The Best Of The Best # 33 2019 ‘Fully Satisfied’ Part 1

Today’s Message is part of a Series I’m calling, The Best of the Best; in this series I’m preaching what I think is the best message from each year of my 33-year pastoral ministry, which began in 1987 

So far, I have done 32 Messages (1987-2018) 

Today’s Message is # 33 and is from 2019 

The Message is called, ‘Fully Satisfied’ Part 1 

In June 2019, Myself, Ps. Shalom and Alex went as a Team to China to re-connect with Henry and Ps. Kong  

One of the highlights of visiting the leaders of the QCHC was meeting and praying with sister Ping, the granddaughter of one of the Qing princesses, a resident in the Forbidden City at the close of China’s Empire 

Whilst in Beijing it was a real blessing for me to re-visit the Forbidden City and go see the Temple of Heaven Complex for the first time and reflect on God’s dealings in China through some of the righteous emperors 

‘Faith Of Our Fathers’ (Finding God In Ancient China) Thong Chan Kei 

We also took a day trip to see the Great Wall of China (My second time there) 

I thank God that over the years of our ministry, from our small Church here at the NIC, we have had a Global ‘reach’ 

Our Global ‘reach’ has included Ministry Partners in Africa, Thailand, Mainland China and the Philippines  

3 John 8 ‘So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth’ 

Our Global ‘reach’ has been intentional and in obedience to the command of Jesus  

Matthew 28: 19-20 “go and make disciples of all the nations…teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you”  

And over the years, wherever we have gone, we have enjoyed blessed fellowship with our Ministry Partners and the people connected to their ministries and that has made me fully satisfied 

In 2019, our NIC Ministry Team preached through the Gospel of John  (Now in book form called – An Exposition Of the Gospel Of John)  

Today’s Message comes from that Series and our Text is: 

John 5: 16–47  

The purpose of today’s Message is to reinforce our understanding of Who Jesus is  

John 5: 16-18 
When Jesus said to the J. R. L’s (Jewish Religious Leaders) that ‘My Father is always working, and so am I’, they knew exactly what He meant 

Jesus was claiming to be equal with God, and for that, the J.R. L’s tried even harder to find a way to kill Him 

So, was it right for Jesus to claim that He was equal with God? 

At the beginning of his Gospel, the Apostle John leaves us in no doubt about the identity of Jesus  

John 1: 1 ‘In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God’ 

John 1: 14 ‘So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son’ 

Yes, Jesus is equal with God, although He never said, “I am equal with God”, but He did say that He was one with the Father 

John 10: 30 ‘The Father and I are one’ (one in union) 

Here in our text, Jesus goes on to explain to the people His equality/His oneness with the Father 

1/ Jesus said that He was equal in purpose, with the Father 
19b ‘Whatever the Father does, the Son also does’ 

2/ Jesus said that He was equal in judgement, with the Father 
30 ‘I judge as God tells me’. 

3/ Jesus said that He was equal in giving salvation, with the Father 
26 ‘The Father has life in himself, and He has granted that same life-giving power to His Son’ 

And then Jesus invited the J.R. L’s to believe in Him and be saved 

34 ‘Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved’ 

Yes, Jesus had no need of human witnesses; His own identity and testimony was enough to believe in, and be saved 

But, to encourage their belief in Him, Jesus appealed to the testimony of 5 additional witnesses  

According to the Word of God, an appeal can be confirmed by the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses   

Matthew 18: 16 ‘at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established’. 

Deuteronomy 17: 6, 19: 15, 2 Corinthians 13: 1, 1 Timothy 5: 19, Hebrews 10: 28 

1/ Jesus appealed to the testimony of John the Baptist  

33 “you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about Me was true’’ 

2/ Jesus appealed to the testimony of His own teachings and the miracles He performed  

36 “But I have a greater witness than John—My teachings and My miracles. The Father gave Me these works to accomplish, and they prove that He sent Me’’. 

3/ Jesus appealed to the testimony of His Father in Heaven  

37 “And the Father who sent Me has testified about Me Himself’’ 

4/ Jesus appealed to the testimony of the Scriptures  

39 “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me”! 

