J.o.y. of Knowing Jesus

                                                                   J.o.y.  Jesus, others, you.   

Dear friend,

May the amazing grace of God be received unto us a fresh  today, in that we will realize that it is a new day of God’s mercy and grace towards us through His Son Jesus Christ!  May yours and my minds and hearts be like sponges which take in and absorb the love that our God and our Father lavishes on us anew today,  and as a result we experience and rejoice in the knowledge that God loves us very deeply.

Last Sunday we heard about the mutual relationships that existed between Apostle Paul and his two co laborers Timothy and Ephaphroditus who ministered to him in prison and for him to the congregation at Philippi. We heard of how Paul not only ministered to others but of how he needed the ministry of his two beloved brothers, who were available to him, who were sensitive to the needs of the people and who were dependable. Available, Sensitive, Dependable.   May we recognize that those three characteristics are a formula to maintaining, exercising and deepening any relationship between people.

Paul, having J.o.y. in his beloved people as well as J.o.y. in ministering amongst them again reminds them to rejoice in the Lord, and it seems that he repeating himself. Why not, for he is a joyful minister of the Lord who lives in joy and wants all to live in the same joy. May we be reminded of what joy is?

Joy is a reality that is ours through the knowledge and experience that God has reconciled us to Himself through the cross, by His gracious gift we trust in that reality, and even if circumstances change in our lives, our relationship with Him now and forever cannot be shaken.

Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of our lives, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.

Christian joy is confident, it is shared and it is increasing.

Let us listen again of the joy of Apostle Paul…..

1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy

1:18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

1:26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again

2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

2: 17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

  18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

2:28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

As we move to the next focus of Apostle Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) he again exhorts them to live in joy, calling to them as brothers (and sisters) to rejoice in the Lord, and  goes onto tell them that they should be careful of the joy robbers who are in their midst. A joy robber would be anyone who tries to add something to the teaching that salvation is by grace through faith, and man contributes nothing. Let us listen to what he says.

KJV Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.

 2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

 3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

He tells them that he is repeating what he has already told them, for the reason that it is all important to keep emphasizing and placing before his hearers of the basic essential parts of the Christian faith. He speaks to the subject of circumcision, which in the Old Testament was a mark that all the male members of the Hebrew people were to be marked with on their 8th day of life. 

The New Testament clarifies and contrasts the shadows and temporary ministrations of the Old Testament, for in the Old Testament people came to the physical temple to come into God’s Presence.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Paul continues on to warn his people about the robbers of joy.

Philippians 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;

 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

Paul then goes on to describe what it means to have confidence in the flesh, by pointing to his former life of  devoted and impeccable service to God and he does this by saying it like this: “Let me tell you how it worked for me in my former days when my eyes were blind to what God had done for me through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Let me tell you how I found my identity in God’s chosen people, not in Jesus Christ. (An Israelite), I was of the tribe of Benjamin, and I was a Hebrew of Hebrews.

As a result of being brought up in this environment, I became a Pharisee in step with the law, I became a persecutor of the followers of Jesus Christ who had been killed and was never heard from again, and I was blameless in the keeping of all the God required us to keep in order to maintain our standing before Him.

But I was mistaken, for what I thought was right and acceptable before God in order to please Him, I found it to be of no value. This all happened because Jesus Christ met me, for He pursued me and stopped me in my tracks, and my whole life changed from being a persecutor to being persecuted. Let me give you a little background of some events that I witnessed while I was still walking in darkness, but yet confident that I was doing the Lord’s work.

There was one of the followers named Stephen of this  dead Jesus who was answering questions for the leaders of the synagogue and after he had challenged them in their belief system, they did not like what he had to say to them concerning the resurrected Jesus, Acts 7:54-8:1a  (I changed it up a bit to make it appear that Saul/Paul was speaking in the first person)

54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

 55 But Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

 56 And I heard this Stephan say, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God”.

 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at my feet.

 59 And they stoned Stephen, who I heard call unto God  and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

KJV Acts 8:1 And I was in agreement what was done to kill this follower of Jesus.  .

