Freedom in Christ ... are you really free?

When I was a kid, I could hardly wait for the day when I would be old enough to be free of my parents & their rules.  I used to dream of the day when, “I could do whatever I wanted to do”.  No one to tell me what to do!  The problem was that once I was old enough, it wasn't just my parent's rules that I needed to listen to, there was also rules of the road, rules at the place of my employment, rules in relationships etc.  And here I thought that I could be free of all these rules.  Sigh.  Is this what being an adult really is all about?

But I discovered that life is not necessarily about the rules.  They certainly can 'hem you in’ & restrict you heavily if you let them.  But I realized quickly that you could still live in a place of freedom within the boundaries of the rules (no matter who’s they were).  Jesus died for me & has set me free.  That's it.  That's all that matters.  My freedom is not in the rules … it's in the cross of Christ.

As you examine your life, could you describe your Christian journey as walking in freedom?  Or do you feel oppressed by a list of restrictions/laws?  Have you allowed Satan to 'hem you in’ with another gospel - one made up of rules?

Paul cautions us to beware of false teachers who peddle a false gospel that traps, not releases (Galatians
1:6-9).  Living out the implications of the message that Jesus died and rose again to rescue sinners from this evil age means that those very people who have been rescued are no longer enslaved by the powers of this age.  For Gentiles to turn to the Law, as if that added something to their salvation, was to deny that they really had been rescued and set free by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  In fact, Paul goes so far as to say quite
explicitly what he only hinted at earlier (cf. 4:17–18) - submitting oneself to the Law alienates one from Christ.

Christian freedom doesn’t simply mean that one is permitted to do everything he/she chooses when he/she chooses to do it.  Just because we are free in Christ and under no obligation to the law doesn’t give us a moral carte blanche.  Remember what Paul said about the law?  It doesn’t save us, but it can teach us moral guidelines and principles.

Freedom (so I have learned) doesn’t mean the absence of authority.  We are still responsible for our choices and accountable to God for those choices.  God has a definite will for us.  He has plans to shape us into the very kind of people He intended for us to be.  For the Old Testament Israelites, the Mosaic Covenant fell short of empowering the people to live into God’s standards.  It imprisoned them in their helpless state.  But now that Christ has come and His followers have received His Spirit, there is a new empowerment to obey the law.  Obeying the law doesn’t mean we earn our salvation; rather, it testifies to our new identity in Christ.

“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” - Romans 6:14

We've paid your debt, sir ... Have a great day!

My mobile phone came off contract recently, and so I renegotiated a better plan with my Telco, which would see me paying half of my normal monthly phone bill.  You beauty!!  When the first bill arrived, I almost fell over.  It was three times the amount I was originally paying.  Naturally, I was a bit steamed up … wouldn’t you be?  After being a diligent customer for 37 years with the same Telco, I was determined to get to the bottom of it.  I marched into one of their shopping centre stores, and after explaining my dilemma, the customer representative saw that my account manager had selected the wrong plan option on the screen when changing it over for me.   “No worries - it will all be adjusted on the next bill”, the nice lady told me.  OK, that’s fine I thought, hoping that they would get it right next month.

A couple of days later I received a call from one of the Telco’s overseas operators.  She was great.  She understood everything completely, and then shocked me when she told me not to worry about my bill.  It was their mistake - they will pay my debt.  All of it!  And they gave me credit on everything from the previous bill.  I was stunned.  For the rest of the day I felt like I was walking on air.  I couldn’t stop telling all my family & friends what had happened to me.  Against all the odds, I had been ‘let off’ from paying my debt.

Sin (of so many kinds) is my debt.  I know it.  They gnaw away at me from the inside.  They grip me and won’t let me go.  Like my bills, if they’re not paid for, the debt-collector will come calling.  That I’m sure of.  There is no escape.  No-one has escaped death.  No one that I know of … with the one exception of Jesus Christ.  On a torture-hill surrounded by both those who both loved & hated him, as God’s Son he chose to pay for my sins/death with his own blood.  Nailed and pierced and dying, I hear Jesus’ blood cry out … “I’ve paid your debt.  Have a great life!” 

My life IS great.  Because of this one pivotal event in history, I know that God has forgiven me.  My sins are ALL paid for.  I’ve been translated to a better contract - the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-33).  As a result, I can't stop telling my family & friends about what has happened to me.  Please God, remind me again & again what a great life I have been given.  Forgiven, free & no unpaid debts.  Now, that’s a great day!!