5/ Jesus appealed to the testimony of Moses  

46 “If you really believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me” 

Dear friends, as we conclude today, we have all the evidence we need to believe in Jesus and be saved 

And supporting that evidence are the testimonies of John the Baptist, the testimony of Jesus teachings and the miracles He performed, the testimony of our Father in Heaven and the testimony of the scriptures, and finally’ we have the testimony of Moses 

I would say to you, don’t be one of those who foolishly reject Christ, instead, listen to Jesus’ message, believe in Him and receive Him as Lord and Savior 

John 5: 24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to My message and believe in God who sent Me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life” 

The Best Of The Best # 32 2018 ‘Our Calling From God, Is For Life’

Today’s Message is part of a Series I’m calling, The Best of the Best; in this series I’m preaching what I think is the best message from each year of my 33-year pastoral ministry, which began in 1987 

So far, I have done 31 Messages (1987-2017) 

Today’s Message is # 32 and is from 2018 

The Message is called, ‘Our Calling From God, Is For Life’ 

On February 22^nd 2018 my dear old Dad passed away 

Dad became a Christian, later in life at the age of 55, and, faithfully served the Lord in his Church up until the time he began to suffer from dementia 

Later in 2018, we sent a Team to Thailand to assist Paul and Ruth in their ministry there  

With my Dad passing away and a young Team going to Thailand, I was reminded that God calls every generation to serve Him, for Life  

My Dad, was from an older generation, and he was faithful in serving God for the nearly 30 years he knew the Lord  

In the same way, those in my generation are called to serve God, for Life 

In the same way, those in a younger generation, like our Thailand Team, are called to serve God, for Life 

And in the same way, those in the very young generation are called to serve God, for Life 

Listen to the testimony of King David’s life-long service to God 

Acts 13: 36 ‘after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried’    

Please notice: ‘after David had done the will of God…he died’ 

In January 2018, we finished a Series of 13 Messages in the Book of Jonah; today’s Message is a compilation of 2 of those Messages, which provides a compelling lesson that our calling from God is for Life  

The Book of Jonah is a very short Book in the Old Testament; only 4 chapters  

Jonah 1-2: God sent Jonah to Nineveh to deliver a message of judgement but Jonah was unwilling to go and ran away 

Jonah 3-4: God dealt with Jonah and he reluctantly went to Nineveh and delivered the message 

The events in the Book of Jonah took place about 760 BC while Jeroboam 2 was the King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel 

Jonah was a prophet – a man of God, and, may have been trained for ministry by Elijah and Elisha in what was called at that time, the ‘School of the Prophets’ 
(2 Kings 2: 3, 5, 7, 15 2 Kings 4: 1, 38 2 Kings 5: 22 2 Kings 6: 1) 

Jonah 1: 1 

Jonah’s first assignment from God was given to him 30 years earlier during a time of suffering in Israel 

God sent Jonah to prophesy a message of blessing to the people of Israel, and, God delivered on His promise to recover some of Israel’s stolen territory 

This was a great success for Israel and it made Jonah famous  

2 Kings 14: 25 ‘Jeroboam 2 recovered the territories of Israel between Lebo-hamath and the Dead Sea, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had promised through Jonah, son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher’ 

Now, 30 years later, God gave Jonah a second assignment – this assignment was nothing like his first assignment; God commanded Jonah to leave his homeland and go to Nineveh, and, warn the people about God’s coming judgement upon them 

Jonah 1: 2  

Nineveh was an ancient city 650 km northeast of Israel in Assyria (now modern-day Iraq) located on the banks of the Tigris river – 120, 000 Gentiles (non-Jews) lived in Nineveh 

In response to God’s second assignment, Jonah ran from God; he was obviously determined that he was not going to obey God this time 

Jonah 1: 3  

But Jonah was about to find out that the Lord doesn’t take “No” for an answer  

Like Jonah, the Lord will have His way with us regardless of our unwillingness and reluctance to serve Him 

Psalm 33: 11 ‘the LORD’s plans stand firm forever; His intentions can never be shaken’ 

Like Jonah, we don’t get to decide if we will serve God, and for how long, – God has already decided that we will serve Him, for Life 

Romans 11: 29 ‘God’s…call can never be withdrawn ‘ 

After a series of personal disasters, Jonah repented and reluctantly went to Nineveh and completed his second assignment 

Jonah 3: 1-3a  

Even though Jonah reluctantly obeyed God, his attitude was terrible, so he angrily complained against God about saving the people of Nineveh – and, he admitted that he would rather die than see the people of Nineveh saved 

Jonah 4: 1-3  

So, God rebuked Jonah with a question 

‘Is it right for you to be angry about this’? – Jonah refused to answer the Lord 

Jonah 4: 4  

Then God literally ‘put the heat’ Jonah to answer Him 

God commanded a plant to grow up over Jonah to keep him cool under the hot sun – Jonah was very happy about that! 

Then, God commanded a worm to destroy the plant and commanded a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah – Jonah was very unhappy about that! 

