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Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Prayer Request
1. Pray for Malaysia Family Camp 31st May to 3rd June 2012.
2. Pray for our Corps Ministries
3. Pray for Corps Family: Bro. Ang Chye Thiam and family
4. Pray for Corps Family: Bro Francis, Sis Maggie, Fernando Elias
2. Pray for our Corps Ministries
3. Pray for Corps Family: Bro. Ang Chye Thiam and family
4. Pray for Corps Family: Bro Francis, Sis Maggie, Fernando Elias
Announcements
1. Youth Fellowship
During school holidays, the youth ministry will also take a break for 3 Sunday. Youth please take note.
2. Cell Group
There won't be any cell group this coming Friday. You are encourage attend the Malaysia Family Camp held at YMCA, Penang.
3. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110
Those who did not signed up, you are welcome to join the camp (without meals). Those who join the camp, please park your vehicle at Corps.
4. Sunday Worship Service
Date: 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Time: 10:30am
Please take note that sunday service on this date will be held at YMCA, Penang. Please do join us.
5. Senior Citizen Breakfast
Date: 09/06/12 (Sat) Time: 8:00am Venue: Lorong Selamat
All seniors please take enote
6. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 16/06/12 (Sat) Time: 11:00am Venue: Community Hall
Volunteers needed, please pray for this ministry.
7. Faith & Order Standing Commission
Date: 17/06/12 (Sun) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Tanjung Bunga
40 representative of Christian Leaders from World Wide will be coming to Penang for a week conference. A fund raising dinner organized by CCM Penang at RM1000.00 per table or RM100.oo per person.
During school holidays, the youth ministry will also take a break for 3 Sunday. Youth please take note.
2. Cell Group
There won't be any cell group this coming Friday. You are encourage attend the Malaysia Family Camp held at YMCA, Penang.
3. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110
Those who did not signed up, you are welcome to join the camp (without meals). Those who join the camp, please park your vehicle at Corps.
4. Sunday Worship Service
Date: 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Time: 10:30am
Please take note that sunday service on this date will be held at YMCA, Penang. Please do join us.
5. Senior Citizen Breakfast
Date: 09/06/12 (Sat) Time: 8:00am Venue: Lorong Selamat
All seniors please take enote
6. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 16/06/12 (Sat) Time: 11:00am Venue: Community Hall
Volunteers needed, please pray for this ministry.
7. Faith & Order Standing Commission
Date: 17/06/12 (Sun) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Tanjung Bunga
40 representative of Christian Leaders from World Wide will be coming to Penang for a week conference. A fund raising dinner organized by CCM Penang at RM1000.00 per table or RM100.oo per person.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
The exclusion zone
FOLLOWING a tsunami in March 2011, an exclusion zone was declared around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. Everyone within a 20km (about twelve miles) radius of the site was ordered to leave. Not all were happy about this – particularly older residents, who had lived in the area all their lives – yet it was too dangerous for them to stay. The exclusion zone was put in place to protect them and to this day they have not been allowed back permanently.
Some exclusion zones are necessary. Sometimes, though, we exclude others in an attempt to increase our own self-worth, or to make ourselves feel safer or more powerful. But this was not the way of Jesus.
Jesus And Justice – a study by the Army’s International Social Justice Commission – identifies a number of ways that Jesus ‘lived right and righted wrongs’. Here, we look at three of them.
First, Jesus showed compassion towards social outsiders. This is demonstrated in his interaction with lepers (see Matthew 8:1–3; Mark 1:40–44; Luke 17:11–19). Such people were segregated through no fault of their own, yet Jesus – understanding what life was like for them – chose to enter the exclusion zone others had placed around them.
Today, social exclusion can be based on a number of factors. These include health, educational ability, looks, sexual preference or economic status. ‘Social judgment parades with many faces,’ says Jesus And Justice. ‘The disfigured, the physically disabled, the mentally handicapped and even kids bullied in school playgrounds can be victims of injustice, without being guilty of anything but being themselves.’
To consider: Think of a time when you felt excluded from a situation. How did you feel about it? What about a time when you did the excluding – why did you do it and how did it make you feel?
Secondly, Jesus protested gender inequality. While females may not have been stigmatised to the extent that lepers were in his day, they were still considered second-class citizens.
