home > Pastor’s Desk > 2023 > June 2nd > SET FREE TO BE A DOULOS

Last Sunday we were treated to an exceptional feast from our young adults. I say “exceptional” because what we heard from “rebellious” Rachel last Sunday was not typical Generation Z (“Gen Z”) thinking. Gen Z’ers are generally unsure whether there are universal objective moral standards. Rachel wasn’t. She was adamant that the GOD who created all people is the Source and Standard for determining what is universally right and wrong (“morality”). Gen Z’ers are though generally sure that sexuality and gender is self-determined, and — in what is a contradiction to this position, but believed to be equally true (this is called “cognitive dissonance”) — even predetermined. But Rachel refuted this, declaring that the Bible which Jesus Christ declared was “Scripture” and declared “could not be broken” (John 10:35) was very clear that GOD created mankind biologically male and female with bodies that corresponded to their sex (“gender”) and that sexuality was designed by GOD to only be expressed within the bond of holy marriage which Jesus said could only be between a man and a woman (Matt. 19:4-6). Gen Z’ers are generally unsure if life has any point or purpose. But Rachel was certain that it did, and was equally certain that it was grounded in following Christ and obeying GOD. No wonder she described herself as rebellious – because she is rebelling against the thinking/assumptions/values of most of her Gen Z contemporaries! Lest anyone think that we don’t care about this generation, I want present several reasons why we do, and why there is a spiritual crisis among most Gen Z’ers that we should all be very, very, concerned about.

 

THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE EFFECTING GEN Z

We are engaged in a spiritual battle. Jesus Christ declared that within this battle for the souls of every human is an evil force that seeks to blind people from the truth, hinder people from hearing the truth, and seeks to distract people from considering the truth. He said, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path” (Matt. 13:19). Jesus described the evil one as a murderer and liar (Jn 8:44) who comes to “steal, kill, and destroy” (Jn. 10:10). The evil one hates GOD’s image-bearers — but he especially hates young image-bearers (presumably because they have the most potential to cause him and his wicked schemes the greatest damage!). 

It is not difficult to see that young people (Gen Z) are under spiritual attack. The graphic below from the Australian Institute of Family Counselling was produced in 2017 (before the covid pandemic lockdowns) and had already revealed the alarming trends among Gen Z’ers about their increasingly poor mental health, suicideation, confusion about gender and sexuality, and perhaps, even more alarmingly, the Church’s complete ill-preparedness to confront these issues. This week I had a meeting with one of Launceston’s leading mental health experts who told me that these indicators are now “far worse” than these figures. He also told me that governments have no solutions to this crisis – but, he said, Christians do! Brothers and sisters, Rachel has shared with us that we have a problem — and last Sunday she called it out for what it is: It is fundamentally a spiritual problem, not merely a mental health problem, or an identity problem, or even a moral problem (although it effects each of these areas). 

SLAVERY IS RAMPANT

Jesus described everyone who sins as a “slave to sin” (Jn. 8:34). The New Testament goes further and states that everyone is a “slave” either to sin or to Christ :

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin
have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching
to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin,
have become slaves of righteousness.
Rom. 6:17-18

Slavery to sin is incredibly deceptive. It takes a miracle—a work of the Holy Spirit in a human’s soul—for someone to realise that they have been deceived by the evil one and made an unwitting slave of sin, and to then be set free by the power of GOD.

But now that you have been set free from sin
and have become slaves of God,
the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Rom. 6:22

ONLY THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST CAN SET
SOMEONE FREE FROM THEIR SLAVERY

What Rachel shared last Sunday was not criticism about her peers, but because of her compassion and deep burden for her generation, she shared the solution, the proven and only hope that is available to every other member of Gen Z. That is, she shared the gospel! But she also issued a challenge to her church family – to those who have experienced the freedom that only Christ can offer – to get out of our comfort zone and be prepared to invite people, we know or meet, to church. By doing this, Rachel pointed out, we would be demonstrating our love for a confused, deceived, broken, worried and anxious generation – and using our freedom in Christ for what it was intended to be used for.  

