Christmas is Near!

Christmas is near, will you be here?

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

Crossway Church is celebrating Christmas on 15th December'19, Sunday at 5pm. We invite you all to be a part of the fellowship, enjoying music and drama and learning the Christmas message. 

A great opportunity for you, your friends and family to celebrate Christmas. Come and let's thank God for his indescribable gift, Lord Jesus Christ!

To a living hope

A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we're behind." 

"Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're discouraged." 

"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"

Source Unknown.

1 Peter 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

“To a living hope”

Apostle Paul also understood we needed this supernatural awakening of our inner eyes and ears. He prayed for it -- see Ephesians 1:17-18 -- for the Christians in Ephesus. 

So this hope that we have is a LIVING hope.

Hope can be tangible but also intangible.

Tangible hope: finances, good educational credentials, a good family name, property, influential social network; good reputation

Intangible hope: everything that the Bible encourages us to focus on: faith, love, peace, good conscience

Hope is future-orientated. Paul gives us a hint about this hope, and in I Thessalonians 5:8, he uses the phrase, our hope, the “helmet ”. The helmet protects the HEAD.

So here is the application: What’s in my head? 

Whose thoughts are ALIVE in my head?

Thoughts of work -- the stresses of your day to day job. 

Thoughts of bitterness -- the hurts we received from the boss, from friends, co-workers,

Thoughts about tomorrow -- how to save more money?

What we think about is what we hope for -- But are these things LIVING hope?

Let me invite us to really ask God for changing our  mental patterns -- See, like air pollution, our inner living is also messed up. We focus on the wrong things, the things that discourage us

We focus on all kinds of hopeless news, all kinds of hopeless trends in the media. And we ignore the power of the HOPE we have.  

Note :- From the Sermon notes - series on 1 Peter 1 by Dr. Anil Jacob for Crossway. 

Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at stanleytisac@gmail.com

To be Born Again

In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. Sacks found out, having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing.

Virgil's first experiences with sight were confusing. He was able to make out colors and movements, but arranging them into a coherent picture was more difficult. Over time he learned to identify various objects, but his habits--his behaviors--were still those of a blind man. Dr. Sacks asserts, "One must die as a blind person to be born again as a seeing person. It is the interim, the limbo . . . that is so terrible."

To truly see Jesus and his truth means more than observing what he did or said, it means a change of identity.

Terry Seufferlein Norman, Oklahoma.   

1 Peter 1:3, 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

“To be born again”

• Let’s reflect on what it means to be born.

• Biologically -- birth begins when two different kinds of cells meet in the mother’s womb.

• The sperm and the egg -- basic biology.

• These are TWO DIFFERENT kinds of biological substances, two different kinds of cells that have different kinds of DNA but they fuse together and that leads to BIRTH.

• Spiritually -- Jesus told Nicodemus that we need rebirth-- not reform or resolution -- this is a QUALITATIVE things

• The initiative is with God the Father

• The power is the invisible power of the Holy Spirit

• The basis of the birth is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• Spiritually the Bible emphasises that which is invisible. You will see this again and again! 

• So we get confused. 

• Especially men think that all this religious stuff is weird and vague, and we only want to be practical. It’s okay for women and children to believe all this supernatural Sunday school story stuff. It’s okay for poor people who don’t have money. Faith is for people who are sick or poor or mentally weak. Faith is for those who are unsuccessful but those who are actually real do everything independently.

• Well, let me ask you about something called Air pollution.

• Air pollution in Delhi became VISIBLE last Sunday -- the AQI went up to nearly 999 and above in some parts of NCR.

• But was this the start of the air pollution?

• Could your eyes and nose smell the pollution when it began?

• Even if you can see the sun today, and you can see far away, is the air actually clean?

• In other words -- what is the FINAL measure of Air pollution?

• It’s a measurement called AQI by a meter than detects particles my eyes and nose cannot see.

• Just as my nose or eyes cannot fully comprehend air pollution or even run away from it, this new birth is an invisible but GREAT mercy that God has imparted to us.

• In other words -- what is REAL is NOT VISIBLE, Air pollution is Detected by expensive Air Quality Instruments that produce an AQI reading.

• Air Pollution has long-term effects, 

• The Bible’s invisible measurement is that man NEEDS to be BORN Again -- and this happens INVISIBLY 

• Air pollution is invisible but has long term physical effects.

• God’s new birth s also INVISIBLE rebirth 

• It also has LONG TERM effects -- we ARE spiritual creatures in God’s eyes. 

• The BIBLE is our meter for what is REAL -- NOT my eyes or nose or ears or even my mental believes. We believe AQI readings; we can believe the Bible.

• 
  

Note :- From the Sermon notes - series on 1 Peter 1 by Dr. Anil Jacob for Crossway. 

Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at stanleytisac@gmail.com 

HIs Great Mercy

A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death. 

"But I don't ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy." 

"But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied. 

"Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for." 

"Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son. 

Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness, Multnomah Press, 1984.

1Peter 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

“His great mercy”

l  God’s mercy means that He didn’t give us what we did deserve for our sins, but that He overlooked it and gave us gifts we do NOT deserve. What is the mercy referring to?

l  Mercy is a quality of the heart -- it is an inner attitude but it shows externally.

l  Mercy is when you have a parking spot in Connaught place, but you give it away to someone who cuts in front of you.

l  Mercy is allowing someone to cut ahead of you in the long queue on a weekend with long lines at a big shop when you are at the checkout counter.

l  Mercy is helping someone at your office to write an email properly.

l  Mercy must be great -- and mercy doesn’t keep records.

l  If we don’t believe that we are sinners, we won’t show mercy. Peter had received mercy from Jesus - three times he said “do you love me,” to Peter -- and this is the same mercy of OURS that we can show to others. 

Note :- From the Sermon notes - Series on 1 Peter 1 by Dr. Anil Jacob for Crossway. 

Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at stanleytisac@gmail.com