A mission trip won't help you succeed in life!
What makes you think I need God?
Being a Christian doesn't mean you have to save the whole world!
But dad…
I said no, and that's that!
Opinions differ about the meaning of life.
Why am I here?
What's life all about?
What does the Bible say?
How should we live as Christians?
We're a Christian minority in a world
that doesn't know the gospel.
All of us have been sent.
Christians need to pray for local church growth,
because together we're God's people,
and we want every church to keep on growing.
We meet for coffee at 2pm,
read a bit of Luke's Gospel and discuss it for 15 minutes.
For students, it's all about relationships!
We believe that people need bread to live,
but don't live on bread alone: they need God's Word too.
Have all of us been sent? Have I been sent?
AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME
I AM SENDING YOU
I AM SENDING YOU
A plan of blessing & an act of rebellion
Ever since God created the world,
He's been working for the good of all humanity.
God even kept loving them when they turned away from Him,
not heeding His warnings, choosing their own way to live.
But God so loved the world
that He started His great salvation plan.
A long love story through the Bible and history
that led Him to give His only Son, Jesus.
Faith in Him can bring peace with God for everyone.
Christians are freed from the fear of death,
have entered into eternal life,
and need to share this good news.
Inspired by God's love, they have been sent.
Do we have a role?
Do we all need to go? To speak? To witness?
And if so, how?
God's mission in the Bible begins…
in the beginning!
Today
Creation
When God tells human beings
to be fruitful and to fill the earth,
that's already a mission.
God sends those He's created and everything begins.
The whole of creation, that beautiful garden
(Eden means garden of delights)
God gives it all to Adam
so he has all he needs to be happy with Eve
and enjoy life in all its fullness.
ALICE Office worker
It's not easy with him!
Even after 2 years working together.
Always the same old story...
You don't understand!
It's society's fault.
Society ruins people. But people are basically good.
Believe what you like.
But I think society is corrupt because of our sinfulness.
Why do you have to bring up that religious rubbish?
How can you believe that nonsense? You're a bright girl!
Charming!
I just believe that God is good and that human beings aren't!
But if God's good,
why is the world full of problems?
Adam's sin had a terrible impact on human history
and even on our planet.
The Bible shows us Adam and Eve,
the first human couple,
and how they rebel against God.
They were told
"You must not eat from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil"
The text uses the tree as a symbol
of the decision between right and wrong.
When God created Adam and Eve,
He told them:
"You can enjoy all of My good creation,
but there's one thing you can't do:
decide for yourselves between good and evil.
You are not gods."
The great temptation for human beings
was to decide for themselves
the difference between right and wrong.
And, of course, that had terrible consequences
because, in separating themselves from God,
human beings thought of themselves as gods,
and the relationship
between God and humanity was broken.
Everyone tries to understand the human condition
by offering various analyses.
But whom should we believe?
Do the experts have genuine solutions
to humanity's problems?
Can we trust philosophers,
politicians, psychologists?
There may be some truth in what they say,
but something crucial is missing.
The text of Genesis,
the Bible's story of origins,
tells us this had spiritual consequences:
a break in the spiritual communion
between humanity and God.
There have been relational consequences
between men and women,
and one of the consequences
of humanity's revolt against God
is the intrusion of shame,
produced by guilt,
between men and women.
There's also a consequence for human work:
having to work so hard is part of "vanity".
And, of course, death:
"for dust you are and to dust you will return."
The most important aspect
of this alienation from God
what should never have happened
became a reality.
Human beings, separated from God,
experience this separation very deeply.
They die.
These consequences show humanity's dignity.
The death of a fly is not that important.
It's the same for an animal or a tree.
But the death of a human being
is the death of somebody connected to eternity,
somebody created in a very special way by God.
He's in the image of God.
He's God's representative on earth.
How will God react to this human rebellion
with its catastrophic consequences?
Where is God in world history?
What will He do to bring humanity
back into fellowship with Himself and to restore relationships?
I've lost it all!
Everything - I can't believe it! I didn't save it!
So now you know what life in the office is like...
Why are you looking at me like that?
No reason.
"No reason" - yeah, sure!
The theme of salvation appears very early
in the Old Testament,
from the beginning of Genesis.
Because just after Eve and Adam sin
(tempted by the serpent),
God announces His salvation.
And it clearly involves
the victory of one of their descendants.
"I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Despite God's promise and His commitment to humanity,
the story goes on to show
the escalation of sin and evil in the world.
And violence too.
God is profoundly saddened
by the spread of evil in human hearts
and all over the earth.
He sends the flood to judge humanity.
But God chooses Noah and his family to make a new start
and carry on His plan to save humanity.
But men and women persist in rebellion.
The story of Babel shows again
the seriousness of this revolt against God.
Sometimes he has a go
when I'm just minding my own business!
What?
Don't you feel like a prisoner?
What are you talking about?
Why the need to believe in God?
You're in prison!
I'm free; I don't need to believe in anything.