Yet Jesus stood up for women and – more to the point – included them in his life. In Luke 10:38–42 we see him giving Mary and Martha his time and attention, relaxing in their home and holding candid conversations with them, and in Matthew 9:18–26 we see how he restored the life of a synagogue leader’s daughter and healed an older woman. No discrimination against the girl-child here and no concern for his own ritual purity when dealing with the stigma of a woman who had suffered bleeding for 12 years.
Then, in John 20:11–18, we see Jesus revealing the amazing fact of his resurrection to a woman – this in a culture that didn’t accept the testimony of females in a court of law. What was Jesus thinking by taking what some would see as a huge risk? He was righting a wrong.
While the place of women has improved in some societies, in others female babies are still abandoned or even killed because families prefer males. Elsewhere, girls are forced into marriage and childbearing at an early age. In some Christian churches women are still unable to take their place alongside men in ministry and even in the Army we don’t always get the gender balance right – especially in our boardrooms and executive councils.
To consider: What can we do to right wrongs for the women and girls we encounter?
Thirdly, Jesus embraced the excluded. One of the ways he did this was by his attitude towards children. In his day, children were kept in their place. ‘Beyond participation in their families,’ says Jesus And Justice, ‘children were socially insignificant. They were cultural nobodies. Their voices didn’t count.’
Jesus, however, was child-friendly (see Luke 18:15–17; Matthew 18:1–7). He urged his followers to protect children, to listen to what they had to say and to learn from them. The importance a culture places on schooling, healthy lifestyles and child protection issues is an indication of how it values these vulnerable members of society.
To consider: Do children truly have a voice in our homes, communities and churches? Or do we listen without really hearing?
Whether it was by interacting with outcasts, speaking out against inequality or highlighting the importance of young people, Jesus ignored social exclusion zones. He lived right and made life right with others. Our challenge is to follow his example.
• Major Ruthven is Editor-in-Chief and Publishing Secretary, THQ
Some exclusion zones are necessary. Sometimes, though, we exclude others in an attempt to increase our own self-worth, or to make ourselves feel safer or more powerful. But this was not the way of Jesus.
Jesus And Justice – a study by the Army’s International Social Justice Commission – identifies a number of ways that Jesus ‘lived right and righted wrongs’. Here, we look at three of them.
First, Jesus showed compassion towards social outsiders. This is demonstrated in his interaction with lepers (see Matthew 8:1–3; Mark 1:40–44; Luke 17:11–19). Such people were segregated through no fault of their own, yet Jesus – understanding what life was like for them – chose to enter the exclusion zone others had placed around them.
Today, social exclusion can be based on a number of factors. These include health, educational ability, looks, sexual preference or economic status. ‘Social judgment parades with many faces,’ says Jesus And Justice. ‘The disfigured, the physically disabled, the mentally handicapped and even kids bullied in school playgrounds can be victims of injustice, without being guilty of anything but being themselves.’
To consider: Think of a time when you felt excluded from a situation. How did you feel about it? What about a time when you did the excluding – why did you do it and how did it make you feel?
Secondly, Jesus protested gender inequality. While females may not have been stigmatised to the extent that lepers were in his day, they were still considered second-class citizens.
Yet Jesus stood up for women and – more to the point – included them in his life. In Luke 10:38–42 we see him giving Mary and Martha his time and attention, relaxing in their home and holding candid conversations with them, and in Matthew 9:18–26 we see how he restored the life of a synagogue leader’s daughter and healed an older woman. No discrimination against the girl-child here and no concern for his own ritual purity when dealing with the stigma of a woman who had suffered bleeding for 12 years.
Then, in John 20:11–18, we see Jesus revealing the amazing fact of his resurrection to a woman – this in a culture that didn’t accept the testimony of females in a court of law. What was Jesus thinking by taking what some would see as a huge risk? He was righting a wrong.
While the place of women has improved in some societies, in others female babies are still abandoned or even killed because families prefer males. Elsewhere, girls are forced into marriage and childbearing at an early age. In some Christian churches women are still unable to take their place alongside men in ministry and even in the Army we don’t always get the gender balance right – especially in our boardrooms and executive councils.
To consider: What can we do to right wrongs for the women and girls we encounter?
Thirdly, Jesus embraced the excluded. One of the ways he did this was by his attitude towards children. In his day, children were kept in their place. ‘Beyond participation in their families,’ says Jesus And Justice, ‘children were socially insignificant. They were cultural nobodies. Their voices didn’t count.’
