Genesis 12:1-3; Luke 6:12-13
Introduction to the BLESS sermon series
Towards the beginning of scripture, in Genesis 12:1-3 we see that God describes His plan for the world, and His plan for us. God says to Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” In other words, I WILL BLESS YOU, SO THAT YOU CAN BE A BLESSING TO OTHERS!
We are loved by God….. so that we can love others.
We are reached by God…. So that we can reach out to others.
We are saved by God… so that we can participate in the saving of others.
We are blessed by God…. So that we can be a blessing to others.
Most of us recognize how we have been blessed. But how do we bless others? How can we do that? We often feel so weak and unable to do so. This is the theme of our sermon series: BLESS – this acronym describes 5 topics that we will look at in order that we may become a blessing to those around us.
1. Begin with Prayer. 2. Listen with care 3. Eat together 4. Serve in Love 5. Share your story
Of course, this “BLESS” acronym doesn’t work in Japanese, but we will cover the same concepts.
These slides represent the 5 missional activities that we will be talking about over the next few weeks. All of them are natural, and in a way, simple. We don’t have to memorize lots of scripts, or learn new techniques, or go to a seminar. They are simple activities that each of us can practice in our own unique way. And it all begins with prayer.
WHY BEGIN WITH PRAYER?
We begin with prayer because Jesus himself began with prayer.
- In Luke 4 we see that Jesus, after his baptism, was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for a time of prayer and fasting. It was important for Jesus to have this time of fasting and prayer as a preparation for the public ministry that he was about to begin.
- Two chapters later in Luke 6 we see that Jesus went out and spent the night in prayer just before he chose his 12 disciples. We’re not sure HOW he prayed but he evidently felt the need to spend this time with His Father, as a preparation for the important day and task which was coming.
- At the end of his earthly ministry, on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus said this to his disciples: “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a person remains in me, and I in them, that person will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) In other words, Jesus was saying that if the disciples wanted to be a blessing to others – to bear fruit in the lives of others – then they would need to stay connected to Jesus. They were not the blessing themselves, they were just the conduit – the pipe – that would allow the blessing to flow from God to others. The way that they would stay connected to Jesus was first of all by prayer.
So just as Jesus recognized the need for prayer in his ministry and outreach, we begin our ministry of blessing others with prayer. It’s a way of saying:
“I can’t do this on my own. I don’t know how to bless others. If I try to do this on my own, I know I will fail. So please come, Lord, and show me the way. In order for YOUR blessing to flow through me to others…. I choose to stay CONNECTED to YOU in prayer.”
THE PRAYER OF AVAILABILITY
In the past I have shared with you a formula for mission, for ministry that I learned in seminary:
(A Needy Person) + (an available Christian) + (God’s timing) =
GOD’S MISSION / A BLESSING TO OTHERS!
A NEEDY PERSON…..
AN AVAILABLE CHRISTIAN…
GOD’S TIMING…. = GOD’S MISSION /
A BLESSING TO OTHERS
In order for God’s Mission of “blessing the world” to take place we need 3 things:
- First, we need a “needy” person. That’s easy!!! They are all around us. People have financial, spiritual, emotional, physical needs!
- Secondly, we need God to work. That’s easy!!! Throughout scripture God promises to work on our behalf.
- The problem is the 3rd thing: an available Christian. This one is more difficult. It requires a decision on our part. Are we available to God?
There is a hurting and needy world all around us. God loves the world and desires to reach out to this world. For some mysterious and wonderful reason, He has chosen to have us participate in that process. Are we available?
Example of my friend
In our ministry in Japan I would often pray this prayer of availability:
“Lord, please direct me to the person that I am supposed to speak with today.”
One day, I was swimming laps at our local pool during my lunch break. As I finished up by walking the length of the pool a couple times…. I noticed a young man walking toward me in the lane next to mine. As we passed each other he reached up his hand to give me a high-five and smiled. As we gave each other a high five I turned around, joined him in his lane and we began to walk together and talk. He had noticed me as a foreigner and had tried to connect with me in broken English but soon we were chatting in Japanese.
As it turned out, he was young – 21 or so – and going through rehabilitation. He had recently experienced a nervous / emotional breakdown while away at college, had returned home to enter a hospital and was now commuting for treatment as an outpatient. We discovered that we shared an interest in music and guitar and we made plans to meet again.
That began a friendship which continued many years. Hi-de had an interest in English so he joined one of Andrea’s English conversation classes. I continued to meet with him to enjoy music together but also to talk about the Bible and faith. While resistant at first, Hi-de eventually agreed to join us for an outdoor worship service in the park. It was his very first time to attend Christian worship. He heard the gospel through a short children’s story that we had prepared and during the picnic following worship asked to become a Christian. Several of us prayed with him right there in the park! No one was more surprised than us.
Within 6 months Hi-de was baptized and became a loved and important part of our church. While his emotional and psychological needs never really disappeared, he became a shining example of how new life in Jesus Christ could bring miraculous change to a person’s life.
His story is too long to tell here, but Hi-de eventually was diagnosed with stomach cancer. For the last 2 and a half months of his life people from our little church visited him faithfully in the hospital. They became a strong witness to Hi-de’s parents who noticed how genuinely the Christians loved and cared for their son. When Hi-de passed away at the age of 30 his family asked me and a Japanese colleague to perform the funeral service, even though none of them were yet Christian. When Hi-de’s mother died of cancer just 6 months after Hi-de, the church again rallied around the family. And today, years later, even though Hi-de’s father is not yet a professing believer, he often attends worship and is loved and cared for by the members of that church.
I share this story because it is an example of a “needy person, an available Christian, and God’s timing.” I couldn’t make any of this happen on my own. But I needed to be available to God in order for the blessing to begin.
Just because I am a missionary, it does not mean that I am always available to the Lord. It’s possible to get so busy, even with church tasks or mission tasks, that I really don’t stop to make myself open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
“Lord, who do you want me to bless today?” “Lord, I’m available to you.”
But be careful when you pray that way! It can be a dangerous prayer! God will surely use you in order to be a blessing to others.
CONCLUSION
Please close your eyes with me.
Picture people around you who are needy.
Imagine a God who desires to reach out to each of those folks.
Are you available today?
Are you willing to pray that way?
Would you consider writing down the names of a few people who you know could be helped by God’s blessing and salvation?
As a first step toward blessing others, would you do this?
Of course, we don’t yet know HOW we will reach them or bless them.
We don’t know HOW God will use us to bless them.
But as a first step….
Let’s begin with prayer.
(the above is a summary of the message shared during worship on June 18, 2023.)
Japanese Congregational Church 