Apart from myself.
Society just wants to limit our freedom.
Same with religion!
I want to stay free!
If you say so.
So you agree with me?
No, but you're free to believe what you want.
Yeah, sure...
Establishing a rescue plan
What's amazing in the Bible is
that this salvation takes place
through the choice of Abraham.
God made him a triple promise:
a land, a nation, and descendants.
The land is what is now known as the land of Israel,
the nation is the people of Israel,
and the blessing is all those peoples
blessed through Israel.
So salvation comes through a people:
the people of Israel.
The call of Abraham by God
is a key moment in world history.
Abraham obeys God, leaves his homeland,
and God enters into a covenant with him.
This promise to Abraham
sets in motion God's plan of blessing
for all humanity.
But this plan also involves a people,
because Abraham is the father of Israel.
Israel are the people of a covenant made by God,
in which He promises to take care of them
and gives them a Law
so they can function as a people.
Unfortunately, history shows that people,
not just Israel but humanity in general,
can't keep God's Law.
Another solution is needed.
What would that solution be?
How long would it take?
What part would Israel play?
How would they relate to other peoples?
According to the Old Testament,
God made Israel to be His witnesses
so that the nations might see
that Yahweh is the one true God
and should be worshipped accordingly.
But the wait wasn't over yet.
Only in Abraham's descendant, the Messiah,
would salvation history find its culmination.
Yes, through the Messiah,
one of Abraham's descendants,
salvation history would be fulfilled.
The coming of the Messiah and the Holy Spirit
The Gospels start with the coming of the Messiah.
God sent His own Son to take part in salvation history.
Jesus is "the one who saves".
The one who saves all those
who recognise their need to come back to God
and who believe in Jesus as Saviour.
I can't believe what just happened...
Great start to the day! The rest of it should be fun...
Unbelievable... who do they think they are?
I was barely out of the station
when I was virtually attacked by fanatics!
It was like sexual harassment!
It shouldn't be allowed!
Somebody could do with a nice coffee...
I'll go and get you one.
Yeah... get me a coffee.
Throughout His short life on earth,
Jesus did great good:
healing the sick, declaring forgiveness,
restoring the marginalised.
He served others to show that
God's Kingdom is one of kindness.
Are Christians called to do the same?
As disciples, aren't we called to learn
to live the Master's way?
Are we therefore sent to others
to love them and do good to them?
In SEL, we think one of the reasons
why we should support the poor
is that all human beings
have been created in God's image.
All human beings have a dignity
that can't be taken away.
SEL's slogan is "Christian action in a suffering world".
That sums up our identity and how we want to work.
Christians should focus on the whole person:
people's bodies as well as their souls.
We believe that people need bread to live,
but don't live on bread alone:
they need God's Word too.
From the start, SEL has wanted
to help people living in poverty.
We developed various initiatives,
mainly community development projects,
relief aid in response to natural disasters and conflicts.
We then moved into child sponsorship.
The most important thing about SEL
is that we support local Christian organisations.
We refer to them as partners.
We support the initiatives of local Christians
in developing countries,
so that they themselves run social action projects,
living out the biblical message in their own communities,
alleviating poverty and bearing witness to God's love.
What does being a partner mean?
Joining with others to do something
that nobody could do on their own
but that we can achieve together.
One day, I really wanted to tell him that God loves him...
Why do you want me to need God? You're obsessed with it!
So you can be saved and at peace!
What a load of rubbish!
The only saviour we have is ourself!
You need to wake up!
What's religion ever brought us
apart from violence, war, terrorism,
concentration camps, and genocides.
Where's your God of peace in all that?
It's at times like this that you ask for God's help...
But I didn't even have time to think,
the words just came out of my mouth:
Do you think any of that is because of Jesus?
Maybe it's not what Jesus was after.
OK - maybe people twisted religion.
I agree, that's possible.
And there are people who see Jesus as a great man...
Yes, OK.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing!
But your Jesus isn't doing much
to stop all of the evil and violence in the world.
That needs to be said too.
Back to square one.
So is sin the cause of all this?
If so, what's God's solution?
What hope is there for humanity?
How can we be saved?
The one thing that saves us is God's love, His grace.
If human beings are guilty,
because of their sin, rebellion, and disobedience,
how can God save them... If He's just?
How can a just judge absolve a guilty person?
It's a huge problem... if God is just.
A judge failing to sentence a criminal
would be guilty of misconduct.
It'd be the worst thing a judge could do.
It's a huge problem.
God's love saves us,
but how can He save us and still be just?
There's only one answer: Jesus Christ.
FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.
God's plan reached a turning point on Calvary:
The cross was the most unexpected
and extraordinary of events.
By the sacrifice of Jesus,
humanity can be saved.
"It is finished."
In Jesus, God Himself took the punishment
that should have been mine.
So God can both
love me and save me;
free me from my guilt,
while remaining just.
Because Jesus Christ accepted my punishment,
God Himself came to be punished in my place.