Jesus, however, was child-friendly (see Luke 18:15–17; Matthew 18:1–7). He urged his followers to protect children, to listen to what they had to say and to learn from them. The importance a culture places on schooling, healthy lifestyles and child protection issues is an indication of how it values these vulnerable members of society.
To consider: Do children truly have a voice in our homes, communities and churches? Or do we listen without really hearing?
Whether it was by interacting with outcasts, speaking out against inequality or highlighting the importance of young people, Jesus ignored social exclusion zones. He lived right and made life right with others. Our challenge is to follow his example.
• Major Ruthven is Editor-in-Chief and Publishing Secretary, THQ
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Prayer Request
1. Pray for Malaysia Family Camp 31st May to 3rd June 2012.
2. Pray for our Corps Ministries
3. Pray for Corps Family: Chin Kheng, Ewe Kheng, Cindy, Eng Soon and Eng Heng
4. Pray for Corps Family: Sunny, Rachel, Elizabeth, Susan and John.
2. Pray for our Corps Ministries
3. Pray for Corps Family: Chin Kheng, Ewe Kheng, Cindy, Eng Soon and Eng Heng
4. Pray for Corps Family: Sunny, Rachel, Elizabeth, Susan and John.
Announcements
1. Appreciation to Major Ruth Pascoe
We want to thank Major Ruth Pascoe for her ministries during her few days here in Penang.
2. Youth Practice & BBQ
Date: 20/05/12 (Sun); Time: 6.00pm; Venue: Corps Compound
Youth please take note.
3. Prayer Ministry
Date: 25/05/12 Time:8:00pm Venue: Corps Community Hall
Please join us and send your prayer request and we will pray for you.
4. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110 Closing Date: 30 April 2012
Those who did not signed up, you are welcome to join the camp (without meals). Those who join the camp, please park your vehicle at Corps.
5. Senior Citizen Breakfast
Date: 09/06/12 (Sat) Time: 8:00am Venue: Lorong Selamat
All seniors please take enote
6. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 16/06/12 (Sat) Time: 11:00am Venue: Community Hall
Volunteers needed, please pray for this ministry.
7. Faith & Order Standing Commission
Date: 17/06/12 (Sun) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Tanjung Bunga
40 representative of Christian Leaders from World Wide will be coming to Penang for a week conference. A fund raising dinner organized by CCM Penang at RM1000.00 per table or RM100.oo per person.
We want to thank Major Ruth Pascoe for her ministries during her few days here in Penang.
2. Youth Practice & BBQ
Date: 20/05/12 (Sun); Time: 6.00pm; Venue: Corps Compound
Youth please take note.
3. Prayer Ministry
Date: 25/05/12 Time:8:00pm Venue: Corps Community Hall
Please join us and send your prayer request and we will pray for you.
4. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110 Closing Date: 30 April 2012
Those who did not signed up, you are welcome to join the camp (without meals). Those who join the camp, please park your vehicle at Corps.
5. Senior Citizen Breakfast
Date: 09/06/12 (Sat) Time: 8:00am Venue: Lorong Selamat
All seniors please take enote
6. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 16/06/12 (Sat) Time: 11:00am Venue: Community Hall
Volunteers needed, please pray for this ministry.
7. Faith & Order Standing Commission
Date: 17/06/12 (Sun) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Tanjung Bunga
40 representative of Christian Leaders from World Wide will be coming to Penang for a week conference. A fund raising dinner organized by CCM Penang at RM1000.00 per table or RM100.oo per person.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Prayer Request
1. Pray for Bro Victor Teh who is in Hospital
2. Pray for Parent’s Day Celebration 19th May 2012.
3. Pray for CCM Combined Ascension Service.
4. Pray for Sister Rachel speedy recovery.
2. Pray for Parent’s Day Celebration 19th May 2012.
3. Pray for CCM Combined Ascension Service.
4. Pray for Sister Rachel speedy recovery.
Announcements
1. Open Day Committee Meeting
Date: 13/05/12 (Sun) Time: 12:30pm Venue: Worship Hall
All committee please take note.
2. Youth Practice for Family Camp
Date: 13/05/12 (Sun); Time: 7.30pm; Venue: Community Hall.