KJV Acts 9:1 And I continued on, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, and I went unto the high priest,

 2 And I asked of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, I might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

 3 And as I journeyed, I came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

 4 And I fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

 5 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the goads, it is hard for you to resist my calling upon your life.

 6 And I trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Everything changed from that day on, before I was blind, but now I began to see. I now knew that my identity was in Jesus Christ, and that the forgiveness that He poured out into me and upon me was by grace, it was a gift. As a result of this great change, the freedom and joy that I now experience, I began to preach the resurrected Jesus Christ instead of seeking to imprison or even to join in the killing of His followers.  I was able to see that persecuting of his followers was persecuting Jesus Himself……..

7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

As I close this writing, there is a lot to think about in relation to our own testimony. Through the years it has been interesting to hear of how people were brought from darkness to light. What is your experience of coming from darkness to light? Some have come gradually and cannot remember a specific occurrence like the Apostle Paul went through, while others remember very well of how they lived in what they thought was the light, but when the True Light came to them, they realized that they were in darkness and then came to the True Light in their brokenness.

In two weeks we are going to move to verses 10-11( I will not be preaching here next Sunday) which consist of few words, but have immense meaning to one who has come to see that salvation is a gift by grace through faith. For Paul states of three desires that rose up in him as a result of his encounter with Jesus, when he heard the Voice speak into his very own heard and mind.

Out of his transformation came the desire “to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, to share in His sufferings, and to be like Him in His death.”  There will be much to hear from the Spirit concerning those three desires of one who has been changed living in external trappings of religion to the internal experience of becoming a worshipper of God in spirit and in truth.

May the Lord bless our meditations in His Word through the workings of the Holy Spirit who continually speaks to us and show us Christ in His death and resurrection.

In Christ,

Pastor Orval Wirkkala

J.o.y. of caring and of being cared for.

The Apostle Paul did not allow his circumstances (of being in prison for preaching the gospel) to hinder His calling as a minister of the Gospel, but rather as we heard earlier his being in prison actually furthered the effect of the Gospel. While in prison, he utilized a couple of coworkers that not only ministered to others, but who ministered to Paul himself.  Paul had learned to not only minister to others, but he also received ministry from others, as in from Epaphroditus. (Philippians 2:25)

Paul was not a one way servant in that he spent his time serving others, but he himself knew that he needed encouragement and help himself. We about this in his letter to the Roman church.

Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

 10 Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

He cared deeply for those in the congregation that he had helped plant and now he wished to know how they were doing in their Christian faith. So he sent unto them Timothy and then Epaphroditus. He knew and trusted the character of Timothy, who available to go.

Philippians 2:19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.

 20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.

 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

 22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.

 23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

 24 But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.

He then sent Epaphroditus, who was also available and who had ministered to Paul himself.  Epaphroditus was not only available, but he was also sensitive to the wants of Paul. Paul knew of his brother’s sensitive heart for he had experienced the kindness of Christ through him, not only for himself, but for those in the Philippian congregation. 

 25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.

 26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.

 27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

 28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

Ephaphroditus was not only available, he was sensitive to the needs of the Philippians, but he was also reliable. Paul could count on him to do as he was sent to do, for Epaphroditus did not count his life dear to him, but understood and ministered putting himself last. He lived by J.o.y.

 30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.

We are now at the halfway point in our studies through the letter to the Philippian church, or we might say we are halfway through the letter of the Lord to our beloved Kingston congregation. May we pause in order to reflect on what the application might be for us from the Word of the Lord? It would be good to do so and let us start by looking at the big picture.

The title that is given to the message today is “Caring and being cared for.”  That was chosen to reflect the reality that within every congregation there are basically two categories of people: Those who are able to care for others and there are those who need caring for. We already saw how the Apostle Paul kept this in balance, recognizing that as he ministered to others, that he needed their reciprocal ministry towards him.

