting even

The story of Lizzie reminds us today of the kind of world we’re living in… almost 5m views..

Just this week a 10-year old hanged herself as a result of her cruel environment | Allison Wendel from OC (show news image)

We are nagged by this horrifying events around us that became so common these days..

Tired of hearing from your nagging wife/husband? you may have retracted to your own quiet shell hoping you’ll find peace

We are nagged by this common events around us

But no matter where you lock up yourself, the realities of your surroundings will hound you

You cannot continue to live in-denial of the things happening around us, you may for a while, but eventually it will come right back knocking at your doorstep

You may opt not to watch the news, but on another stream, the horrible things going on in the world you live in will creep on you

Turkey attacked Syria. President Trump pulling out of our troops from northern Syria created a lot of noise in our homeland (show news image turkey)

The Democrats is hell bent to impeach the President (show news image impeachment)

China’s hostile claim of the islands in the Philippine Sea (show news image China)

I can go on the whole day and I will not run out of things to say about how desperate our world has become

Without having to ask each and everyone of you, I know that there is a small voice deep inside you crying out for a better world to live in

But we are paralyzed by the desperate situation of the world, and we tend to do nothing.. we sat on the fence and wait for others to do what God has called us to do..

Thinking that our small acts will never make a difference

Remember the Lego? The small tiny pieces of plastic may not count for much, but when they are put together, they can build amazing objects

That instead of living out our God-given purpose, we tend to be just like everyone else, making no difference at all! Hiding in the comfort of our shell!

Shrugging things under the carpet, and hoping that they will go away, but they won’t unless the 2.3B (31.5%) Christians all over the world will have to do something! (show image of Religion Demo Map)

Why is it that christianity is consistently declining, while Islam is consistently growing?

Christianity who advocates love & peace??? The only religion who has a living God!! Why???

Let me tell you why! Because we are so complacent! We misunderstood the message!

During the exodus God, through Moses said to His people...

When God said in …

Exodus 14:14 NIV

14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

That’s why we make fun of ourselves when we joke about, “many are called, but few are ‘frozen’!”

That’s the problem when we christians will only listen to what we wanted to hear!

We pick and choose scriptures from the Bible that will make us feel good!

Unless we shift the way how we hear and listen from God, our generation will not curve the trend!

Christianity! The religion of kindness, compassion, forgiveness & love, will continue to decline!

Let’s read through and see what God told Moses....

Exodus 14:15 NIV

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.

We should like the “verbs” and not just “adjectives” found in the Word of God

The Lord said “move on”!

Is this an indication that we are throwing the towel? Is it game over for us??

Islam

Is it game over for

When Joshua was to succeed Moses in leading God’s people to safety, this was his words to him

Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV

6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

PAUSE!

Do you remember the soundtrack from the movie Ghostbusters?

The first couple of lines goes...

If there's something strange in you neighborhood Who you gonna call? (ghostbusters)

If there's something weird And it don't look good Who you gonna call? (ghostbusters)

Whenever we found ourselves in trouble, or in a difficult situation, we call on someone… when we should call on the “One”

We live in a world of fantasy being tired of reality

We rely on superheroes to change the world for us!

Who is your favorite superhero?

We don’t need any superhero!

Each of you are heroes! Tell the person next to you! “You are a hero!”

As we wrap up our study on the letter of Paul to the Ephesus, we can find

Dream Big Act Small

Often, when we think about making an impact in the world, changing the world, we get hung up on thinking about big acts, superhero kinds of things

But in the letter of Paul to the christians in Ephesus (modern day Turkey), he spelled out small acts, with big impacts!

Often, when we think about making an impact in the world, changing the world, we get hung up on thinking about big acts, superhero kinds of things

We’ve gone through the letter, and on the first part we heard about the redemptive plan of God

That we are chosen! We are predestined to the good works that God has prepared for us in advance!

That Jewish and Gentiles are unified as one people to be united with God

That together, we can find peace!

Together, we can experience love!

Together, we can grow stronger!

And Together We Can Change the World

Now, what are these small acts with big impacts?

TEXT: Ephesians 4:32-5:2

Read with me in…

Ephesians 4:32–5:2 NIV

32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians

From this, Paul gave us simple acts with big impacts!

Be Kind

Be Compassionate

Be Forgiving

Be Loving

SMALL ACTS WITH BIG IMPACTS!

Kindness Always Brings Me Happiness

Kindness (chrestotes in Greek) is a characteristic of God. A fruit of the Holy Spirit expected from every believer

You Can Accomplish By Kindness, What You Cannot Accomplish by Force.

William B. Mckinley, President of the US from 1897 to 1901, was a man who understood that principle

During one of his his campaigns, a reporter from an opposition newspaper followed him constantly and persistently misrepresented McKinley’s views

Even during the extreme cold weather, without sufficient warm clothing he followed McKinley

One bitter evening, the president-to-be was riding in his closed carriage and the young reporter sat shivering on the driver’s seat outside

McKinley stopped the carriage and invited the reporter to put on his coat and ride with him inside the warm carriage

The young reporter was astonished. The reporter continued to oppose McKinley, but never again did he write any unfair or biased about the future president

You Can Accomplish By Kindness, What You Cannot Accomplish by Force.