“What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?  Those things result in death!  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”     [ Romans 6:21 - 23 ]

Enjoy the great life you have been given in Christ. 
Marshall

Daily Decompression

When someone asks you, “How are you doing?” , have you ever responded “Busy!”   I know I have.  Too many times to remember.  The truth is, life is mostly very busy.  We live, work & play in such high-paced worlds.  Living in such a connected & technological world has not guaranteed a slower pace.  Even maintaining our networks of friends can be so time-consuming, sucking the last bit of private life from our agendas as we slump into bed exhausted … again. 

One of my secrets for a more disciplined life is to get away from it all with just you, your Bible & God - no phones !!  Grab maybe 30 minutes or an hour in the morning before you really get stuck into the day’s workload, and decompress with the Maker of the Universe.  For me, it’s been a life-saver! 

Read, listen, pray, sing, worship, reflect, sit in silence and ponder/dream.  These processes are so important as we oxygenate our lives before God our Father.  Hearing the rhythms of life through the comfort of the Holy Spirit seems to bring more balance to the chaos of my world.  God’s Word … His wisdom … just seems to make sense to me every morning.  Listening to the Creator, rather than the demands of everyone else in my stressed-filled life.  How did I do life without this special time before this? 

Jesus did it.  He understood the importance of space with his Father.  I’m guessing his life was pretty stressful - enemies wanting him killed, people with never ceasing demands, teaching a group of 12 key friends.  Day in, day out.  But the discipline of his daily quiet time was the game-changer.

Try it … I dare you!  Push everything away for 60 minutes in the morning.  Get up half an hour earlier if you have to, and just hang out with God.  You will see the difference in your mind, and your mental health.  God will bring direction, peace, wisdom, forgiveness & comfort.  Aren’t they the things that we really need today?

God’s Word puts it this way - “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;  he will never leave you or forsake you.  Do not be afraid.  Do not be discouraged.”    [ Deut. 31:8 ]

Marshall

The Christmas Spirit

I recently had a birthday - I'm a December baby!. As I celebrate another birthday, I realized that I'm still growing up.  Some (particularly my adult children) might suggest that I’m getting old! Either way, these significant milestones force you to think about how much of ‘life’ you’ve experienced, or how much is left. The desire to leave a mark/influence on those you love starts to dominate your thoughts and actions.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas a change comes upon our society. There is a different spirit that encourages love, kindness and generosity toward one another. We show our love in many practical ways – thoughtful gifts, words of encouragement, family gatherings, meals together, holidays shared, cards, emails, Facebook messages, helping others, acts of kindness etc. But who started this ‘Christmas’ culture? How did it become a time of thinking of, and helping others?

Every child (and parent) knows that Christmas is certainly about giving. After all, God gave the greatest gift of all times at Christmas – His Son. But just as the purpose of a Christmas gift is not fulfilled until it has been accepted by the person you give it to, so too, Christmas is also about receiving. Because God loved us so much, He gave us His only Son—that whoever believes and receives Him—that person will have everlasting life (John 3:16). If you don’t receive God’s gift of Jesus Christ, then you won’t understand completely the true meaning of Christmas.

Childish as it might sound, I can’t imagine leaving any gifts unopened under the tree. Each year God’s gift waits under everyone’s tree, in every child’s stocking, and in every household. Have you opened God’s gift for you? Perhaps you are too busy and just haven’t gotten around to it? Or have ignored the ‘signposts’. Have you been too distracted, never choosing to even look into God’s gift? Perhaps you have never heard the real Christmas story or have forgotten it. My hope is that God’s gift would not remain unopened again this festive season. His gift of love has made its mark in the hearts of all men, women and children and continues to impact those He loves – you & me. Will you receive God’s generous gift of Jesus this Christmas?

May God’s peace and love be your experience during this holy season and throughout the next year.

Pastor Marshall

The Christmas Star

Have you ever Googled yourself?  Most people have ... out of curiosity.  Googling yourself is a world-wide phenomenon known as egosurfing / egosearching.  The search results (and pictures) from egosurfing can be quite interesting.  So just for fun I thought I'd see how popular I was through an egosearch.  Interestingly, Google came back with 15.2 million results. 

I thought I'd take it a bit further and search for other 'famous' people.  Here are the results:
Donald Trump 421 million;  Beyoncé 142 million;  Mother Teresa 44.3 million;  Jesus 754 million
God 1.54 Billion.

There's no disputing it - Jesus is a star!  This Christmas, as the wise men from the East so long ago did, we follow the star!  Perhaps the best known symbol of the Christmas season is the star of Bethlehem. It is common for Christmas trees to be crowned with a star on the top, and with lights which shine as the stars in the sky under the special star of Bethlehem. In addition to the star and the star-like lights, the tree may be covered with silver/gold tinsel to add to the shimmer and the glow of the star lights. But as a kid growing up, the most important piece of the decoration was when my Father put the star on the top – shining down on all of us. 