In our readings today, (2 Samuel 9) and (Luke 10:25-37) we witnessed the kindness of God demonstrated by David and Kindness Himself having compassion on the man who appeared to be dead on the road to Jericho. When we have received the kindness of God through Christ in that we have by grace through faith become a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1;3-4), we are a new creation created unto good works in Christ Jesus. We have been rescued along the road by the Kindness of God and have been given all that is needed to be scatterers of the Kindness of God. David, even though living in the Old Testament times, was indwelt by the kindness of God so that he asked the question in 2 Samuel 9

KJV 2 Samuel 9:1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?

3 And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet.

After Jesus asked the lawyer  which one of the three was a neighbor to the man lying on the side of the road, he answered, “He that showed mercy unto him,” he was basically saying that the one that showed kindness to him.’

Jesus responded: Do, and do likewise. Go and demonstrate the mercy of God towards your family, towards your brothers and sisters in the church, and towards the world.

Have we experienced the Kindness of the Lord? If so, how are we living out that which we have received from the Lord? Who might we be kind to today?

Are we available to serve? Are we sensitive to the needs of people? Are we reliable?

Lord, please guard our relationships from the evil one, strengthen them in faith and trust in You and deepen our understanding and experience of Your love for us. In Jesus Name, Amen

Pastor Orval Wirkkala

Our Father

          Our Father

May the quiet waters of God's grace be with you and in you today..

KJV Luke 11:1 And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray,

Our Lord was a praying man, for there are 27 specific instances in the Scripture in which He is found communing with His Father in prayer. He not only sets the example for us, but when He was teaching His disciples about Kingdom Life in Matthew's Gospel, He gave them what we call the "Lord's Prayer" and invited them to use that form when they commune with their/our Father.. Luke in his Gospel writes that He pointed them to the Lord's Prayer" upon their asking Him to "teach us to pray."

"Our Father"   We need to remember that we not only pray with all those in the body of Christ, but that when we pray our Brother Jesus Christ is praying with us and for us. So when we enter into communion with Our Father, let us remember that He, Jesus, was quite comfortable spending a lot of time with Our Father in prayer for long periods of time, even all night at times.

When we recognize that this earth is an alien land for Him, it is not that difficult to see how He was so accustomed to having fellowship and communion with His Father. It would be like He was going back home. On the other hand, it is difficult for us to make the switch from our earthly existence and thought process to the realm into which it would be quite natural to pray with our Brother Jesus, "Our Father." 

He allows us to share in His prayer, invites us to this communion and desires that through these times we would grow together in heart and mind with the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Our Struggle

We hear about God, we know people who say they believe in God, and we also have a hard time understanding a God who seems to be distant from us.  We ask the questions like, "Where was this God when my son died suddenly, where was this God when I got my cancer, where was this God when I became afflicted with this disease, where was this God when my spouse left me for another person?"  In light of all this, how can I even begin to pray, "Our Father?"  I do not understand that kind of a prayer at all........I can barely say, "God, let alone "my" or "our God." 

He knows everything before it even happens while we struggle with knowing what is happening in our lives at the moment, let alone what is coming in the future.  In essence, we do not know what our real needs are, what we lack and what we need.  We have no problem knowing what our wants and desires are. There in lies the problem, we think that our wants are our needs. And we will see those wants satisfied in what ever ways that we can find to do so.

If we are lonely, we will look for companionship with someone or something that will bring satisfaction.  If people are not available, we will look for means that will deaden the pain of loneliness in our heart and being, knowing that the quick fix will only deaden the pain or medicate the pain, but will bring no long term resolution to our sense of separation, isolation and loneliness. Whatever we have become accustomed to will be that which we resort to in order to fill the deep need in our soul. 

And when it becomes a pattern, it becomes addictive, which then brings us into a bondage that we have no power to get out of, and in fact, do not wish to get out of since it is a place of escape, of comfort and of pleasure.  In that relationship there is no risk, there is no work to be done, but only to take that which we so desperately need.  We want to stay there, even though inside we know that it will not fix our desperate need for companionship.