 ¶ For you were called to freedom, brothers.
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,
but through love serve one another.
Gal. 5:13

When someone is set free from the bondage and deception of sin, their mind is renewed to see and accept the truth (Rom 12:1-3) – and to see it in the Word of GOD, the Scriptures:

¶ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him,
“If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:36

Christ has set us free from the power of sin’s slavery (which results in bondage to deception, inconsideration of others, idolatry, etc.). The freed believer’s response to gift of eternal life that has set us free is to then willingly commit his or her life to Christ as a doulos. Doulos is the Greek word translated into English as servant but more appropriately as slave. When the apostle Peter wrote his epistles to the believers in Bithynia (Acts 16:271Peter 1:1), he reminded them that they had been freed from their slavery to sin but were now willing slaves of God:

Live as people who are free,
not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil,
but living as servants [Gr. doulos] of God.
First Peter 2:16

When I was growing up I used to hear the old-timers say, No-one is as free as he who is a slave of Christ! A slave is a person who is at the disposal of their master. A Christian is so grateful to his or her Saviour who has rescued them from their bondage and slavery to sin, that they have become what the Old Testament referred to as a love slave (Exo. 21:5-6). That is, someone, who out of sheer love and devotion to their Master that they were willing to pledge their service to Him for the rest of their life. 

Our Master has charged each of us to carry His out His mission of proclaiming liberty and freedom to all those who are in bondage to the evil one through sin. He authorises us to enter into His rule over the universe by praying in a way that hinders the powers of darkness, so that what happened to the sin-enslaved persecutor of the Church, Saul of Tarsus, can happen to them as well (see Acts 26:16-18). 

Therefore, I appeal to my fellow doulos-slaves of Christ to embrace our status as a doulos of Christ and to join with me in praying for our generation to experience the freedom that can only come from Christ each Sunday by Sunday. And, secondly, to pray for our youth and young adults to have the confidence to boldly declare the freedom that they have found is also available to their friends as well. Will you join me?

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

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COMMISSIONED FOR A PURPOSE

Think about your life for a second. How important are you daily activities? What if I told you that God’s grand plan for the world isn’t just about some extraordinary few, but includes you, right where you are in the tediousness of every day life? You may have heard this sort of thing from an animated and passionate preacher: That the same God who set the stars in place has a purpose for your life that echoes into eternity… sure, that’ll preach, but what if it were actually true?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HONOUR SOMEONE’S LIFE’S WORK?

This is the question that’s been on my mind since I stepped into the role of Senior Pastor here at Legana Christian Church. I think we all know what it looks like to deface someone’s life’s work! Back in 2022, there were 38 “Art Attacks” staged by groups like Extinction Rebellion. They went into museums and threw food, paint, and sometimes even glued themselves to significant works of art. In the midst of it all, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thinking about how I should save the world. Rather, I couldn’t help but think: What had the artist done to deserve such disrespect? What did vandalising art have to do with fossil fuels, cutting down rainforests or large-scale mining? Maybe I missed the point, but this seemed more like childish, attention-grabbing tantrums than meaningful protests.

Looking Forward in Faith and Finishing Well

Have you ever had one of those moments when you just know something significant is about to happen? That feeling where everything in your life has been preparing you for this moment? That sense that, through all the trials and struggles, God has been at work preparing you for ‘such a time as this’? That’s exactly how Bec and I feel as we step into this new season here at Legana Christian Church. From the moment we—Bec, the kids (Nissi, Otto, Mila and Bijou) and I—arrived, I’ve felt so welcomed by the congregation’s warmth and encouragement. The last few years have been a whirlwind for us, but already we feel like part of the family. So, before I say anything else, I’d like to say thank you to the congregation for embracing us wholeheartedly. It really means the world to our family.

WHEN JESUS SPOKE, PEOPLE DID MORE THAN LISTEN

William L. Thompson was born in Ohio in 1847. He studied music as a young and was talented enough to be invited to study music in Germany. After some time in Germany, he returned to America and became a popular song-writer for famous performing artists. But Thompson also began to experience rejections from music publishers. During this difficult phase of his life he turned to Christ. He had begun reading through the Gospels with fresh zeal and discovered that the Jesus described in those Gospels was deeply caring, very tender especially with women and children and anyone who truly turned to Him. Even though he had started his own music publishing company and also a music store in Ohio, his focus and priorities had now changed.
In the 1870s there were many people in the America and the United Kingdom who were coming to Christ under the evangelistic ministry of Dwight L. Moody. Thompson was certainly aware of the great evangelist. He had moved from writing popular songs to writing hymns. He wrote a hymn that he felt was appropriate for the type of evangelistic meetings that Mr. Moody was conducted. He called it, an invitation hymn. It was designed to come after the sermon and led to what had become referred to as ‘the altar call’ where people were invited to receive Christ and become a Christian. The invitation hymn was called, Softly and Tenderly. When D.L. Moody first heard it he insisted that they begin using it in their revival meetings. In fact, it almost became known  as D.L. Moody song! As the aged Mr. Moody was confined to what would be his death-bed, he called for Mr. Thompson and told him: 

