Serving the Covenant Keeping God - Report Sunday

Commit to serve a Covenant Keeping God
- by Ps Jeremy 22/10/06

1. Let us commit to serve a Covenant Keeping God
一 同 来 服 侍 “与 人 立 约” 的 神

2. God always initiates
•We Serve a Covenant making God
•上 帝 主 动 与 人 立 约
•He promised to keep His promises
•他 更 是 守 约 的 神

Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David – Total of 6

plus Christ is the Last New Covenant

3. Examples from Noah & Abraham
•Noah : Genesis 6
挪亚

•Abraham : Genesis 15 – the very God who would walk through the carcasses!! Only the weaker vassal party would do that.
亚伯拉罕

4. God is always faithful to His Covenant……..
•Israel’s repeated failings (Hosea 11:1-4)
以色列百姓重复的背叛救他们的主
(何西亚书11:1- 4)
•Peter’s boast of faithfulness – followed by denial (彼得三次不认主)

5. …..Even when we are unfaithful !我 们 纵 然 失 信 ， 他 仍 是 可 信 的 ， 因 为 他 不 能 背 乎 自 己 。
•2 Timothy 2: 11 Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
13if we are faithless, he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

6. The Peril of Church Hopping
Is our insistence on choices leading us astray? - exerpts of an article by Skye Jethani
"I don't drink coffee but that hasn't stopped me from using the Starbucks across the street from my church as a second office. I sip my overpriced beverage in the armchair near the window. On this afternoon I was meeting Greg and Margaret*—members of our church I'd worked with closely for the last few years.
"We've decided to leave Blanchard," Greg started. "For two months we've been church shopping." Church shopping—where did that dastardly term come from? I thought while gazing out the window at the swarm of suburbanites fluttering between The Gap, Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, and David Jones, Myers, Deana Ferrari, country Road.
"We really love Blanchard," Margaret added to soften the blow. "It's been a great church for our family, with a wonderful children's program. Greg and I really like it, but our boys are teenagers now and they prefer the music at Faith Community*." I took a sip of my preferred drink—a tall, no whip, Tazo chai latte. Maybe I should have gotten the low cal, non-fat, grande Earl Grey, with Splenda.
Margaret continued, "Faith Community has so much to offer our family, and I think it's really important to go someplace the boys like. When your kids are teenagers, you'll understand." Having played the evangelical trump card (the kids), Margaret sat back in her chair believing no further discussion was necessary.

"What are you going to do when your boys leave home in a few years?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," said Greg. "Maybe we'll come back to Blanchard."

"I hope you don't," I replied, meaning no malice. I did, however, relish the stunned look on their faces, if just for a moment. "I hope that you commit yourselves so fully to Faith Community—building strong relationships, serving with your gifts, participating in its mission—that you could never see yourselves leaving that church. I really believe God grows us most when we are committed to a community."
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Listen:God is not just saving us, he is building a people who honours their covenant. Have you wondered why the Bible is called the Old and New Covenant.?

7. Commit to the covenant – means to love God and God’s people
Covenant needs to be reiterated – eg. Joshua made the Israelites restate their covenant. Joshua 24:15
How to show that you love God?
Don’t tell me you love God when you do not even want to put up with a bit of inconvenience.
Don’t tell me you love God when you do not even bother to choose a spouse or potential spouse that will identify and synergize with your faith and encourage you in your ministry?
Don’t tell me you love God when you don’t even bother to talk to a new person who comes into the church. What you do to the little ones is doing it for Christ.
Don’t tell me you love God when One day, in the judgment seat of Christ – they cannot find enough evidence to prove that you are a Christian.

Understand and walk in the Purposes of God – Go and read Eph 1
- David is known as a person who fulfills the purposes of God. Acts 13:22
God intend to restore what you have lost – the joy, the meaning and sense of purpose.
God intend to make us a voice not an echo.
You are creature of eternity - You have royal blood in you. The king of King has adopted you – you will triumph!!! You will be honourable!!God intend to make the head and not the tail – in all fields and all sphere - including the latest amd most cutting edge bio-ethics, environmental issues etc.