In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

The Incarnation of Christ has profound implications for Christian stewardship. In the wisdom of God, to redeem man from his sin required the Son to become a Man Himself …

If stewardship, in its simplest implication, is about giving, then John 1:1 confronts the world with the most sublime gift ever given, the most astounding act of generosity that can be imagined. As a monument to the unsurpassed stewardship of the Son of God, the Incarnation rises high above the horizon of all other demonstrations of giving …

God presented His most valuable gift to man in the Eternal Word made flesh. Once in the world, Jesus the Incarnate Son then gave Himself to the Father in complete submission, and to the world as the Servant from God. In His earthly existence, Jesus was a Steward charged with a divine mandate. Stewardship can be defined as “the obedient management of life and all its resources under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.”

Jesus fulfilled His role of steward perfectly:

No matter how difficult the testing became, no matter how demanding the giving of self, no matter how costly in terms of friendship, following, or popularity, Jesus managed His life faithfully. When ultimately such perfect management meant giving up His life for the cause of the kingdom of God, Jesus was willing, and He did so. He made no exception to His total stewardship of life for anything, including His life itself …

Looking at a world filled with people facing the death sentence of sin, Jesus Christ laid aside the riches of heaven and came to be Savior. As He walked the earth, He continued to give His all, managing every opportunity, every gift, every resource, for the glory of God and the building of His kingdom. Even faced with death, He gave His last treasure, His own life, to save the lives of others. He went to the cross with no regret that if He had been a better steward, He might have done more. He had done everything God wanted of Him, and He became the Master Steward, both Savior of humanity and example to those who would follow Him.

Reflect upon it:
• How is the Word made flesh the most valuable gift ever?

• In what ways was Jesus a servant and a steward?

• How does the Spirit guide your endeavors as a steward?
(PASTOR ROBERT SIMMS)

Did you know that to be a disciple literally means to be disciplined? A disciple means a disciplined or trained one, and to be trained means to do something that isn’t natural or easy. Passion is natural, but faithfulness is not. Fun, enjoyment and entertainment are things that come easy to us, but doing something that is hard is not. Anything that requires pain, sacrifice or repetitive persistence is easily dismissed by our flesh and replaced by excuses and justification for doing what’s easier.

When I was learning piano, I had to play some really difficult pieces, and when I first attempted them, they sounded horrible! They were so hard that after I started, I wanted to give up and say, “forget it.” My initial passion flew out the window at the point at which playing no longer came naturally, and I think I would have given up completely but for a small voice inside that urged me to keep trying — that’s where discipline was required. No matter how awful it sounded, I went back to that music again and again until I had the music mastered. It wasn’t natural, but it was worth it! Once I had the music nailed, my passion returned, but it was rebirthed in a totally different fashion. You see, for me, true passion was knowing the music perfectly and not having to look at sheet music anymore; being able to play them from my heart, knowing that I had conquered them. But discipline was the cost required to experience that kind of passion.

You see, friend, real passion is a synthesis (combining a number of different parts or ideas to come up with a new idea) of your natural desires and skills and abilities, but it’s also the fruit of persistence and grit; only when you’ve worked through the hard bit can you play its song by heart. There is a journey required to fulfill every calling and there’s a price to be paid for becoming the person God wants you to be. However, as you walk hand-in-hand with Jesus, He takes the natural and makes it supernatural, picking up the slack for you and depositing His strength that does whatever you can’t. Isn’t that incredible news?

Reflection
In what areas of your life have you broken through to a place of true passion following a period of intense training and discipline? How does it feel?
(BOBBY SCHULLER)

We as members of the LCEC of Wesley Methodist Church Klang, join in covenant this day to the following:

We submit to the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ reflected in John 13:34-35 that we will be known by our love one for another:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another. By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

We also purpose in our hearts to fulfil our Lord’s prayer for unity and oneness in John 17: 21: “… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

We further answer our Lord’s call to servant-leadership and total commitment by these actions:

To faithfully uphold the doctrines and policies of the church.
To faithfully participate in the weekly Saturday / Sunday Worship Celebrations.
To read and meditate on the Scriptures (Bible) daily.
To pray for our church, community and nation daily.
To participate in the church weekly prayer meetings regularly.
To have family worship and devotion regularly
(especially those who are married).
To be a regular member of a church cell/small group.
To be accountable to at least, another church member
and pray and fellowship together regularly.
To make available our talents, gifts and resources for the extension of God’s Kingdom everywhere.
To faithfully & punctually attend all LCEC meetings.

We as leaders and LCEC members make this covenant before God and this church in total commitment to all that are stated above on this day, Amen!

“Since then it is by faith that we are justified, let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace, and here we take our stand, in happy certainty of the glorious things He has for us in the future. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys—we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. Taken in the right spirit these very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. Already we have some experience of the love of God flooding through our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us.”
ROMANS 5:1-5 (J.B. PHILLIPS NEW TESTAMENT)

This passage is a good “big picture” for believers. It has good Christian “keywords”: faith, peace, grace, rejoice, hope, glory. Then some harder words: suffering, endurance, character. Thankfully we finish with more great words: hope, love, the Holy Spirit.

Hope is mentioned several times. Humans need hope, and when hope is gone, we despair. When I find myself losing hope, it usually comes from focusing on specific, short-term situations. Even months- or years-long situations are short-term, in view of eternity. We are promised a share of God’s glory, through His grace!