Jonah 4: 6-8 

Consider this: the plant obeyed the command of God  

Consider this: the worm obeyed the command of God 

Consider this: the hot wind obeyed the command of God  

And, consider this: Jonah, the ‘man of God’ refused to obey the Lord 

God rebuked Jonah again with a question 

This time Jonah replied the Lord that he was ‘angry enough to die’ 

Jonah 4: 3, 8–9 

This is a compelling lesson for us, let me say it again, our calling from God, is for Life 

Like Jonah, throughout our ministry, God will give us assignments that we like – and God will give us assignments that we don’t like 

We don’t get to choose the assignment we like and will accept, or assignment we don’t like and will reject – our calling from God, is for Life’ 

Romans 14: 7-9 ‘we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead’ 

Finally, let me leave you with this question, from Jesus? 

Luke 6: 46 “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? 

Pastor David was ordained in 1990 – me and my sweetheart Jennifer

Farewell Address of President Trump

The Best Of The Best # 31 2017 ‘Learning To Live With, just OK’

The Best Of The Best 

Today’s Message is part of a Series I’m calling, The Best of the Best; in this series I’m preaching what I think is the best message from each year of my 33-year pastoral ministry, which began in 1987 

So far, I have done 30 Messages (1987-2016) 

Today’s Message is # 31 and is from 2017 

The Message is called, ‘Learning To Live With, just OK’ 

2012-2016 were very satisfying years in our ministry 

Pastor Kong was ordained to fulltime Pastoral Ministry 

We now had new ministry in Africa and China 

Terrense and Shalom became our new Associate Pastors  

But, 2017 was different 

Our Church was doing just OK – but compared to previous years, just OK can be dissatisfying; who wants, just OK!? 

And being dissatisfied can be a problem – dissatisfaction can cause us to sin against God 

When we become dissatisfied, we are tempted to look for… 

Something else to satisfy us – this can mean spending borrowed money to buy things we don’t need  

Someone else to satisfy us – this can mean getting into an inappropriate relationship that may lead to an affair 

Somewhere else to satisfy us – this can mean moving to a bigger, more exciting Church; moving to a bigger, more exciting city; or moving to another country 

So, today I want to do a Message from the summer of 2017, from a Series of 15 Message in the Book of Ruth that cautions us about the temptation of dissatisfaction 

Ruth 1: 1-2 

At this time, the Nation of Israel was in full rebellion against God  

Judges 21: 25 ‘all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes’. 

Moses warned the people what would happen to them if they rebelled against God 

Deuteronomy 28: 15-19 ‘But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you: Your towns and your fields will be cursed. Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be cursed. Your children and your crops will be cursed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be cursed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be cursed’. 

God’s curse had already come upon the people – there was famine in the land 

Instead of submitting to the will of God, Elimelech looked somewhere else to satisfy his family’s needs – Elimelech took his family and went to Moab 

Elimelech forgot the Word of God, Deuteronomy 28: 19 ‘Wherever you go…you will be cursed’. 

There’s a big lesson here for us – changing our location doesn’t solve our problems, in fact, it might make them worse! 

Moab was just about the worst place on the planet  

The Moabites were the enemies of Israel and worshipped evil false gods 

Judges 3: 12-30; 1 Samuel 14: 47; 2 Samuel 8: 2 

1 Kings 11: 7; 2 Kings 3: 27 

During their time in Moab, Elimelech died, then his 2 sons married Moabite women which was forbidden by God – Mahlon married Ruth and Killion married Orpah, and then the 2 sons died 

Ruth 1: 3-5  

Ruth 1: 5b ‘This left Naomi alone’ 

Naomi was indeed alone and was suffering the consequences of Elimelech’s terrible decision to take his family to Moab 

Naomi had lost her family property in the Promised Land 

Naomi was now a refugee in a foreign land 

Naomi lost her husband and her 2 sons and had no income to support herself 

Naomi had 2 Moabite daughters-in-law and even one of them abandoned her 

Her daughters-in-law were barren after 10 years of marriage which would mean Naomi had no male descendant, no property rights in Israel, and her family name would be lost forever from chronicles of Israel 

But God had not forgotten Naomi and she heard that God had again blessed His people. Naomi left Moab and returned to the Promised Land – the center of God’s will for His people 

Ruth 1: 6 

The key word in the Book of Ruth is ‘return’  

Ruth 1: 6b 

When Naomi returned to the Promised Land – the center of God’s will for His people, God restored Naomi to His blessings 

Ruth 4: 13-17 

And of course, David became King David, the great ancestor of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior 

Naomi was home at last and fully satisfied in the center of God’s will 

Over the years of my Pastoral Ministry, I have learned that some years are just OK, and in those years, I need to be careful not to become dissatisfied and sin against God – I need to find satisfaction in serving the will of God despite my circumstances 

Hebrews 13: 5 ‘be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you”’. 

