This is a time of year where we spend a lot of time celebrating. Christmas, New Years, graduations, end of exams, team achievements, my birthday 😉.
When it comes time to celebrate, we can do it in two very different ways. Each way says something about our heart.
We can celebrate what we have achieved and what we have done. We can celebrate who we are and what's great about us. But when we celebrate like this we've overlooking something very significant and we're going to being to sound a bit like King Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel chapter 4.
"He said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?’" (Dan 4:30)
As we saw a few weeks back, this way of celebrating robs God. It steals the glory and honour that belongs to him. We have nothing and don't achieve anything but for the loving, gracious and sovereign provision of the creator God.
So when we celebrate, we ought to do it in a way that thanks, praises and honours God, the giver of every good gift. And this isn't just something we do with our lips but is an overflow of our heart. A heart that has been captivated by God and humbled by the gospel.
This Sunday we are celebrating our birthday as a church. It will be a great chance, not to pat one another on the back, but to give God thanks and honour and praise for what he has done as he has multiplied and matured wholehearted followers of Jesus! And we will pray that he continues to do this work through us so that there will be hundreds and thousands of people in Wellington who are moved from death to life through faith in Jesus.
As Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
Grace & peace,
Andrew
eNews - 4th November 2022