“That’s great,” you say, “but I can’t always focus on the hope of eternal life and ignore the present.” This is our constant tension: the now and the not yet. It’s where the harder words come in: enduring suffering that builds character. In our instant gratification culture, we love to share glory. Endure suffering, rejoice in suffering? Not so much.

Truth be told, this cycle – suffering, enduring, building character, and obtaining hope – is the cycle of our Christian lives. We experience it in big and small ways, no matter our situation. If we rejoice in sufferings, knowing that the end result is the building of our character, this gives us hope. God is refining us!

Finally, sharing in God’s glory is not restricted to the future in heaven. We share in His glory now, in the present, as we receive His grace and peace, and trust Him for our hope in all things big and small, present and future. (BETH KIRBY)

C. S. Lewis put it like this:

“Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

There is no way to have a real relationship without becoming vulnerable to hurt. And Christmas tells us that God became breakable and fragile. God became someone we could hurt. Why? To get us back. And if you believe this and take it into your life, you’re blessed. As you take in the truth of what He did for you—how loved and affirmed you are—you’ll be able to let down your defenses in your own relationships with other people. You won’t always need to guard your honor. You’ll be able to let down the barriers down. You’ll be able to move into intimate relationships with other people.

What is in the package of Christmas? His vulnerability for intimacy with us, which gives us the vulnerability to be intimate with the people around us. If you believe in Christmas—that God became a human being—you have an ability to face suffering, a resource for suffering that others don’t have.

For Reflection:
• What is the definition of true love? How does God show his love to us?

• How does vulnerability in our relationships affect how we love? What defenses or barriers do you naturally have up that you need to let down in order to have intimacy with others?

• How can you show love to others during this Christmas season? (TIM KELLER)

What do you get excited about during the Christmas season? What do you wait for with glad anticipation? You probably have traditions in your family you look forward to every year. Maybe it’s the lights or the special music. Maybe it’s the time spent with family or the peculiar customs that make your Christmas memories unique. Whatever it is, these are some of the reasons so many people love this time of year. For others, though, Christmas is a reminder of the absence of a family member who is no longer with us or broken relationships and memories that bring us pain.

So far, we have looked at Hope (the confident expectation of the fulfillment of the promise in the future) and Peace (the ability to live with our hearts at rest in the midst of difficult circumstances). In this third week in Advent, we turn to Joy: happiness that supersedes circumstance. The prophet Isaiah gives us a glimpse into true Joy. It is the natural response to really good news. The fact that God’s people find themselves in difficult circumstances only heightens the level of excitement for the promise of peace, salvation and redemption the comes because He reigns and He will return.

We are people marked by good news. The Gospel promise of Jesus is the best news! We have received it with faith and wait in anticipation like we wait to open a present wrapped and set under the tree. Joy becomes our natural response the more we comprehend the magnitude of what we have been promised and see its value. Many of the presents we unwrap year after year lose their appeal as a newer, shinier gift takes its place. The amazing truth at Christmas is that Jesus will be more glorious and good than we expect Him to be. He will blow the doors off our meager expectations when we see Him.

For Reflection:
• When you take account of your life, what past, present or future gets you most excited?

• When things are difficult, what situations tend to make it hard for you to live with joy?

• Spend time praying and thanking God for all the difficult things that will no longer exist when Jesus returns.

• Spend time asking God to give you perspective, excitement and anticipation for what it will be like when Jesus returns so that you have lasting joy.
(JON LOWDER)

After 400 years of silence, Israel waits in the midst of darkness for God to speak. As Zechariah enters the temple and receives the news of God’s plan, once again God’s message is met with unbelief and doubt. How fitting that He would silence a man so that God’s Word would be heard.

God’s message of a coming Messiah had been promised right from the very beginning. In the Garden, man’s rebellion broke God’s perfect world and their perfect relationship with Him. Perfect union with God was replaced with enmity and peace on earth was only a flickering hope. Even in the darkest moments, God’s promise to restore and redeem has been a constant. The prophets spoke to pronounce God’s judgment on injustice and His punishment for a people who seem hell-bent on living out from under the sovereign reign of a good and loving God. Over and over again, we have rejected God’s message, doubted His promises, and lasted on our own wisdom. Choosing to trust our own hearts and to live out our best ideas has only brought more hurt and pain and injustice to our world. When would we experience the peace we so long for?

When God finally allows Zechariah to speak, he bursts forth with prophetic praise that shatters the silence and announces a new dawn. God’s hard-hearted people will be rescued. The Redeemer is coming soon and He will have the power of salvation. Though we sit in the darkness of death, Jesus, the Light of the world will lead us into a new kingdom where we will finally experience lasting peace!

For Reflection:
• When you think about the world we live in, where do you see turmoil? What would it look like if God’s peace replaced the strife and injustice you see?

• Spend time praying for God’s kingdom to come in ways that would point people to the peace only Christ can bring.

• Where in your relationships is there division or conflict? Would you say your home or workplace is a place marked by peace? How could you be a peacemaker in those situations?

• Pray for those in your life who need the peace of Christ and ask God to show you where your heart needs to be transformed to live at rest, trusting His promises.
(JON LOWDER)