The Best Of The Best # 30 2016 ‘Pray For Your Ministry’

The Best Of The Best 

Today’s Message is part of a Series I’m calling, The Best of the Best; in this series I’m preaching what I think is the best message from each year of my 33-year pastoral ministry, which began in 1987 

So far, I have done 29 Messages (1987-2015) 

Today’s Message is # 30 and is from 2016 

The Message is called, ‘Pray For Your Ministry’ 

2016 was a very busy year for our ministry 

On 20^th March 2016 we appointed Pastors Terrense and Shalom as our new Associate Pastors and over the last 4 years they have proven themselves to be hardworking in their careers, hardworking in their in their family, and, hardworking in their ministry here at the NIC – we thank God for them! 

On the 12^th June 2016 we re-located our Sunday Services here to Reformed Chapel after 7 years at the Victory Community Centre 

And on a family matter, Jennifer and I had an apartment built on our property for our son Samuel so that he could live at home and we could look after him 

And, in August I took my 4^th Missions trip to Zimbabwe 

We finished our water projects there with the installation of our 27^th borehole 

This Project was a huge blessing for our ‘target’ town 

And again, I preached in some of the churches 

I also spent a 3-day road trip with Cuthbert who has become a great friend and ‘our man in Africa’   

Because 2016 was a very busy year, I preached a Series of 29 messages about prayer 

Today’s Message is a compilation of 3 of those messages 

Here’s our text 

Hebrews 5: 7a ‘While Jesus lived on Earth He prayed to God’ ^ERV 

Let me ask you a question: 

If Jesus, being fully Man and at the same time was fully God, needed to pray for His ministry – do you think we need to pray for our ministry too! 

Yes, of course, do you think you are better than Jesus and you don’t need to pray!? 

Jesus prayed for His ministry, and so must we 

1/ Jesus prayed at the start of His ministry 

Luke 3: 21-23  

21 ‘As He was praying’  

As Jesus was praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him providing power for His ministry, and at the same time, the Father spoke to Him from Heaven, providing affirmation for His ministry  

As we start this new year 2021, like Jesus, we need to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit and the affirmation of the Father in our ministry 

Ephesians 2: 10 ‘We are God’s creation. He created us to belong to Jesus Christ, 
to join Him in the work He does, the good work (ministry) He has gotten ready 
for us to do, work (ministry) we had better be doing’. ^{MSG Paraphrase} 

2/ Jesus prayed before times of ministry 

Mark 1: 35-39  

35 ‘Before daybreak…to pray’ 

Jesus prayed before times of ministry because He knew that His ministry would attract opposition 

Jesus ministry attracted demonic opposition:  

Mark 1: 21-28 

23 ‘a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit’ 

28b ‘even evil spirits obey His orders’ 

Testimony:  

25 years ago, a man came to our Church; he was not a Christian and he was full of demons – Me and my Associate Pastor made several attempts to caste demons out of him 

When we attempted to caste out the demons in him, they would: 

• Speak through him and defy us to caste them out 
• Give the man supernatural strength to push around heavy office furniture with his head 

• Caused a terrible smell to come off him which filled the entire facilities; it was so bad that it scared away other people in the place, and later, stuck to our clothes even when we went outside! 

We were able to caste out all but one demon – the man admitted that he wanted to remain possessed by the last one – the ‘strongman’ 

Jesus ministry attracted human opposition:  

Mark 3: 1-6 

2a ‘Jesus enemies’ 

Testimony: 

During my years of Pastoral ministry, I have had many people who have opposed me – not Christians who loved the Lord, but people who were ‘Christian’ in name only 

3/ Jesus prayed after times of ministry 

Luke 8: 40-46   

46 ‘I felt healing power go out from Me’ 

Ministry is not so much physically exhausting, but more emotionally and spiritually exhausting 

Every time we minister our emotional and spiritual reserves are weakened, and, if we keep on giving out, there will be nothing left to give, and that is called ‘burnout’ 

On the night of His betrayal, after Jesus had spent the whole evening ministering to the disciples in the Upper Room, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane to rest and pray; and through prayer God gave Him the strength for His next ministry assignment – the cross! 

Luke 22: 39-44 

41 ‘He…knelt down and prayed’ 

43 ‘an angel from Heaven appeared and strengthened Him’ 

Dear friends, ministry is all about serving the will of God for your life and if we want to have an effective ministry then we must learn to pray like Jesus did  

The Best Of The Best # 29 2015 ‘What Is The Gospel’?

