Sunday Sep 01, 2013

Answers To Common Questions (Part 1)

In June we invited people to send in their questions, with the intent that we will answer
them during our Sunday services.

We have broadly categorized the questions we will be covering into five main areas:
Christian walk, Marriage, Lifestyle, Theology, Church. We will cover Christian walk,
Marriage, this Sunday (Sep 01), and cover Lifestyle, Theology, Church on Sun Sep 08.

We will attempt to be brief but clear, direct and Scriptural.

On topics where the Scriptures are silent, our approach is to address the matter (A)in
the light of what the Scriptures speak on related or similar issues, (B)in the light of the
nature of God and (C)with practical wisdom.

In cases where we are sharing our personal opinion, we will indicate that we are doing
so, and you are free to hold to your own personal opinion on the matter.

Christian Walk

1, What is an idol? How do i know whether there are idols in my life? How do i get rid
of them?

Anything that takes God's place in my life is an "idol". An "idol" could therefore be a
person, a material object, or an emotion, e.g. a passion, dream or desire. Covetousness
(uncontrolled desire) is idolatry as stated in Ephesians 5:5.
There are two important keys to ensuring that there are no idols in our lives (A)honest
self-examination. We need to be honest with ourselves and keep a check on ourselves.,
as it says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 (B)Ask the Lord to examine our hearts and expose
anything that is wicked (Psalm 139:23,24)
Essentially the process of getting rid of an idol is to simply re-establish God's rightful
place in our lives. Giving God the right to rule and reign in us. We do this (A)by
worshipping Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and (B)obedience in all
areas, especially in the areas where something else dictates our decisions instead of the
Lord.
e.g. The love of money could be an idol.

2, When God says He will give you wisdom and knowledge do you go out and look for
it say read books or through any other means or is it done in a supernatural way
through situations or experiences that God takes us through.

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Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge (information) to solve problems, improve
conditions, etc. Both wisdom and knowledge come from God (Proverbs 2:6).
We gain wisdom through several sources
1, from the Lord by His Word and the work of His Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2)
2, by our experiences over time
3, by observing/reading/learning from other people's experiences
4, through the counsel of wise people who can speak into our lives (Proverbs 10:13)

All of these are useful and God will use all of these ways to bring wisdom into our lives.
Hence we must remain open to acquire wisdom through all these channels.

3, Overcoming fear - I am basically a shy person and at times have fear of man this
keeps me from interacting with people. Does the bible speak about this how can i get
rid of these fears?

Yes.

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.

Fear is not normal. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear attracts the wrong things in our
lives. Fear cripples us. For some fear totally incapacitates them.

Fear is caused sometimes by our wrong thinking - misconceptions, poor self-image, due
to trauma, bad experiences, etc. In some cases, fear is a spirit, it is demonic and has to
be resisted as such.

Depending on the nature of the fear a person has, these are ways in which we can
overcome fear:
1, Receive inner emotional healing from God for any trauma, bad experience of the past.
This healing is brought into our lives by His Word, by His Spirit as we are in His presence.
Sometimes, we need to actively resist any demonic powers causing this crippling fear.

2, Renew our mind, create a new self-image based on who we are in Christ

3, Have faith - replace fear with faith in God

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Psalm 27:1-3
1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength
of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.

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3 Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In
this I will be confident.

4, Trust in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Pastor could you
please explain this.

We suppose you are quoting Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Perhaps a parallel Scripture in the New Testament would be:

John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be
done for you.

God intends for us to come into a place where we so walk with Him that our hearts and
desires are totally in tune with His. When we are in such a place of "delighting" in Him or
"abiding in Him and He in us" He assures us that what ever we desire/ask it will be done.
Obviously when we are in such a place, we would not even desire anything according to
our flesh, but wholly desire according to His heart.

5, Are children always under the verse that says obey your father and mother. When
you have plans for your future and your parents have another set of plans are you
disobeying them when you follow through with your plans. Is one guilty as long as the
plans are not against God's will.

There is "obedience" and there is "honor" (Ephesians 6:1,2). As long as we are young
and dependent on our parents we are to "obey". There will come a time, when we
transition from being dependent on our parents and have to stand on our own feet. We
are now responsible for our own selves, not only on this earth but also before God. At
this point we no longer "obey" our parents because they are not around (at least in
most cases) telling us what to do. We make our own decisions. But we continue to
"honor" (have and demonstrate respect) for our parents.

Ultimately, as adults (once you are on your own) we are answerable to God as to
whether we have obeyed His directions for our lives (2 Corinthians 5:10). Hence, there
may be situations when the instructions of God will necessitate that we disobey our
parents (i.e. human authority) in order to obey God. [For example, the Bible teaches us
to obey local civil authorities (Romans 13:1-5) and yet the apostles disobeyed man in
order to obey God (Acts 4:18-20)].

6, Is it necessary for young people to respect and obey people in authority within the
church. Who are the people in authority within and outside the church.

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God has commanded us to submit and obey to authority in various spheres of life:
 Children to their parents (Ephesians 6:1,2)
 A wife to her husband (Ephesians 5:22)
 An employee to his/her boss/supervisor (Ephesians 6:5)
 A citizen to civil authority (Romans 13:1-5, 1 Peter 2:13,14)
 Believers to Church Elders - pastors and those set in different levels of authority
in a local church (Hebrews 13:17)

Marriage

[NOTE: In the live sermon we share several real life examples. Hence we strongly
recommend that this section be reviewed while listening to the sermon recording]

1, Is it wrong to want a beautiful wife or handsome husband without neglecting the

fact that the person has a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do we have the freedom to
choose who we want to get married to or do we wait for God to bring the right person.
Could you share with examples from the bible as well as scriptures on this.