Youth please take note.
3. Cell Group Meeting
There won't be any Cell Group meeting this week, please take note.
4. CCM Combined Ascension Meeting
Date: 17/05/12 (Thurs) Time: 8:00pm Venue: TSA Worship Hall
Our corps is the hosting Church, please come and support. Major Ruth Pascoe is the invited speaker for that day.
5. Parents Day Celebration
Date: 19/05/12 (Sat) Time: 7:00pm Venue: Community Hall
Cooking competition, all brothers, sisters and youth are welcome to take part.
Please contact Mrs Tan.
6. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110 Closing Date: 30 April 2012
Those who did not signed up, you are welcome to join the camp (without meals). Those who join the camp, please park your vehicle at Corps.
7. Senior Citizen Breakfast
Date: 09/06/12 (Sat) Time: 8:00am Venue: Lorong Selamat
All seniors please take enote
8. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 16/06/12 (Sat) Time: 11:00am Venue: Community Hall
Volunteers needed, please pray for this ministry.
9. Faith & Order Standing Commission
Date: 17/06/12 (Sun) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Tanjung Bunga
40 representative of Christian Leaders from World Wide will be coming to Penang for a week conference. A fund raising dinner organized by CCM Penang at RM1000.00 per table or RM100.oo per person.
Date: 13/05/12 (Sun) Time: 12:30pm Venue: Worship Hall
All committee please take note.
2. Youth Practice for Family Camp
Date: 13/05/12 (Sun); Time: 7.30pm; Venue: Community Hall.
Youth please take note.
3. Cell Group Meeting
There won't be any Cell Group meeting this week, please take note.
4. CCM Combined Ascension Meeting
Date: 17/05/12 (Thurs) Time: 8:00pm Venue: TSA Worship Hall
Our corps is the hosting Church, please come and support. Major Ruth Pascoe is the invited speaker for that day.
5. Parents Day Celebration
Date: 19/05/12 (Sat) Time: 7:00pm Venue: Community Hall
Cooking competition, all brothers, sisters and youth are welcome to take part.
Please contact Mrs Tan.
6. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110 Closing Date: 30 April 2012
Those who did not signed up, you are welcome to join the camp (without meals). Those who join the camp, please park your vehicle at Corps.
7. Senior Citizen Breakfast
Date: 09/06/12 (Sat) Time: 8:00am Venue: Lorong Selamat
All seniors please take enote
8. Banana Leaf Ministry
Date: 16/06/12 (Sat) Time: 11:00am Venue: Community Hall
Volunteers needed, please pray for this ministry.
9. Faith & Order Standing Commission
Date: 17/06/12 (Sun) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Tanjung Bunga
40 representative of Christian Leaders from World Wide will be coming to Penang for a week conference. A fund raising dinner organized by CCM Penang at RM1000.00 per table or RM100.oo per person.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The undefeated
MANY people consider the eighth chapter of Romans as the pinnacle of the Bible. John Stott calls it ‘the best-known, best-loved chapter in the Bible’. (If you read only one Bible commentary, make it John Stott’s on Romans. Romans is Paul’s Mona Lisa, or Fifth Symphony or the drop kick that won the Rugby World Cup.)
As we conclude this series about being ‘chosen’, what can be written about Romans 8:31–37? Read these verses and be encouraged. Does the Bible ever exaggerate God’s goodness to us? No, it doesn’t!
Did you notice the verse about being chosen? ‘Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?’ (v33, all quotations from New International Version).
This is something the Roman Christians needed to hear, just as we do. We should not picture the Roman Church as it is now, but as Romans 16 suggests: a gathering of a few households coming together in worship. As a group of God’s chosen people, they were at the end of their tether. They were being squeezed on all sides. So Paul verbalised the questions that must have been on their minds: ‘How do we respond? Who is the enemy? Where is God in this? What will the outcome be? Is there anything we can do?’
These questions find their answer in four words in verse 37 – ‘in all these things’. Regarding condemnation, it is safe to be dogmatic on this point; there is no condemnation, no separation from Jesus. We don’t have to live a life under condemnation. There is a cross, there is a saviour and there is salvation.
Condemnation is the stuff that burns itself onto the ‘hard drive’ of our minds. We condemn ourselves too easily. It is the volume of voices, reminding us of past failures and mistakes, trying to convince us that nothing we do will be good enough. However, whatever we confess, God will cover. Don’t take on yourself the condemnation that God has already put on Jesus. God corrects, but he does not condemn.
