We traveled from Siem Reap to the city of our primary focus yesterday afternoon. Poipet is a city of some 150,000 people on the border of Thailand. While most travel web sites say – don’t stop here – Keep going – Do not pass GO, we have again found the people to be very engaging and warm. Our hotel has upgraded since last March – the Internet is now working again (although a bit slow) the elevator now makes it to the 6th floor (although a bit slow) and they now have a restaurant (although a bit slow) Maybe God is just saying that we Westerners try to hurry too much.
In the evening we had dinner at the Cambodian Hope Organization (CHO) – Restaurant and then met with Chomno In, the CEO of CHO. He told us his story of how he was separated from his family and placed into a Labor Camp by the Khmer Rouge when he was 14 years old. He witnessed many of his peers being shot or step on land mines as they would attempt to escape the camp. He did make a miraculous escape once, and later ended up in a Refugee camp in Thailand. By the time he was 24 he was out of the camp and seeking to work in a hospital – where he was paid $5 per month plus scraps of food left over from patient’s meals. With food in such short supply – you can only imagine what he was left with. The memory of these times obviously marked his heart as he recounted the difficulties. Chomno strikes me as a humble and kind man, full of the Compassion of Christ.
Later we toured the Hope Transformation Center Building. CHO recently purchased this four story building where they will move their offices, develop out an internet café business, bakery, sewing and weaving center, silk screening and pharmacy. These businesses will be both a profit center to fund the CHO ministry – plus a skills training center. One floor of the new facility will provide short term housing for women who have escaped the brothel industry. Funds from last year’s North Point Be Rich Campaign are being used to finish and remodel this women’s floor.
Sunday we participated in the CHO worship service, led by a small music team with a keyboard, small guitar and plenty of hand drums. We sang several songs, mostly Western with Khmer words. Ashley did a great job of telling her testimony of coming to and walking with the Lord, Tim drew the short straw and morphed into a Cambodian “Preacha”
Our team has continued to build on a “How would Jesus Walk" theme that emanates from 1 John 2:6-7, only this time I walked them through an understanding of how God has Continued to reveal his Blessing on all generations since the beginning of time. Then entire Bible is about Gods Grace and reconciling all of Creation back to his master design, including both Man and nature. This will complete as we work to have his Kingdom come and His will be done in all generations as we seek to serve our calling.Following is the sermon for those who didn't make it to church yesterday :-)
I touched on how God told Abraham that he would become a great family with many possessions and many children that would grow into a great nation so that they would bring God’s Blessing on the world first through the nation of Israel and then expanded to the entire Gentile population. God has shown His grace continually throughout the build-out of the globe and in the affairs of all men, He has continued to set the stage for a deep personal familial relationship with men and women who have had faith in him. God loves us/me so much and pours out grace into my/our lives.
God showed His Grace – by creating all things in Heaven and on Earth. He has made the sun to rise on both man and animal. He has provided rain to fall to replenish the earth for the benefit of those that he has blessed to till the earth. The work of man.
God blessed Man and Woman – gave them the ability to be Co-heirs in His Kingdom. He gave man and woman the ability to love one another and to care for their children. He created all of them, man, woman and child in His image – in his likeness. It is God that gives each of us great worth – to ourselves, to each other – but also to Him as our Heavenly Father – a good, and perfect and righteous Father. It is God’s heart that breaks when young lives are sold off for their virginity for the evil schemes of me – in different forms or Human Trafficking.
God has chosen to Bless us in many different ways – most of which I know I often fail to even recognize. God shows us His goodness – without regard to anything we have done. God loves us so much – he sent us his only son – to die for us – so that we can enter His Kingdom. I think you probably already know most of that.
What I really want to impress upon you today – is how God has shown His grace – on all of His creation from the beginning of time. I want to impress upon your minds the fact that God began to show his grace – his unlimited favor – on all of His creation from the First Day of Creation and He will continue to show His Grace until He returns again.