But Jesus' mission didn't end with His death;
God brought Him back to life.
This is the ultimate demonstration of God's victory
over the power of sin, evil, and death.
Jesus entrusted this message to His disciples
after His resurrection.
This is why the disciples, in the Book of Acts,
focus their message on Jesus' death and resurrection:
to prove that He really is Lord.
"This is what is written:
the Messiah will suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day,
and repentance for the forgiveness of sins
will be preached in his name to all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things."
(Luke 24:46-48)
But most of these disciples
were humble workers with little formal education;
how would they proclaim this message to all nations?
Were they really up to the task?
And what about us as Christians today?
Since the Day of Pentecost,
when those in the Jerusalem crowd
each heard the gospel in their own language,
God's plan has clearly involved all peoples and languages.
One of Wycliffe's main ministries is Bible translation.
Today, about 7000 languages are spoken in the world.
At least one book of the Bible
is available in 2900 of them;
the whole New Testament
exists in more than 1300 languages
and the entire Bible in 600 languages.
Even if 88% of the world's population
has access to the whole Bible or New Testament,
there are still millions of people
who can't read God's Word in their own language.
For over 75 years, Wycliffe Global Alliance
has been translating the Bible
and investing in literacy programmes.
Including other organisations like the Bible Societies,
translation projects are currently underway
in about 2400 languages in 165 countries.
Witnessing also involves sharing the gospel
in understandable terms.
It means communicating the gospel
having first understood its meaning,
communicating faithfully and clearly.
This isn't always easy, but it is possible,
and the Holy Spirit helps us.
The disciples were sent to proclaim the good news
and to set up new communities of believers everywhere,
relying on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
It's still the same today.
No-one has ever seen God.
So how are our neighbours, friends and colleagues
going to see the reality of His presence?
Mostly, through the lives of believers:
their love for one another and those around them.
Words are necessary to communicate the gospel,
but the lives of Christians will give it substance
and make it visible.
There were only about 10 people at our first meeting,
but then things speeded up.
We were surprised by how many children came along,
more than you'd expect compared to the norm.
It's a special calling for us;
every church has its own focus.
We organised the church around different ministries:
worship, Sunday School, and the website.
The website is really important.
We had a website before our first service.
People who come can see we have a project;
We try to be active in the town;
that's crucial if we want to be visible.
It's hard work.
You need to be really committed,
sometimes alongside secular employment.
You need reliable people to work with and build a team.
I got involved straight away
and am part of the church council.
Together we're watching all that the Lord is doing here.
People really need to pray.
Christians need to pray for local church growth,
because together we're God's people,
and we want every church to keep on growing.
Every man and woman is sent by God.
Sent where?
Some are sent into their everyday workplace.
Others have specific ministries:
pastors, for example,
but also in the arts or other communication roles.
Still others cross cultural boundaries,
but we're all sent.
As Jesus Himself told us:
"Go into all the world and make disciples."
Matthew 28:19-20
Why are you always so helpful?
I've already told you:
I think it's because I believe in God.
Incredible!
What you say reminds me of those idiots
who hassle me in the street, but you're different.
I don't know if I'm different;
I try to look out for other people.
God loves me and I try to do the same.
I pray for Olivier
and try to share what life with God is like.
But it isn't always easy.
Throughout the Bible
we see that God wants to speak to men and women,
calling them to come back to Him, to be saved.
God's love saves us,
but how can He save us and still be just?
There's only one answer: Jesus Christ.
God's call is heard throughout Scripture,
a message for all humanity.
How did this call spread out?
How has it resonated through history?
How has this call spread through the world
from the Day of Pentecost to today?
Through those God has saved: Christians.
The Bible calls Christians
to witness to what Jesus has done in our life.
We're a Christian minority
in a world that doesn't know the gospel.
All of us are sent.
Dad, can I tell you something?
I've made my decision.
Next year, I'm not going to work in your business,
I'm going on a mission trip.
What? Where's that come from?
That church of yours?
No, not at all.
I need to go; I want to feel useful.
You'll be useful taking over the business as agreed.
A mission trip won't help you succeed in life!
No way!
But they don't know the gospel!
They're missing out on real life!
Being a Christian
doesn't mean you have to save the whole world!
But dad...
I said no, and that's that!
For more infomation >> 英語でTHREE を簡単に発音する方法☆ - Duration: 3:34. 
For more infomation >> 【Kman夾娃娃】有時候上檔板不見得是好槍位！槍位就是噴錢的開始！？【艦娘】白露改#278 - Duration: 2:20. 
For more infomation >> Video: Nor'easter may bring up to 12 inches of snow - Duration: 3:42. 
For more infomation >> Misti - Przyjaźń (prod. Hanto) - Duration: 3:52. 
For more infomation >> Bill Hader on Playing a Hit Man Who Wants to Be an Actor - Duration: 4:34. 
For more infomation >> ÇILGIN MEMELER - TWİTCH FAİLS #1 - Duration: 5:43. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét