“TURNING UP THE HEAT!” ”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series    Volume 20    Issue 22           September 19th, 2010

Isaiah 43:18-19  “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing....I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

Our prayer and our belief is that God, our God, is going to do a new thing in and through the ministry of The Gathering Place. 

We believe that God will make a way in the wilderness and  rivers in the desert. In the late 80’s before we had ever been in Osoyoos, we heard a prophetic word of this area we now live in - a revival would break out - a revival that would sweep this nation—and it would begin here in Osoyoos.  Let it be so!

My family’s work ethic is described in the following scriptures: Colossians  3:23, I Corinthians 10:31, 14:40  “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men; do all to the glory of God” and “Let all things be done decently and in order.”  

Pastor Casey and I along with our families are committed to help each of you reach your God Potential.

We believe that leadership’s role is to “cause the people to inherit the land”. Joshua 1:6 

Leadership should never drive the flock, they must lead by example.  God have mercy if we forget this!

Three things are needed in order for us to be effective in Osoyoos:

· an ability to understand God’s directive in prayer

· a willingness to work

· a sensitivity to timing

Isaiah 58:12  “Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

1.  Our directive in light of Isaiah 58:12

· to loose the bands of wickedness

· to undo the heavy burdens

· to let the oppressed go free

· to break every yoke

· to reach out to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul

· to build the old waste places

· to raise up the foundations of many generations

· to be called ‘The repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in’

2. Our individual ministry according to       II Corinthians 5:18-19  

· to have the ministry of reconciliation

“God, has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”  

The ministry of reconciliation is: to bring back to friendship after enstrangement, back in harmony.

3.  Our attitude in light of Nehemiah 4:6  

· To have a mind to work

And Nehemiah 4:17-18  “Every one with one of his hands involved in the work, and the other hand holding a weapon, and so we builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.”

I have for many years believed that God was going to raise up a new ministry - not from the pulpit, but from the pew! 

Believe it or not, every Christian has a vital part to play in God’s plan for mankind.  

I Peter 4:10  “As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another.”

Unfortunately, many of God’s children think that God can’t use them in a mighty way.  They are often heard saying, “I know Jesus can use others...but He could never really use me”.

Unless you are fully yielded to God, you are useless in His Kingdom!

It is not your ability but

your availability God looks for!

Folks, this may not be too deep or too profound... But the Work of the Lord is just that  - it’s a lot of work! 

We speak of the anointing, but the anointing is a direct result of our willing obedience.

The back bone of the church is ordinary people simply obeying.

Romans 12:6-8  “Having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, or ministry, or teaching, or encouragement or giving.”

· If your gift is prophecy...then prophesy

· If your gift is ministry...then minister

· If your gift is teaching...then teach

· If your gift is encouragement...then encourage

· If your gift is giving...then give

Are you willing to do anything God asks of you?  Really? 

It may simply be your “yes” to His call that He looks for today.  Your calling may not be fulfilled for several years.  God may have a few things to build into your life before He can release you any further.  God raises up people as He sees they are ready....not before.

God not only can use you, He is waiting to use you.

Folks, as the pastoral leadership of The Gathering Place:

· We promise that we will never take a survey to see what topics you want us to avoid in our sermons. 

· We promise not to fall into the rut of trying to accommodate you, so you'll come to church.

However,

· We do promise to preach the unadulterated Word of God because the only way this world will ever be impacted is through a sin-exposing word that reveals the heart.

The world needs to hear pure, Holy Ghost truth that cuts to the quick and answers the cry of the doubting heart.

Our modern humankind cries out, “I have power and influence.  I have all the material possessions I could want.  Yet I have no peace.  I have questions and I need answers to them.  All you people who claim to speak for God - intellectuals, cultists, even people of the cloth - if you can't answer the cry of my heart, then you have no right to exist.  You have no purpose.  You are useless to this society.”

· We promise to stay “Salty”. 