DUMB PRAYERS THAT I HAVE PRAYED AND GOD HAS ANSWERED OVER THE YEARS

Over the past nearly 29-years of pastoring Legana I have occasionally mentioned that one day I would write about “the dumb prayers that I’ve prayed.” It’s not really that they are all ‘dumb’ prayers, it’s that they are the kind of prayers that are guaranteed to be answered by God (because they are “surrendered” prayers) but have not been fully considered what God’s answer might entail. I do not consider the more well-known and obvious “dumb” prayers – such as praying for revival to bring in hundreds of lost/lonely/broken souls into the kingdom and then being surprised by God’s answer resulting in exhaustion, burn-out, over-stretched resources, spiritual attacks, and the inevitable pride. Neither do I consider the even more obvious “dumb” prayer for patience and humility and the resultant means (difficult people and obvious trials!) by which such a prayer can only be answered. Instead, I begin with a prayer I prayed as a teenager then others that I prayed down through the years which have led me to this unexpected point. What I hope, and pray, you might discover after you have read this is something which will might benefit you in your knowledge of God and how He often answers prayers.

COMPEL THEM TO COME HOME

Who is welcomed into your home especially if they are unexpected, unannounced and unknown? As Jesus travelled around Israel He often told a story which His disciples would have repeatedly heard. It was the story of a nobleman who was hosting a great banquet in his large home and had invited other nobles to be his guests. But one after another each made a weak excuse for not attending. The nobleman then told his servant to go and invite the outcasts to be his guests instead.

TRUST GOD, THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO

The Bible is the all-time best-selling book for good reason. It is a book like no other. If you have a problem, the answer is in there -if not directly, it shows where the answer is found: God. He is the most powerful being in the world. He is able to split the sea (Ex 14:22), make hungry lions oblivious to the ‘righteous food’ in front of them (Dan 6:22), stop a storm mid-track (Luke 8:24), win un-winnable battles (such as 1Kings 20:26-30), overfill previous bare fishing nets (Luke 5:5-6), permit pregnancy in (very) old age (Gen 21:2) or even without a man (Luke 1:34-35), and, heal the sick and make demons flee (Matt 4:24). These were all answers to difficult problems. Each is a remarkable and exciting story in itself, but the repetition of such extraordinary and powerful works shows it was never just a fluke or a mere coincidence. He is a powerful God-able to make the impossible possible.

WHAT DO YOU?

home > Pastor's Desk > 2024 > August 9th > What Do YouWhat do you want? What do you want to do? What do you hope to achieve? What do you long to buy? What do you wish for your community? What do you need to change? What do you aspire to learn? What do you...

Was Jesus Even A Christian

AS my pastoral ministry at Legana rapidly draws to an end it is my hope that I leave a deposit in your soul that encourages you to also Love God with all your mind as well. It is my contention that with the increasing screen addiction to social media — where viewing “memes” and watching “celebrity YouTubers” — is being confused for factual information with even believers susceptible to deception. I want to offer some ways to guard what might be being allowed into your heart.

HOW DID THEY UPSET MALACHI SO MUCH?

Over the past twenty-nine years of pastoring Legana, I have generally preached through biblical books verse-by-verse. These biblical books series have been interspersed with various shorter topical series (which is why it took me eight years to preach all the way through the Book of Jeremiah). As I now commence my last biblical book teaching series, through Malachi, I hope to leave a deposit in your souls about the value and authority of God’s Word and how we need to worshipfully approach it. While we all want to “cut to the chase” and “get to the point” when we approach God’s Word we must do so carefully. This takes time. “Time” is what most people complain they do not have. This is why I am doing so much background work on this often-neglected book so that you can take advantage of my time investment on your behalf. In this series so far, I have introduced the context of this book, discussed who Malachi was, explored where Malachi was, and examined who was Malachi’s immediate audience. I am now considering why Malachi was so profoundly upset and what we can learn from his passionate love for God and His Table.