The danger of these verses is that we can be tempted to take them out of context. There are people who love to use this ‘no condemnation’ clause to excuse lifestyle behaviour: ‘There is “no condemnation”, so I can do what I like!’
No, we can’t! No charges can be brought against us if we are living according to the plan of God. The only way to escape punishment is to be ‘in Christ’.
There’s a lot of groaning in this chapter. You can almost hear it as you read the text. Creation groans (v22), humankind groans as we wait for what is to come (v23), the Holy Spirit groans on our behalf (v26). We hardly need reminding that we live in a fallen, broken world.
I am not trying to be oversimplistic or dismissive of individual circumstances, but I do believe God uses everything in our lives to bring about his purpose and victory. Without doubt, some of us are in the middle of big situations. And if we are not now, we have been or will be. The list is endless – the pain of relationships that have gone wrong; emotions that continually steal our peace; bitterness, worry, anxiety, which in themselves can be powerful enemies.
I don’t know what you are going through or how much it hurts, but the remedy is always praise because God inhabits the praises of his people. It’s time, then, to loosen your vocal chords and sing out the songs that will encourage you until victory comes. How about this one for starters? ‘In Christ alone my hope is found…’
We are not just conquerors; we are more than conquerors (v37). God does not promise that suffering won’t come, but that it won’t defeat us. This is not a ‘photo finish’ or victory from an offside goal, but a victory that is overwhelming. God does not call us to partial victory, because full victory will always be ours in Christ. In him there can be only decisive victories in your life and circumstances. We are more than conquerors! Christ plus one is always a majority. Do you believe this?
For the chosen of God, it is time to receive the victory that is ours in Christ. We will be undefeated, because ‘in all things’ God will have the last word.
• Major Herbert is Territorial Candidates Director
Monday, May 7, 2012
Prayer Request
1. Pray for Malaysian Family Camp 2012.
2. Pray for Parent’s Day Celebration 19th May 2012.
3. Pray for Corps Family: Choon Eng, Jenny, Chris & Sheila, Scott & Chui Peeng Ooi.
4. Pray for Corps Family: Dave, Lilly & Daniel Clarke.
2. Pray for Parent’s Day Celebration 19th May 2012.
3. Pray for Corps Family: Choon Eng, Jenny, Chris & Sheila, Scott & Chui Peeng Ooi.
4. Pray for Corps Family: Dave, Lilly & Daniel Clarke.
Announcements
1. Youth Worship
Date: 06/05/12 (Sun) Time: 7:30pm Venue: Worship Hall
Worship: JiHan; Bible Message: Joseph Hue; Games: Capt Tan & William
Youth please take note.
2. CCM HQ General Secretary visit, Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri
Date: 09/05/12 (Wed); Time: 7.30pm; Venue: Worship Hall.
CCM Penang Region have arranged for him to update us on the various developments in our country, particularly those that directly affects the Christian community
3. Prayer Ministry
Date: 11/05/12 (Fri) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Worship Hall
Please come and join us.
4. CCM Combined Ascension Meeting
Date: 17/05/12 (Thurs) Time: 8:00pm Venue: TSA Worship Hall
Our corps is the hosting Church, please come and support. Colonel Gillian Downer is the invited speaker for that day.
5. Dialog with Colonel
Date: 18/05/12 (Fri) Time: 8:30pm Venue: Corps Worship Hall
Colonel Gillian Downer would like to meet only Corps Council members to have a dialog session.
6. Parents Day Celebration
Date: 19/05/12 Time: 7:00pm Venue: Community Hall
Cooking competition, all brothers, sisters and youth are welcome to take part.
7. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110 Closing Date: 30 April 2012
Being the host Corps, all brothers and sisters are encourage to join and also being a volunteer in helping in this Malaysia Family Camp.
Date: 06/05/12 (Sun) Time: 7:30pm Venue: Worship Hall
Worship: JiHan; Bible Message: Joseph Hue; Games: Capt Tan & William
Youth please take note.
2. CCM HQ General Secretary visit, Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri
Date: 09/05/12 (Wed); Time: 7.30pm; Venue: Worship Hall.