For as the scriptures have said in Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his taste, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

As Christians, we are either thermometers or thermostats.  I want to be a thermostat.  I want, if it is at all possible, to turn up the heat so to speak. 

My main ambition of late is to be on the devils most wanted list.

Consider this sad thought….if Jesus had preached the same message that a lot ministers preach today, He never would have been crucified.

Of Finney’s ministry, Leonard Ravenhill said this.  “Finney never made an altar call within the first twenty eight nights of preaching.

Most of our evangelists today don’t have twenty eight sermons.  Twenty eight nights in a row and he never made an altar call.

He didn’t preach the love of God. He didn’t say “you’re a sinner, God loves you.”  He said “God is angry with the wicked every day” Psalm 7:11 which the Word of God says.

· He didn’t preach grace, he preached Law.

· He didn’t preach love, he preached judgment. 

· He didn’t preach heaven, he preached hell.

· He didn’t say “you’re a wonderful person” he said “you’re a rebel”.

But, he got results.

64% of the people who came to God through D. L. Moody have backsliden.

But 72% of those who were convert through Finney’s ministry have stood the test of time because he knew how to attack the human will, not just the emotions.

“THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM” ”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series    Volume 20    Issue 21           September 12th, 2010

I came to Christ in the early ‘70s.  It was during a revival that swept up thousands of young people.  This wonderful out pouring of God’s spirit lasted but a few short years.  Every denomination, main stream or otherwise tried to get in on the action.  There was much to do about spiritual warfare.  Many of God’s lambs were thrown into the lion’s den convinced they were “Warriors” for Jesus.  We could have easily made a movie called “Lambo”.  That which started in the spirit was now being driven by the flesh.

After thirty years, the Charismatic Renewal has failed to deal with the moral landslide of our society.  Instead, during the last thirty years, the New Age Movement has replaced Christianity as the spiritual consciousness of Western society.  The Charismatic Movement has failed to bring about Revival.

We have more crime, more divorce, more homosexuality, more abused children, more substance abuse, and we have more of everything bad or evil now than we did thirty years ago, and sadly it is now in the church!

There is very little that distinguishes the church from the world!

I remember when my dad first ate jell-o, he tried eating it with a fork.  It worked, but not very well.  The church is like one who eats soup with a fork.  We all have the spiritual utensils or weapons, but we are not using them properly. 

This dilemma brings us to: Matthew 16:19  “I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Keys are pretty important to our everyday lives.  So are key chains.  Most adults have a key chain.  Having a key chain is a sign of becoming an adult.

Doesn’t it frustrate you when you can’t find your keys?  Most of us have a hook at home where we hang our keys.  Most adults have at least two

crucial keys: a car key and a house key.

The word “key” is also used as a metaphor.  We all know that there are keys to being a good athlete or a good musician.  What are the keys to being a good athlete or musician?

You have a set of keys to doing your job well and so do I. There are also keys to:

· effective parenting

· effective and loving marriages

· effective and great friendships

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven”.

What are the keys of the kingdom? The answer to that question has caused debate after debate.

The word “keys” is a plural word.  There is more than one.  “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

To “loose on earth” in the Aramaic meant to declare a person to be released, loosed or absolved.

“To bind on earth” meant to declare that a person to be bound to the consequences of his or her sins.

John 20:23 (when Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection) Jesus said to his disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

According to Matthew 18:18 Jesus when speaking about dealing with forgiveness had said, “Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

                                                 

Forgiveness is letting go of our own sins

and imperfections and flaws. 

It is also letting go of the sins

and imperfections of our spouse,

our kids, our friends, our neighbors,

our fellow church members.

Just as you use the key to your house and car several times a day, so also you need to use this key of forgiveness often, daily, endlessly, infinitely.

Forgiving is fairly clear, but what about withholding forgiveness?  John 20:23 says, “If you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

I believe this is “tough love”.  We need to see that there are consequences to our sins.

