matthew

Faith, Action, Love and Character

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This is the four things that shaped our life as a Christian. We simply aren’t someone who is worthy of God unless we are keeping this four in our mind, our attitude and what we do everyday. Today, we learned a lot from a centurion, whom has an admirable faith in God.

The Faith of the Centurion

 5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6“Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

 8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

What is inspiring about the Centurion is that he is someone who came from a nation which ruled the Jews back then and yet he came through, forgetting all the status, to his enemy to ask for help. Not for him, or anyone from his family if that matters, but for his servant. How many of us would go to church and lie under His cross and pray for our servant or maid? A very few people. Imagine the difference in status back then.

Jesus offered to come to his house, which is an honor, yet the Centurion felt unworthy of Him. He believed in God so much that he only hoped to hear His words, and only after that his servant will be healed. Even Jesus felt amazed by his faith and even said that no one in Israel has faith as huge as him, and he will have a feast, in one table, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, imagine that!

We must have faith in God, put love out there into our action which will instills that in our character. God bless us!

God Knows What We Need

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In life, we always ask a lot of things. Whether it’s the things that we want or the things that we actually need. The important thing is actually the latter rather the former. In today’s service, God teaches us that He knew what we need, and how He helped us.

Matthew 37-38

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Here is a scene before God was arrested and then crucified to atone our sins. He isn’t afraid but in this verse, He wants to teach us that in our sorrow, in our suffering we need a friend. We need someone to accompany us. For example, if we are sick and if our friends come to visit us. It’s not the things that they brought that make us happy, it’s their presence and us chatting with them. The couple of verse after this one shows that even when God asked them to accompany Him, they or in some cases, we, failed his trust to do so.

Genesis 26:29-33

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” 31 Jacob replied, “First, sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

This is a famous verse where Jacob earns his brother birthright but also it pictures something different. In this scene, Esau(pictured as us) needs something, and he even said that he could die if he didn’t get it. Yet, Jacob(people/friends) used our needs and took advantage of it to gain something for himself. This happens quite a lot in real life, where when someone needs something, say farmers in the villages, the loan shark took advantage of it and put out crazy interest. So make sure you share your problems to the right person, beware/be careful that someone can do it to you, except God.

Exodus 17:10-13

10Joshua led the attack as Moses had commanded, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur stood on the hilltop. 11The Israelites out-fought the Amalekites as long as Moses held up his arms, but they started losing whenever he had to lower them. 12Finally, Moses was so tired that Aaron and Hur got a rock for him to sit on. Then they stood beside him and supported his arms in the same position until sunset. 13That’s how Joshua defeated the Amalekites.

Sometimes we want something or we need something. People knew it, but they don’t really know what we really need. For example, we love shoes, but what if your friends gave you shoes that are too big for you or too small. That doesn’t fulfill your needs right? This verse shows us that Aaron and Hur helps Moses, and they understand what he needs, and in the end everyone is happy because Joshua won the war. If there’s no Aaron and Hur, everyone would be defeated instead.

1 Kings 19:3-8

3 Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

God understands what Elijah needs. He was afraid, he was hungry, he doesn’t have any strength anymore to continue. God made something impossible happen for him, he is served by bread and a jar of water, two of things that are definitely didn’t came from this world because it is impossible for humans to have those in the middle of a desert. And what happened after? He traveled 40 days and 40 nights. HE understand what WE need, and HE fulfills it so WE can continue our life, and even greater one each time.

John 20:19-20

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

God’s disciples were afraid that time and NO ONE can save them. No one can provides safety, or something to beat the afraidness in them. Then, God shows up, He knows that they are in fear, they don’t have someone to rely on. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. So are we when He fulfilled our needs. We will feel overjoyed!

Philippians 4:19

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus

And HE will fulfill/meet ALL of our NEEDS. When or where can you find someone that says that to you? He is the one that is able to do that. Knowing what our needs are, meeting them in a right moment and in a right place, without mocking us or taking advantage of our needs. God knew what we need, and He is there for you every time, because He has all the things that we need and in Jesus we trust.

This is a summary from Handoyo Santoso service from Gereja Kemah Tabernakel – 12th February 2012

About Suffering

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Suffering has become some kind of a thing that we will face. For some it may be once a week, once a month, but for more than a few it can be something that he/she/they should face every day. So, has God left us and let us suffer? Definitely no. God has given us an example, that He, the greatest of all the kings, has to face a suffering as well.

Matthew 16:21

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

He said it Himself that He has to be sacrificed, He has to face the suffering, only to win against death and be raised to life again on the third day.

Matthew 16:22-23

22 Peter took him aside and begain to rebuke him: “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you1″ 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter,” Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

After He predicted His death, Peter, who in this verse ‘acted as a Satan’ being told by God that he doesn’t have the mind of God, he doesn’t know what will happen and what is to come. The suffering will only last for a while and what will come after that is far more than the suffering itself.

John 16:21

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come, but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.

This verse really pictured what is being told before. We will face suffering, we will suffer – even in God – why? Because what will come after that, the happiness – the rewards will make facing the suffering worth it and we will smile in the end, thanking God. Just like a woman who is pregnant for 7,8,9 or even 10 months, the suffering is incredible but when she saw the face of her own flesh, she will be smiling and became happy exactly from that moment on.

John 9:1-3

1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus,” but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

Sometimes we think that we are suffering every day because we have sinned, we did some things that we aren’t proud of, we acted against God’s will. Yes, maybe we have did that, but don’t put every suffering in one big box of an aftermath of your sin. Like this verse, it’s neither the blind man or his parents’ sin that he suffered through the blindness. It’s because God will work and make a miracle in his life. (And yes He did as the blind man was healed with just a mud that being put in his eyes by God – John 9:6-7)

Hebrews 2:18

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted

Experience always help, and if we have beaten the suffering over and over again, we can always be strong for others who are suffering. We can make changes in people’s life, not necessarily healing people’s pain but through our testimony, through our experience. Be blessed, and always, be thankful!

This is a summary from Handoyo Santoso service from Gereja Kemah Tabernakel – 29th January 2012