In our opinion, once we have put important priorities in place, then it is not wrong to
have your personal criteria for what you would want to have in a spouse. "beauty" or
"handsomeness" is subjective and a personal taste. However, we need to guard
ourselves from lusting after beauty. Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But
a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."

Finding the right person for your life is a combination of following God's leading and you
making the choice. God will lead us and teach us in the way we are to go (Psalm 32:8)
which includes matters concerning the choice of a life partner. God will order our steps
and the steps of the one who is to be our life partner (Psalm 37:23), as He did for
Abraham's servant who went looking for a bride for Isaac (Genesis 24:14). While God is
orchestrating things, we must also be actively seeking, just as Abraham's servant did.

Proverbs 18:22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the LORD.

Seek and you will find. If you are not seeking, it could a reason why you are not finding.

Proverbs 19:14 Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the LORD.

1 Corinthians 7 clearly brings out the importance of personal choice in this matter.

1 Corinthians 7:36-38 MESSAGE BIBLE

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36 If a man has a woman friend to whom he is loyal but never intended to marry, having decided to
serve God as a "single," and then changes his mind, deciding he should marry her, he should go ahead
and marry. It's no sin; it's not even a "step down" from celibacy, as some say.
37 On the other hand, if a man is comfortable in his decision for a single life in service to God and it's
entirely his own conviction and not imposed on him by others, he ought to stick with it.
38 Marriage is spiritually and morally right and not inferior to singleness in any way, although as I
indicated earlier, because of the times we live in, I do have pastoral reasons for encouraging singleness.

2, Do I as a believer only have to marry a believer? (What if my parents don't

understand?)

Yes.

We know that this is God's instruction (2 Corinthians 6:14, Amos 3:3) not only
concerning marriage but in every form of being "yoked together".

Pastoral Observations of 3 categories:

Category 1 : Where young people (believers from both traditional Christian backgrounds
and non-Christian backgrounds) take a stand for marrying a believer only
Category 2 : Where young people (believers from non-Christian backgrounds) are ready
to take a stand, but the church is unable to assist them
Category 3: Where young people (especially young ladies from non-Christian
backgrounds) are under the complete control of their families choices.

Category 3 - There are situations where a young person may have no choice, being still
dependent on their parents, to yield to the compulsions of their family and enter into
marriage to an person of their choice, who is an unbeliever. In such situations, our
opinion is that God does not stop loving or being faithful to His own. That person can
still do whatever is possible to grow in their faith, and through their life try to win their
unbelieving spouse to the Lord. In some instances, the unbelieving spouse has been
brought to the Lord!

1 Peter 3:1-2
1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they,
without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,
2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

3, If a believer is in relationship with non believer is it fine to continue that

relationship? As per my understating everyone is a son and daughter of God and its
unfortunate that one of the person is born in an unbelieving family. But what If there
is hope of that person will come to Christ going forward. Not because of us but Christ.
We don't change people, God does. (1 Corinthians 7:12, 2 Corinthians 6:14)

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Before marriage, 2 Corinthians 6:14 applies. If a believer is in a "relationship" with an
unbeliever, our recommendation is that this person either has to come out of this
relationship, or wait till the unbeliever has made a commitment to the Lord. This may or
may not happen, because although the Lord is ready to save each person, that individual
still has to make their decision. Getting married to an "unbeliever" on the pretext that
some day that person will get saved is not advised.

IF a person is already married and then comes to know the Lord, this is where 1
Corinthians 7:12-15 applies.

4, My Question is Regarding marriage. If a person comes to Christ from another faith

and is living in Christ faithfully in-spite of many issues(like against their family, if
he/she comes from non-Christian background), now it is a time for marriage. What
should they do? who will help them? Kindly pray and help with practical guidance.

This definitely is a challenging situation but God is definitely able to provide, and He will.
Here are some options to consider:
1, Share your interest/readiness for marriage with elderly people in your church - so
that they can look out for a life-partner through family and friends
2, Make use of Christian matrimonial sites
3, Register with the "marriage bureau" in your local church as well as in other local
churches that have this facility.
4, Be open -you never know how God will bring this to pass!

5, Is divorce an option? My husband is a womanizer, flirts with other women, etc. and I
have confronted him, and he has accepted this but is unwilling to change.

God does not approve of divorce (Malachi 2:16) . Marriage is for a lifetime, until death
do us part and we must strive towards this. Almost all marriages go through their share
of storms in different seasons of life, and with God's help and each other's support we
need to make it through these storms.
Even if there happens to be a failure - moral, financial, etc. - on the part of a spouse, we
need to seek God's strength to extend forgiveness and bring healing.
There are some situations where divorce is permitted and the marriage dissolved:
 Unfaithfulness (Matthew 5:32)
 Willful desertion of an unbelieving spouse (1 Corinthians 7:15)

God hates the event (divorce) but He still loves the people who have or are going
through it. There are many complex real life scenarios that result in divorce. We must
understand the heart of God, His mercy and the fact that He makes all things new.

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 Sermon Notes

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