When we go to visit a doctor, sometimes it is with definite physical symptoms and other times it can be without definite pains, but only a sense of something is wrong. If we visit a doctor with anxieties and worries, the doctor will through questions and observations come to understand what is the root of our troubles and then seek to address the root cause of them.

It is like that for us as we approach our Father with our needs, asking for something that will satisfy these deep needs without really realizing why we are asking for them to be filled in a certain manner. The need for affirmation by us as humans drives us to ask for things that will make us feel accepted and validated by others, for in that acceptance and validation is our entire feeling of self worth. 

It is our self love that causes us to pray for the changing of our circumstances rather than looking inside our hearts to determine what is motivating and moving our attitudes, actions and words.  In all sincerety, we think we know what we need, but our Father knows really what we have need of and we keep evading and running from those things that He knows we need.   He knows our deepest needs and secrets. So when we pray for healing for ourselves or for those around us, are we doing them a good service or are we trying to circumvent that which God wants to do through their need?

Our Father

Richard Wurmbrandt, a missionary who spent fourteen years in prison in Romania for preaching the Gospel, wrote in one of his books that the first two words of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father" were of great comfort to him during the years of his captivity in a Romanian prison for preaching the gospel, especially in the later years when he had forgotten nearly all of the Bible verses that he had memorized.

He stated that in these two words, "Our Father," he was reminded and encouraged that he was not an orphan and that he was not the only one suffering persecution, for God was his father and he had many brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. It was a profound experience for Richard which came from thinking on and being fed by those two words which ministered grace and love to his soul.

As we watch families interact together we notice that sometimes very little is said as mom or dad are busy doing their thing while the children are busy playing together or by themselves. Occasionally there will be a glance from the adult to the child or vice versa, there will be a smile exchanged, and both will resume that which they were doing.  The parent knows that his/her offspring is near, they have no immediate need  and all is well in the family. Words are not always needed among families in order for the love that is shared among them to be enjoyed and for it to grow and flourish.  Even though the child may be living for the moment, the parent knows the needs of the child not only for the day but the needs for the days in the future.

God has spoken first, and He has acted first even as our parents have acted  so that we were brought into the world.  We are His offspring and often times we go through times of enjoyment of being in His presence without hearing from Him or saying much back to Him. We are like the child and parent which we related above in that it is okay to be silent while enjoying the love and security of our relationship with Our Heavenly Father.

We must be quiet before Him, as much as possible having a calm spirit even in the midst of the troubles that we find swirling around us and in us. At this point, the logical question is brought forth by many: "If Our Father knows beforehand what we need, why should we pray?"

Communing with Our Father

We answer this by saying that the main purpose of prayer is not to ask for something or for someone, but it is to enter into communion with Our Father. If we only say "Dear Heavenly Father" and no more words are said, but that in the Spirit we enter into communion with Him, we are with Him with those few words and in the ensuing silence more than saying a million words to Him.

When we think of the meaning of the words, Dear Heavenly Father, we are reminded first and foremost that if He is our Father, then it means that we are His children. We are in essence hearing Him cry out through the ages based on His creative Word and His Incarnate Word: "You Are Mine!"

When we enter into communion with our Our Father, our needs, our pains, our frustrations and our cries are brought before Him on the basis the the Word. Our petitions are received by Him, they are considered, they are considered according to His will, and, in that we are given peace as we move towards Him in oneness of spirit as we by faith accept all as from His loving hands.  We may not understand, but we accept these things as from Him, knowing that Father knows best.

It is important that we realize that when we stop communing with Our Father in heaven and when we stop living and breathing in this relationship of love, we will begin to talk about God and not with Him. When we talk about religion in a ritualistic manner, it is because we have moved away from our fellowship with Him and consequently we only speak of things of the Spirit in a distant manner.

Dear Father, help us to come before you in quietness, leaving all the distractions outside, knowing that you will hear us in secret and reward us according to what you want for us.  You already know our needs, we only know our wants, and in your wisdom and love, you will not give us all that we want. So, dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, would you teach us to pray?

Pastor Orval