From the Pulpit

Many people work hard to live forever. For example, the Coalition for Radical Life Extension, an Arizona-based nonprofit, is on a mission to “cure aging.” Its founder, James Strole, labours to make “mortality optional” and to “put an end to The End.” Likeminded individuals are willing to do almost anything to cheat death— from supplements to exercise, from medical procedures to cryogenic freezing. And, if they can’t physically live forever, many at least desire that their work ensures, their reputation remains, or their legacy perseveres. Whatever path taken, many people work hard to live forever. 

On Easter, God’s people celebrate that we can live forever, that death—our great enemy—has been defeated, that the tomb was empty, that Christ has been raised. Today we are reminded that immortality doesn’t require a self-care regimen, a medical discovery, or a scientific breakthrough. It requires resurrection.

Sometimes in history certain people distinguish themselves by accurately predicting an historical event and they gain notoriety from it. One such person is investor Michael Burry who accurately predicted the collapse of the US housing bubble before the 2008 financial crisis. When many others kept investing freely, Burry was right in acting conservatively and he managed to net 100 million dollars for himself and 700 million for his investors, while others lost their fortunes. How did he do it? It wasn’t miraculous. He saw the signs that were there beforehand that others chose to ignore.

One of the great proofs of the truth of Scripture is prophecy. God knows the future and at various points chooses to reveal it to us so that we might be encouraged to believe in him. God says, “I make known the end from the very beginning.” All through the Bible, He used certain people to do this work for him. They were the prophets. One of the great prophets of the Old Testament was Isaiah. In this beautifully written book are some of the most amazing prophecies concerning the coming of the Saviour and his life and death and resurrection. Michael Burry had the vision to see a few years in advance of the stock market trends, but Isaiah predicted events concerning Jesus that would not happen for another 700 years. This is truly miraculous! God was revealing the future.

Did you know there are people who have literally won the lottery but have never picked up their prize? While it isn’t the norm, it does happen. In fact, the largest unclaimed prize in Ontario is $5-million from a LOTTO 6/49 draw in 2005. What a waste! Can you imagine winning a life-altering amount of money but never cashing-in? 

Tragically, this is exactly how many Christians live their lives. Believers in Jesus are sitting on a ticket worth more than millions. This is a prize that goes beyond the future afterlife we’re guaranteed by virtue of our faith in Christ and includes the potential for a present abundant life (see John 10:10), one marked by peace, joy, maturity, liberty, purity, and intimacy. Yet many Christians never show-up to collect, leaving this life-altering prize unclaimed and unapplied. What a waste! 

Well, God doesn’t want that for his children and today we’re going to be reminded of what we’re to do to cash-in and what God has done to make us eligible.

We were blessed on this day to hear from Dean Billings on behalf of Compassion Canada about the work they are doing around the globe, work with which we can partner from here in Oakville. We had some unexpected technical issues with the video clip that Dean brought during service, and we wanted you to have to chance to watch it properly, so you can find that video here.
For those who want to learn more about Compassion Canada or are considering sponsoring a child, they've created a special site for us here.
A special thanks again to Dean and his team for bringing the Word today and the work they are doing, "releasing children from poverty in Jesus's name."

While it’s relatively easy to get married, it’s harder to have a good marriage. Repeating a vow is one thing, being faithful to the content of that vow is another. And what makes the difference between the two is work, intentionality, humility, self-denial, and maturity. And while many aren’t willing to invest the time and effort necessary, those that do know that it’s worth it because the sacrifice leads to reward and enjoyment.

It’s the same with the Christian life. Relatively speaking, it’s simple to become a Christian (by believing in the person and work of Jesus Christ) but harder to be a disciple, to be one who takes up their cross daily and follows Jesus, killing sin and loving holiness. The latter takes work, intentionality, humility, self-denial, and Spirit-wrought maturity. But, as any seasoned saint will tell you and, more importantly, the Scriptures tell us, it’s worth it because the sacrifice leads to reward and enjoyment. As believers lean into the knowability of Christ—who he is, what he’s done, and what he’s doing—we experience intimacy with Christ and his people. And this supernatural fellowship is well-worth the effort.

Last week we started into a brief study of God’s sovereignty by reading the story of a man who Jesus said was born blind “so the works of God might be displayed in him”. A man whose physical ailment was healed and that led to a spiritual opening of his eyes to see and believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

But as we all know, the Bible doesn’t stop with salvation—believe in Jesus, that’s it, now we’re done. But rather what Jesus invites us all to is a life of following him, of willing submission and obedience, of putting him first even when it’s hard, of growing and maturing in our faith. This morning we are actually going to look at two different stories, involving two different groups of people: one from the old testament and one from the new testament.