Today’s Message is part of a Series I’m calling, The Best of the Best; in this series I’m preaching what I think is the best message from each year of my 33-year pastoral ministry, which began in 1987 

So far, I have done 28 Messages (1987-2014) 

Today’s Message is # 29 and is from 2015 

The Message is called, ‘What Is The Gospel’? 

In late February 2015 I went to Zimbabwe for my 3^rd Mission trip to help install more boreholes in our ‘target’ town and preach in the churches there 

Being my 3^rd trip to Zimbabwe I was becoming familiar with what was happening in the churches there 

Here’s what I was learning: 

The large churches attracted a lot of people at the expense of small ‘struggling’ churches 

Very few people, including church leaders, had a Bible 

The Pastors had very limited ministry resources to help them teach and preach the Word of God 

False Prophets were very popular, even though they took money off the people and sexually abused the women 

“I can find all the scriptures to support the fact that every month you must give me money without fail. And I will use the scriptures to make sure that if you don’t give me money, you will feel like you are going to Hell” – Jay Israel 

But, one Church I preached in every trip, had a very good Pastor and he faithfully taught the people the Word of God 

Every Sunday at 8am he would teach a Bible Class 

Then, in the 10am and 7pm Services he would preach the Gospel  

He never asked me for money; in fact, one Sunday he offered us the Sunday morning giving, and of course, we refused to take it 

(200 people in the morning Service and the offering was about $15USD) 

I believe God blessed Pastor Chigumbu and his church because he faithfully taught the Gospel to the people  

And, I believe that God will continue to bless our ministry here at the NIC as long as we faithfully teach and preach the Gospel 

Let’s go to our text: 

Galatians 1: 6 ‘I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the Grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel’ 

‘different gospel’ = false/fake/counterfeit 

How do you know if something is false and something is true? 

It’s very simple; you become familiar with what is true 

True $10 note v’s False $10 note 

$10 note has been used in NZ since 1967/we are familiar with how it looks and how it feels and can easily identify a false $10 note 

It’s the same with the Gospel 

We study the Word of God and become so familiar with it, that then, it is very easy to identify a false gospel 

Acts 17: 11 ‘The people of Berea…listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth’.

The list of false Gospels is ‘a mile long’ and we could spend the rest of our lives studying them – but there is no need!  

Our responsibility is to study the Word of God and become so familiar with it that it is then easy to identify a false gospel  

The Apostle Paul warns us about accepting a false gospel 

Galatians 1: 9b ‘if anyone preaches to you a gospel that is different from the one you accepted; may he be condemned to hell!’ 

The Apostle Paul also exhorts us to teach and preach the true Gospel 

1 Corinthians 9: 16 ‘I’m in trouble if I don’t preach the Gospel’. 

Dear friends, I have a confession to make, I love the Gospel – and here’s why 

1/ The Gospel is the power of God to save us 

Romans 1: 16 ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes’ 

2/ The Gospel is the foundation of our faith 

Colossians 1: 23 ‘continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel’ 

3/ Jesus began His ministry by preaching the Gospel 

Luke 4: 18 ‘The Lord has put His Spirit in Me, because He has appointed me to preach the Gospel’ 

4/ The early Church grew by preaching the Gospel 

(The Apostle Paul was the first person to take the Gospel to Europe) 

Acts 16: 10 ‘we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the Gospel to them’. 

5/ Jesus ministry continues through us as we preach the Gospel 

Mark 16: 15-16^‘Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned’. 

6/ The Gospel binds us together as a Church and makes us strong 

Philippians 1: 5 ‘fellowship in the Gospel’ 

7/ The Gospel brings the blessings of God into our lives 

Romans 15:29 ‘But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ’. 

8/ The end of the World will come when the Gospel is preached to every nation 

Matthew 24: 14 ‘And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’. 

So, what is the Gospel? 

1 Corinthians 15: 1-8 

First, the Gospel is the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ alone 

1-2  

Second, The Gospel comes from God 

Anything else is a false gospel made up by false prophets 

3a  

Third, the Gospel is most important 

Everywhere the apostles went, they preached the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, first, before anything else 

3  

Fourth, the Gospel is accompanied by proof  

Christ death on the cross, for our sins, was proven by His burial, and His resurrection from the dead, on the third day, was proven by eyewitnesses 

4-8  

Fifth, the Gospel is recorded throughout the Scriptures  

The theme of the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the salvation of all those who believe through Christ   

3-4  

This is the Gospel!