I want you to understand, as I am beginning to, that God not only gives us his Grace Daily – but he has recorded how he has been giving us His Grace – and how he is going to be giving us even more of his Grace -- It is recorded in His word. THE BIBLE.
As you may know the Bible is 66 separate letters, separate testimonies, written over a large number of years by different authors with different backgrounds and different professions. Some of the Bible was written in the Greek Language, while some in Aramaic and some in Hebrew. Some of the letters were written by Kings, others by prophets, and others by very common men. Some were written by men who hoped for a future salvation and others were written by men who had seen the Messiah in the flesh. Even though the Bible was written over all of these different years from many places by authors who were sometimes not even aware of the other books and letters -- THERE IS A SINGLE AND AMAZING STORY THAT INTERTWINES THROUGHOUT. There is a constant theme in the Bible. The one continuous story about God’s Grace and his plan to reconcile everything and everybody back into an intimate relationship with Him
God showed His Grace – by creating all things in Heaven and on Earth. He has made the sun to rise on both man and animal. He has provided rain to fall to replenish the earth for the benefit of those that he has blessed to till the earth. The work of man.
God blessed Man and Woman – gave them the ability to be Co-heirs in His Kingdom. He gave man and woman the ability to love one another and to care for their children. He created all of them, man, woman and child in His image – in his likeness. It is God that gives each of us great worth – to ourselves, to each other – but also to Him as our Heavenly Father – a good, and perfect and righteous Father.
This book – the Bible from Beginning of the Old Testament to the End of the New Testament is the story of How God began his world by blessing his creation showing his Grace -- but also – when His Creation began rebelling and sin entered the world ---- which is very early in the first book – the book of Genesis -- From there on God continues to show his grace – by seeking to reconcile all people and all of his creation – back into a relationship with him.
God blessed man by giving him Freedom to choose to Worship the one true God – and when man rebelled God provided man His Grace – to welcome us back into His family – simply by Faith that through Jesus our sins have been forgiven and the penalty for rebellion has been absorbed by Jesus. Not only that – but our amazing God – continues to show His Grace when he chooses to take the perfect Holy Righteousness of Jesus and places it on us – rather than the sins that we had incurred on our own. God’s grace is abundant.
The Bible tells the story of how God chose to begin providing his Special Grace of salvation to men by first selecting a man – his name was Abram -- He told Abram, later known as Abraham – how God had blessed Him – and was going to make him a mighty nation. He told Abraham – that through him – all nations and all peoples would be Blessed. Abraham was to be a blessing. By Faith Abraham received God’s Grace.
The Bible tells the story of how, although childless at ninety years old - Abraham and his wife had faith in God’s promises and faith in His goodness - and that Abrahams clan (family) eventually become a people who have been set apart. Those people were initially known as the Nation of Israel – But as God’s grace flowed forward -- those people became all believers – Jew and Gentile, man or women, patriarch or child.
God’s Grace and goodness continued to flow forward.
When there was famine in the land of Abraham – God moved Abraham to Egypt where they could work and provide for their families.
When they became enslaved to the Egyptians – God – provided for their Exodus and escape from the Egyptian army – by opening the Red Seas so that the nation of more than a million people to could cross over. God provided Moses to lead them, God had a plan, and he was using the nation of Israel to bring this plan of Grace to all people.
In his Grace – God provided the nation Israel with a Promised Land – flowing with milk and honey. When they were afraid to go into the Land that God had promised he did not destroy them – but rather returned them to wander in the desert for 40 years until a new generation, with new leadership – Joshua – could lead them. God has been amazingly patient with that he has created.
While in the desert – God still showed them His grace – by providing them fresh Manna (just like Chomno’s daughter) every morning to eat -- just enough for one day – so that they would know they are dependent upon the Grace of God for all things. When they grumbled about the bread – he provided them quail to eat.