We are not to protect someone who sins and does something stupid from sin’s consequences.  Too often in life, we are “enablers,” granting forgiveness, tolerance and acceptance way too soon.

We enable people to live irresponsibly and not face the consequences of their sinful behavior.

I believe that is what it means to “withhold forgiveness” or “retain sins”.

Suppose I crash into your car… “oops sorrrrry!” 

Sorry nothing!  I need to make it right.  I need to pay for the damages!

The Bible connects repentance and forgiveness.

Forgiveness without accompanying repentance is “cheap forgiveness.”

A thought: The keys to my house and my car are the two keys I use most in life.  The key for my house doesn’t work in the car and the key for my car doesn’t work to open the house.  Two  different keys, used differently for different occasions.

In the kingdom of God there are two keys. 

· the key of forgiveness

· the key of withholding forgiveness

These two keys are not the same but both are very important to use.

I Corinthians 5:3-5  “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. And you have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, in order that the one who had done this deed might be removed from your midst. For I, on my part  though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”    

What did Paul do?                                                                               He used his authority to bind a wayward believer. When the person wouldn’t repent of their sin, the church had the authority to bind him with the view of seeing him restored.

Look at the context: they were pronouncing judgment on a soul for his restoration.

The Gospel looses, forgives, sets people free from the law of sin and death.  The Gospel frees.  But this man was a brother - he was a member of the church … he needed to repent and be restored not get “saved again!” 

“If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven; and if you retain the sins of any, they’ve been retained.”  John 20:23

The idea that, by these words, Jesus introduced the Roman Catholic sacrament of “Penance” is absurd.

In fact there is no such thing as “Penance” in the Bible.  Telling your sins to the priests goes back to Noah’s grandson “Nimrod”.  Nimrod had his father killed so he could marry his mother.

In the early church there were no prayers to the dead, no prayers to Mary, nor to the Pope.

There was no “Penance”,

but there was repentance.

People would ask each other for forgiveness for a wrong done, but they never went to a "priest" for this. Those things all came later.  These are human inventions, created for the same reason as the Pharisees' teachings: money and power.

Only the Son of Man can call that which is dead unto life. “Lazarus come forth”.  But when Lazarus came out, Jesus said to the disciple, “You unbind him”.

Did they shout things like, “we loose you...be free”.  NO!  They took the bindings from off of him!

This is the “fellowship of the saints”.  We all come into the kingdom of God with baggage from the world. When people become Christians, they arrive spiritually oppressed, emotionally bound, with all kinds of problems.  Jesus calls them from death and then we the church “unbind” them.  That’s Discipleship.

Jesus’ part is instant….the church’s part is on going.  God, in His love for us, allows us to come face to face with our sin, to be confronted by it.  This of course is to bring about deep repentance and restoration.

Therefore His unwillingness to forgive the person is also an act motivated by love and a deep seated commitment to move toward His sinning child and not away from him.

When Jesus says the Father will not forgive, what He means is that God will allow the person to walk in their sin to the necessary extent; until they come face to face with it and see it for what it is.

God's intention, as the wayward brother goes his way in un-repentance, is to expose him, to bring about legitimate shame and repulsiveness toward the sin.

It is a rare blend of justice and mercy.  He did this for Jacob, for Israel and as Paul declares, for us also.

The result will often be Spirit-inspired, genuine repentance and love.

Holy God

make me holy,

Merciful God

give me a merciful heart.

Lover of souls

help me love them too

So I can be more like you!

“CHRIST IN YOU!” ”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series    Volume 20    Issue 20           September 5th, 2010

“Christ in you, the hope of glory”  Colossians 1:27

The Gospel is the mystery of mysteries!

In the time before Christ came to earth it was hidden, but now - today - in this hour, God, in His infinite mercy has revealed it by the Holy Spirit.

Now, I say it has been revealed and yet in some sense it is still hidden.  I say this because unless the Spirit of God reveals the gospel to us individually, we remain in darkness.

