PPic: Oberon Golf Course - Links Pro Am 2006
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Study 18: October 30th to November 5th 2006 Reading – John Chapter Ch 3:18- 21. “Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”(John Chapter 3 verses 18 to 21 (New International Version). What a great honour it is to win a golf tournament and to be presented with your trophy. On the PGA Tour we are accustomed to the winner giving a speech and thanking the sponsors, friends, the coach, partners, dietician and psychologist. Whenever anyone wants to thank God, there’s a cringe and awkwardness apparent. When Aaaron Baddeley won the Australian Open for the second time, his reference to God in his speech was conveniently dropped by the media. Why
is it that it is acceptable to thank everyone in life except God?
Maybe it has to do with pride. A believer in Jesus Christ is someone
who acknowledges that life is a gift of God. Everything a believer
has comes from God. Whether we win or lose in sport is not the main
point. In life we rejoice that God is working in all of our life,
in our winning and in loses. Just because we believe in God doesn’t
mean we will be successful, but when we are, it’s appropriate
to give thanks. Many people don’t like a reference to God,
because they don’t believe in Jesus and feel uncomfortable
when God is spoken about. Every Christian’s message is that
whatever we achieve in life, this comes from the help of God, as
one verse says; This is also the message of the last sentence of our reading for this week. In everything we gratefully acknowledge God’s help in all of life, and that all we achieve comes with God’s help. We are pleased to acknowledge this help, because we believe this to be true. If a sponsor gives us money to go and play the Tour, provides us with accommodation and travel and all expenses and then we win and fail to thank them or acknowledge our sponsor, this would be seen as ungrateful. This is how a believer in Christ sees life. God is our sponsor who gives us the wonderful opportunity to use the gifts God gives and to live life to the full. To give thanks to God is natural for one who believes in Christ. For the unbeliever, there is a marked difference. God is absent in their praise. Their credit will go to those who have helped him and in ones own efforts. As our reading today points out, there is a fundamental difference between those who will be condemned and those not on the Day of Judgment. The believer will look to Christ for forgiveness for sins. The unbeliever, rejecting God, will be caught out in the sins that have never been dealt with. The hard reality check of this reading is that even
though light has come in Jesus, we prefer darkness. The darkness
is not just the bad things we do, but also for failing to thank
God for the life given to us. The darkness also involves the refusal
to accept the gift of life that Jesus gives through his dying and
rising again. Prayer. Lord Jesus, thank you for the unique gifts you give to each person. Help us to acknowledge you as the giver, creator and helper. Amen. |
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