In another letter of of Paul, this time to the christians in Colossae, he said…

Colossians 3:12 NIV

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Compassion Shall Be My Passion

Compassion (splanch-ni-zomai in Greek) is a human disposition that fuels acts of kindness and mercy

It is a form of love. It is aroused within us when we are confronted with those who suffer and or vulnerable

It is an attitude of care and concern grounded on sympathy towards others

While Jesus was going through towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom he saw the crowds who were harassed and helpless

Like sheep without a shepherd. He had compassion on them

Matthew 9:36 NIV

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

I Forgive Even Those Who are Unforgivable

Forgiveness (ha-rizo-mai in Greek) is ceasing to feel resentment for wrongs and offenses

Wiping out of an offense from memory

Freeing of a person from guilt and its consequences

Forgiveness is primarily an act of God, demanded from the believers who truly recognized that their sins were forgiven

Many reconciliations have broken down because both parties have come prepared to forgive but unprepared to be forgiven

A man named John Oglethorpe, in talking to John Wesley, once made a comment. “I never forgive”. Mr. Wesley wisely replied, “Then, Sir, I hope you never sin”.

Still from the letter of Paul to the believers in Colossae he said..

Colossians 3:13 NIV

13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

My Life Will Represent God’s Love

Love (Agape in Greek) is the first and last word in christian theology and ethics

Therefore, it is important to understand clearly the meaning of this ambiguous term

Love play a central role in the language and theology of the Bible

A feeling of deep affection

When we played a word game two Sundays ago, we were hoping that whenever people hear the word “church”, the word that they will associate with it is “love”… at least for us here in Agape..

When Apostle Peter was encouraging and reminding the believers how they shall live their new lives in Christ, Silas wrote…

1 Peter 4:8 NIV

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

PAUSE

These are fairly simple acts, but when multiplied by many people, consistently over time, will build into a powerful force

In every case where the change was for good, we see small steps, and people who didn’t act alone.. people who act “together”

Too often we fall into negative comparisons of our everyday life activities to someone else’s single, grandest accomplishment.

Too often we fall into negative comparisons of our everyday life activities to someone else’s single, grandest accomplishment.

The reality is that the most powerful change is SLOW and STEADY

Like the water flow that carves the canyon

Look at the Grand Canyon. It was a great formation of rocks and soil carved over time. (Show image of the Grand Canyon)… slowly but steadily...

Look at the deserts in Arizona, they where sculptured by wind over time (Show image of Arizona Desert).. slowly but steadily...

Slow but Steady! Tell the person next to you!

This is a very important reminder to remember, how we, as a church can change the world

The church is a place where we can find support, co-laborers, and even cheer leaders in our steps to change the world

The church is a safe place to dream big and plan for big ideas

The church is where we can together perform small acts, with big impacts!

By showing kindness, compassion, forgiveness and love!

We can do these together! In a community of small group of christians!

We grow big in small groups!

We started with only one small group, now we have seven (7)

And I am appealing to our Small Life Group Leaders to make it a prayer and a desire in their hearts to multiply

Through our online church ministry, there are potential opportunities to multiply this small groups beyond the physical walls of our church

But we can only do this when we have a shared purpose!

And that purpose is to build communities representing God’s kindness, compassion, forgiveness and love!

Let us remind ourselves of the vision and purpose that God has apportioned to Agape…

Our Vision

"To Glorify God by building communities that are spiritually healthy, morally upright, physically fit, mentally alert, emotionally happy and financially stable. To share His love to the un-churched, un-loved, un-inspired, un-motivated and especially to the believers of Jesus Christ.”

We started with only one small group, now we have seven (7)

And I am appealing to our Small Life Group Leaders to make it a prayer and a desire in their heart to multiply

If we embrace and share this vision, Together, we can change the world.

CLOSING

Together We Find Peace—the peace of Christ in our own spirits and peace and unity among our brothers and sisters.

Together We Experience Love—God’s love poured out in and among us and the flow of God’s love out into our greater communities.

Together We Experience Love—God’s love poured out in and among us and the flow of God’s love out into our greater communities.

Together We Grow Stronger—We experience the grace to journey together and be a part of God’s greater collaborative work in our world.

Together We Grow Stronger—We experience the grace to journey together and be a part of God’s greater collaborative work in our world.

And Together We Can Change the World—We are able to discover our purpose and plug into ways that we as a church can accomplish God’s world-changing work around us.

And Together We Can Change the World—We are able to discover our purpose and plug into ways that we as a church can accomplish God’s world-changing work around us.

As we close out our series, let me offer this ongoing invitation to all of us: Let’s continue pursuing togetherness in God’s love.

As we close out our series, let me offer this ongoing invitation to all of us: Let’s continue pursuing togetherness in God’s love. Let’s lean into the concept of Together to deepen relationships. Maybe that means taking the next step, from joining us regularly for worship to joining a small group or a service outreach. Maybe it’s just greeting someone around you who you don’t know. Or going to lunch with a casual acquaintance. There is a place in this community for every single one of us—together.

Let’s lean into the concept of Together to deepen relationships. Maybe that means taking the next step, from joining us regularly for worship to joining a small group or a service outreach.

Maybe it’s just greeting someone around you who you don’t know. Or going to lunch with a casual acquaintance.

There is a place in this community for every single one of us—together.

I think it’s only fitting to close with Paul’s final words to the Ephesians as a benediction: “Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love” ().

I think it’s only fitting to close with Paul’s final words to the Ephesians as a benediction:

Ephesians 6:23–24 NIV

23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

“Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love” ().