Light is awesome, but it does not help you if your eyes are closed. 

II Corinthians 4:4  “In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them who do not believe, lest the light of the

glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Each separate individual must have Christ revealed

to them and in them by the work of the Holy Spirit,

or else they will remain in darkness,

even if he/she goes to church,

sings in the choir serves on the board,

feeds the homeless or preaches to the masses.

Friends, we live in an hour when the Gospel is clearly revealed and readily accessible.  Never before has it been easier or more acceptable to share the Gospel message. 

However, the danger for us in Canada is that the gospel has become a household word.

Pray that you never

undervalue the “good news”.

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

“Immanuel, God With Us.”  Think of it! 

· The Ancient of days came as a child

· The Ever-Blessed

· A man of sorrows and acquainted                  with grief

Is here with us!

The idea is original, astounding, Divine!

The prince of darkness had no idea about God’s plan to save man kind.  If he had even an inkling, he’d never have had Christ crucified.

My friends, the heart of the Gospel is founded in the Truth of God! 

The Son of the Highest was born at Bethlehem and at His birth, before He had worked a single deed of righteousness or shed a drop of blood, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

They knew that the Incarnation had within itself, a wealth of good things for men!

“Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,” and in that Child and Son we find our salvation!

“Being found in fashion as man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the Cross.”

He took upon Himself the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. 

His was a life of grief and humiliation, followed by a death of agony and scorn. 

Up to the Cross He carried all our load.  Oh, what has Christ not done for us?

He cast our sins into the depths of the sea.

He has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a Curse for us.

When I think of:

· who He is

· what He is

· what He has done

· what He is doing

· what He will yet do

I can not help but say, “He is my all and all!  My salvation, my hope, my life!”

Whatever Christ is, His people are in Him.

· They were crucified in Him

· They were dead in Him

· They were buried in Him

· They are risen in Him!

In Him they live eternally.  In Him they sit gloriously at the right hand of God, “who has raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ

Jesus.”

In Him we are “accepted in the Beloved,” both now and forever!

Now, dear Friends, seek Christ or else you will miss the mark altogether!

Never settle for books or conversations.

Do not be content with Christian people talking to you, or preachers preaching to you, or the Bible being read to you, or prayers being offered for you.

Anything other than Jesus

will leave you short of salvation!

You have to reach out and touch Christ, and nothing short of this will save you! 

You must become desperate for Him!

The more we are filled with Christ, the more we feel our own emptiness!

The more we know of Him, the more we long to know Him!

Paul, writing to the Philippians, when he had been a Christian for many years, still said, “O’ that I may know Him.”

Paul, do you not know Christ yet?

“Yes,” he says, “and no.”

Grow in faith and enlarge your receiving power until you take Christ into your inner most soul by the Holy Spirit. 

It is Christ in you by faith that becomes the hope of glory.

Jesus is the hope, the pledge,

the guarantee of glory!

Christ has entered into covenant with God to bring His people home to glory.  He has pledged Himself to bring every sheep of His

flock safe to His Father’s right hand and He will keep His engagement, for He never failed one Covenant promise yet.

Moreover, this we do know, that the Christ who is come to live with us will never be separated from us.

If He had not meant to stay, He’d not have entered our heart at all.

My friends, Christ knew what He was doing. He counted the cost, He had foreseen all the evil that would be in us and about us, and when He came, He came with the

intent to stay.

“I am persuaded that neither life, nor death nor things present, nor things to come shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Christ in you means you in glory, as surely as God lives!  No question about that!

Go your ways and rejoice in Christ Jesus and let men see who it is that lives in you!

Let Jesus speak through your mouth, weep through your eyes

and smile through your face!

Let Him work by your hands and walk within your feet, and be tender through your heart.

Let Him seek sinners through you!

Let Him comfort others through you until the day breaks and the shadows flee away!

Consider:

John 7:37-39  “In the last day, that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.  He that      believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

Jeremiah 2:13  “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”