CCM Penang Region have arranged for him to update us on the various developments in our country, particularly those that directly affects the Christian community
3. Prayer Ministry
Date: 11/05/12 (Fri) Time: 8:00pm Venue: Worship Hall
Please come and join us.
4. CCM Combined Ascension Meeting
Date: 17/05/12 (Thurs) Time: 8:00pm Venue: TSA Worship Hall
Our corps is the hosting Church, please come and support. Colonel Gillian Downer is the invited speaker for that day.
5. Dialog with Colonel
Date: 18/05/12 (Fri) Time: 8:30pm Venue: Corps Worship Hall
Colonel Gillian Downer would like to meet only Corps Council members to have a dialog session.
6. Parents Day Celebration
Date: 19/05/12 Time: 7:00pm Venue: Community Hall
Cooking competition, all brothers, sisters and youth are welcome to take part.
7. Malaysia Family Camp
Date: 31/05 - 03/06/12 Venue: YMCA Camp Fees: RM230 Day Camp: RM110 Closing Date: 30 April 2012
Being the host Corps, all brothers and sisters are encourage to join and also being a volunteer in helping in this Malaysia Family Camp.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The unexpected chosen
I’VE been thinking about people whose lives have made a big impact on others, sometimes called ‘world changers’. Individuals such as John Stott and Steve Jobs, who died within a few weeks of each other in the second part of 2011.
As people crammed into St Paul’s Cathedral in January 2012 to celebrate John Stott’s life, time and again they heard about a humble Christian gentleman whose life was spent in encouraging people to develop the skill of ‘double listening’ – listening to the word of God and to the world in which they live. Stott has been described as ‘the most influential Anglican of the 20th century’.
Steve Jobs was the co-founder of Apple. President Barack Obama said of him: ‘The world has lost a visionary. He was bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.’
‘World changers’ come in all sorts of unexpected ways. It is time to turn on your iPad or iTouch, or simply open your Bible to John 1:29–34, where we read about another person who forever changed the world in which he lived – and in which we live too – because he came as the unexpected Messiah.
We know this passage well. It is the pivotal moment in John the Baptist’s ministry, when he points people towards Jesus. I often wonder who John was speaking to. John’s Gospel helpfully defines time frames for us as ‘the next day’ (v29 all quotations from New International Version), but in this instance no group is identified as the hearers.
My sense is that, for now, anyone who reads this passage about Jesus is John’s audience. This is good news. The Messiah is no longer hidden – Jesus is on earth. When John the Baptist addressed Jesus as the ‘Lamb of God’, he was revealing at the beginning of the Gospel how it would all end.
The basis of John’s conviction came out of his own testimony: ‘I have seen and I testify’ (v34). The conclusion for John was that he was persuaded that Jesus was ‘God’s Chosen One’.
What did being ‘chosen’ mean for Jesus?
It meant a unique purpose (v29). Only God can deal with our sins! As the old gospel song reminds us, ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus’ (SASB 306). Our purpose is not to be the Saviour of the world, but to serve him. Make sure you know what God has called you to do, and then – like Jesus – surround yourself with a few people who believe in you and your calling.
It meant an empowering from the Holy Spirit (v32). God uses people to their limits, and these are pushed back through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is the promise of God. I’ve met too many people who would win a gold medal as part of the Olympic excuse-making team. They look for reasons why things won’t happen, rather than trusting God for what can. What I do know is, we can’t change the world by watching television repeats!
It meant that Jesus was building upon what had already been (v33). John was known as the forerunner to Christ; he had prepared the way for the arrival of Jesus. The progression is clear: what started with a water baptism was now a spiritual one. I believe it is vital that we have a clear grasp of history, because it gives us a huge database to work from. The Salvation Army is full of people who care passionately about its future, while at the same time understanding where we have journeyed from as a Movement.
It meant that people would know who Jesus was and who he belonged to (v34). The Gospel writers graphically detail what this meant for Jesus. It is probably time to invent some new words to portray him, because they have all been used before.
As we think about ourselves, I’ll use an old word to describe us. We too are ‘chosen’. There may have been times in our lives when we knew that, at best, we were second choice. That’s not so in God’s Kingdom! We are all his first choice.
The challenge is to ensure that, as his choice, we know what our calling is and that we serve in a way that draws others to Jesus.
• Major Herbert is Territorial Candidates Director
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