The star of Bethlehem is introduced very simply in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2.  The Scriptures record that the Bethlehem Star pointed the Wise Men to Jesus.  This star was a source of incredible joy to the Wise Men from the east. They, as astrologers, likely, saw something special in the sky and, knowing something, obviously, of the anticipation of the time, followed that star to its special place over where Jesus was living. They called it ‘his star’ and it is understood that it was likely a comet or a meteor or a planetary conjunction.  As we know, these can be seen for some time in the sky. This one was specially prepared (I believe by God) and it did a special and wonderful job. This star figures prominently in the telling of the nativity story in this gospel written to and for the Jews to persuade them that Jesus was, indeed, the anticipated and expected Messiah.  This star- this specially placed star- pointed particular people to Jesus, the Messiah.

In this star’s role, we see a pattern that God has consistently followed and into which pattern we enter, as Christians of the 21st century.  God is pointing people to Jesus the Star!   God is pointing people all over the world to the Saviour.  Jesus said in John's Gospel:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”   (John 8:11-13)

Composer, John Henry Hopkins Jr. summarized it wonderfully in a short Christmas carol he wrote in 1857 for a Christmas pageant in New York: 

O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

May you still find the light of life wonder-full this Christmas time.
Marshall

The Greatest Gift

I was thinking this week of the greatest gift that I have ever received on Christmas morning.  There's a few that rate right up there ... like the full face Batman mask when I was a kid, or perhaps the electro ray gun that shot red sparks out .  Hey, they were the days weren't they.  In later years as I have gotten older, the gifts have got a bit 'Ho-hum' - socks, Hardware store vouchers, shortbread - and they probably don't rate as high on the Christmas morning excitement meter.  Perhaps, that's what it means to be an adult ...  No more excitement about Christmas! Sigh (I hope not)

But then I thought.  Hang on.  The greatest gift ever given is simple. It's forgiveness!  Made possible through a divine gift that came in the flesh as a helpless baby.  Revealed to stinky shepherds ... implanted in an unwed teenager ... a gift so big that it can fit under the tree of every person on this planet.  [ I wonder how you would react to find a new baby under the tree on Christmas morning? ]

Yep, the greatest gift is simple - it's Jesus.  Described in Isaiah 61 as our Deliverer, come to set us free from the darkness that is so obvious around us.  Born so that we might have everlasting joy instead of shame.  Come in the flesh so that we might enjoy the favour of the Lord.  When we think of Christmas as just shopping/rushing around/cooking/buying the right gift and fruit cake, is it any wonder that Christmas brings temporary happiness that fades as soon as the wrapping is undone? 

But something or someone that brings eternal hope is a different picture.  Imagine an eternal gift that never loses it's relevance, value or wonder.  Some would suggest that the story of a baby born to die as our Saviour has no meaning in the 21st Century.  I would disagree.  Rather, if there is one thing we so desperately need in our short lives is the hope that someone does love us deeply and cares enough to show us unending forgiveness, grace and peace.  These are the gifts we truly need at Christmas time.  A world that's lost it's way needs to be led again by the light of the Christmas star back to the Judean hills 2000 years ago to see the real Christmas.  A heavenly father who choreographed the biggest Christmas lightshow and insists on giving us the greatest gift.  His son.  (No returns)

This year, may you rediscover the real Christmas story among the trash of this world's attempts to simulate happiness.  Jesus is truly the reason for this season ... and Jesus is truly the greatest gift given to mankind (even though, sadly, many won't accept the gift).

M

About the Church

Laidley Baptist Church is a Gospel-centered Church.  LBC was founded in the late 1800s by German settlers.  Today LBC is a vibrant community of believers who seek to live out their purpose as the Body of Christ.

LBC is currently in transition just having sold its building at 25 Samuel Street, Laidley.  We are now looking forward to building a new Church on a new larger property at 7 Breuer Street, Laidley due to recent growth in church size.  In the meantime LBC meets at the Laidley Cultural Centre on Sunday mornings at 9.30am.

The congregation of LBC is reflection of the demographics of the local area.  The Church is a family Church where people of all ages are welcome.

Some of our ministries include -

Sunday School for primary age children at sermon time at Church during school terms.

Youth Group for teens, normally (fortnightly) on Friday nights during school terms.

LifeGroups for all ages at various times during the week.  Small groups for Christian fellowship and learning.

Ladies Craft Group is held on Friday mornings at the house at 7 Breuer Street, for ladies to find Christian fellowship while they learn new crafts.

Mens Group is for men of all ages on the the first Thursday evening of each month at the house at 7 Breuer Street where Christian men learn how to follow Christ and share in fellowship together.

You are sure to find something for you at LBC but it is our prayer that everyone we touch will find Christ.