Israel was a people that God had chosen – but they were a rebellious group. God repeatedly had to remind them how it was purely by His grace that he had chosen them, not something that they had earned. He loved them and wanted to see them experience that love, and protection and dependence upon Him.
It is not unlike the Love that a father should have for his children. A father, or mother, should always want the best for their children. We are to protect our children and love them no matter what. I love my children regardless of what they do or what they say. I will still need to discipline them when they mis-behave – or when they do not behave properly – but I still love them and desire the best for them. I will never cast my children away – I have a plan for my children and grandchildren to love and know God as their heavenly father – and I will never give up that plan – just as God has not given up on those He has chosen to be his children.
Israel grew into a large nation – but they had no law or governance structure. God Blessed Israel by telling them how they should behave. God gave them the Law – as recorded in the book of Exodus. Adhering to the law did not make God love them more, He gave them the Law as an example of his Grace. It is something that they needed to know, in order to live in such a way that they would be the blessing that God had designed them to be.
God gave them over 600 laws helping them to see how they should live morally, as a nation, and ceremonially how they should worship. He used ceremonies and sacrifices to provide His people a symbol of what was to come – Israel could only partly experience then, the total Grace of God that would be evident when God would send himself – as His Son - -to die on a cross to take all of the penalty for man’s rebellion.
Some of the laws are known as the ten commandments. They described for Israel how they should relate to God and also to their neighbor. God said that he was all about relationships – and that he wanted his children to know how they should relate to Him – and how they should relate to oneanother. He gave them the Law to Bless them and as a means to shower his grace upon them.
God also used the law to show Israel – and us today – how imperfect we really are. Not only imperfect – but also sinful -- The law reveals to us how much we need a God who loves us and will shower us with His Grace – totally by His choice – not dependent upon our behavior if we truly have faith in his Love.
I could go on and on – describing how God showed us His Grace throughout the Old Testament -- but all of that Grace was looking forward to when Jesus would come and FINISH THE WORK. The book of Hebrews in the New Testament – says that Jesus was the final and best High Priest – that he offered to God a sacrifice – a final sacrifice, that once and for all paid the total penalty for man’s sin and rebellion.
Jesus was all full of Grace – He lived a life of Compassion – and while being the final sacrifice – He is also the model for a completed life – totally sold out to God – desiring to do His will. God showed His Grace to us his family through Jesus.
Our team has had a key verse that we have concentrated on. It too is from the Bible – from one of the last books in the New Testament.
The Apostle John – who wrote the Gospel of John – also authored three letters. Known as first, second and third John. In Second John 2:5&6. I am going to paraphrase.
John says – that if you claim to abide in Jesus – if you claim to be his follower – if you are recipients of His unparalleled Grace – then you – should walk as he would walk. You need to live as He would live and say what He would say. As believers and followers of Jesus Christ – we should be his hands, and his legs and his mouth – serving like he would serve and speaking as he would speak. Today – we are to be the instruments of HIS GRACE to the nations.
To do that we need to study His life – what he said and what he did – so that we can determine what his priority would be and thus how we should live today. That is the challenge that is before each of us. Walking as Jesus would walk – results in serving many people and vastly meeting the needs of others. It means being a peacemaker – the resolver of conflict – and the light that brings clarity from the Word.
While God has designed Good Works for each believer to do from the beginning of time – failure to do them only delays the implementation of God’s will and reduces your realtime relationship with the Father – although His love is constant. Your salvation status could not change, but the close relationship you desire with Christ will not be fulfilled to the extent possible.
However – it is just like the Law that God introduced to the nation of Israel. The challenge for us to walk as Jesus would walk is an example of the Grace of God – because walking like Jesus is the best way to live. It brings blessing both to us and to those that we serve – it is a form of Grace. God loves us no more nor no less if we fail follow this verse – but he has given us this instruction because it is to our benefit – just like the OT Law was to Israel. Our obedience brings us grace and it also benefits Gods Kingdom if we do walk faithfully in obedience
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