Each of these stories involves some pretty intense events happening beyond the control of the people, and in both cases they are faced with a very tough choice with potentially dangerous, even deadly, consequences. As we go into these stories let’s remember that: Sometimes God allows things we don’t understand to accomplish something greater than we can imagine.

A few weeks ago I was invited to be the guest speaker for a youth snow camp weekend up north, and the theme of the weekend was all about God’s sovereignty. It’s one of those words we use a lot in the church, and yet even for those of us who understand it, or think we understand it, it can be hard to accept or appreciate it.

As I was preparing for this Sunday and next, the concept of God’s sovereignty came back to me and I thought it could be helpful to take what I had studied for and prepared for that weekend and use parts of it to hopefully bless this congregation as well, recognizing that God’s sovereignty touches on some of the biggest concerns people have with believing in or following Jesus, whether in or outside the church.

What does it mean when people say that God is “in control”? How could a good God allow suffering? Why is God allowing me to go through these circumstances? All of these questions connect back to a proper understanding of sovereignty.

Over the next two weeks we’re certainly not going to answer all of them, but we are going to look at a few different stories of people in the Bible who had events happen in their lives beyond their control—situations of suffering and hardship—and through how they responded to these events we’ll hopefully together be able to grasp a better picture and understanding of what it means for God to be sovereign in the midst of it all.

In 2020, with a virus sweeping across the globe causing fear, anger, and confusion, Oakridge Bible Chapel, like all other church families, faced a trial that tested us, strengthened us, and exposed us. God used that hardship to show our leadership areas of weakness and vulnerability.

One such area was in the leadership itself—not in quality but quantity. At the time this body had about 250 members and five elders. Almost overnight there was an influx of legitimate need: isolation, health concerns, relational tensions, spiritual warfare, and financial burdens. And as blessed as the leadership was to hear of members caring for one another, our limits were made obvious. God used that trial to show us that to shepherd God’s people the way God’s word demands five was not enough. And so, in 2020, we started praying: “Lord, raise up leaders from within. Send us help, shepherds of your choosing.”

And we began to see the Lord answer those prayers. In 2022 we added two new elders and this morning we get to add two more. But, as I thought about this answer to prayer, I was reminded that many who now call Oakridge “home” are relatively recent additions, having come from other countries, cities, churches, and backgrounds, and may not know much about how a church is led, what an elder is, and what elders do. And, for those who are familiar, a refresher wouldn’t hurt.

Anyone who has ever been camping, spent significant time in the elements, read tales of extreme adventurers, or watched them on TV, knows that fire is essential to survival as it provides warmth and light, can purify water and cook food, and can discourage predators and signal rescuers. It’s no exaggeration to say that, in the great outdoors, life depends on fire. Now, to build a fire one must first find, collect, haul, and arrange the wood. This can be a time-consuming and labour-intensive activity. And yet, all that effort is futile without one final piece of wood: the match. The match is the fiery climax of the whole endeavour, bringing an essential ingredient for survival. The last piece of wood, as small as it may be, ignites the whole stack to usefulness. 

Today we come to the match of the New Covenant—the final, climactic divine oath that ignites the covenants collected and arranged before it. It’s the New Covenant that provides the power the other five lack in-and-of-themselves and provides God’s people with a more completed picture of God’s plan to restore his fallen creation.

A quick internet search allows anyone to collect some concerning statistics about Canada. For example, there were over 358,000 victims of reported physical abuse in 2019, 30% of which were domestic. There are more than two thousand organized crime groups in operation, three-quarters of which are violent and have connections to seventy-seven other countries. There are over 47,000 deaths every year linked to substance abuse, nearly 5000 to suicide, and almost 2000 to traffic accidents. Last year saw almost 20,000 robberies and 5000 incidents of identity theft. 

Numbers like these show, among other things, the limits of our governments, our systems, and our leaders. They simply aren’t fast enough, smart enough, resourced enough, or powerful enough to stop all this evil and suffering. Numbers like these make us long for an authority so limitless it could eradicate all injustice, crime, abuse, and brokenness. But an authority that powerful would have to be equally good or it would be terrifying. 

Christians have the comfort of knowing that such a King is coming and such a kingdom is inevitable.