So guys, my congregation is upcoming because of the local community where it was established and our members are still very few, which gives us (the youth) the chance to moderate items of worship and yesterday which was Sunday, I happened to be the one who taught the entire congregation during our Sunday school session and I decided to share what I shared with them here on read.cash for very pleasant reasons.
AS YOU READ, MAY YOU BE BLESSED 😇
This Year Can Be Different (do you actually believe that?). YES – it can be different
• If you grow like Jesus
• If you embrace and keep striving to live out the philosophy of what does it matter
“What does it matter, what happens to me – I have chosen my calling over my comfort…”
“What does it matter, what people say about me – I am living for God’s approval, not man’s approval…”
NOW – that is all I can say about where we have been the last 7 months
BUT UNDERSTAND – everything that has been talked about there, in your Church, since the beginning of the year
This year will be – different, better, brighter, bolder…etc
IF – you missed a gathering, check it out from a brother or sister who was present, listen to them again…ask them to explain what was taught
and that is why it is even necessary for us who are present in the gathering of the saints to pay attention to lessons, so that when we're being called upon, we'd be able to deliver
OKAY – let’s do this…‘This Year Can Be Different’
IF YOU – “Redeem The Time”
UNDERSTAND – time is the great equalizer.
We all get the same amount.
There is no upper class, middle class or lower class when it comes to time.
I MEAN – this year everyone of us will get…
• 365 days
• 8,760 hours
• 525,600 minutes
• 31,536,000 seconds
Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom… - Psalm 90:12
Now Paul wrote these words to the church in Ephesus…
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore
do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
- Ephesians 5:15-17
The word redeem comes from the Greek word
Redeem exagorazo (xa gor azo)… to rescue from loss.
Which may be as the NIV translates it, “make the most of every opportunity.”
NOW – there are 2 words for time ‘Chronos’ and ‘Kairos.’
The first word is Chronos and the second word is Kairos
Chronos is where we get our word chronology.
It’s calendar time…. It’s clock time.
Chronos is sequential… past – present – future.
AND - it is linear it moves in one direction.
NOW - according to Greek Mythology Chronos was a short god with muscular legs and winged heels.
AND - he was like really fast, so fast that once he passed you, he was impossible to catch.
AND SO - to symbolize the transient nature of time Chronos had a full head of hair in front – but he was bald in back.
In other words you cannot grasp the present. once it is past.
One last observation… Chronos according to human imagination
IT’S HOW - we humans measure time…
BUT LISTEN – our God does not exist within the space time dimensions that he created.
A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. – Psalm 90:4
SO – we need to be very careful not to put God on our clock, on our timeline.
AGAIN – the second word for time in Kairos.
AND – Karios refers to a window of opportunity
It is referring to a critical and defining moment, to an appointed time.
Karios is what Esther 4:14 is all about…
"If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and
your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this."
– Esther 4:14
Chronos is quantitative, it counts the minutes
Kairos is qualitative, it captures the moment
THE - word Kairos is an archery term and it refers to an arrow, that is shot with both the right aim and the right force to hit a target.
AND LISTEN - if it is a long distance away, an archer knows that there are going to be more variables that come into play.
IN FACT – the archers knows that the arrow must actually be aimed off target in order to hit the target.
SO – kairos is the ability to evaluate those variables…
NOW – time management as in, relating to chronos;
I MEAN – the Psalmist even tells us…
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12
What I mean is, we all know that if we do not control our calendar, that our calendar is going to control us.
AND SO – you have to establish priorities and boundaries…
BUT LISTEN – I think what is even more important than managing our time… IS – ‘redeeming the time.’
(capturing the moment, carpe-ing that diem, recuing from loss the precious grains of sand gifted to us by our Creator
and Lord)
AND – in case you have not guessed it by now that word for time in Ephesians 5:16 is kairos.
YES…
TIME - may be measured in chronos,
BUT LIFE - is measured in kairos.
AND UNDERSTAND – discerning and rescuing those moments is what is means to redeem the time.
I THINK – it’s…
• Living as if each day was the first and last day of your life
• Both seeing and seizing the God-ordained opportunities that are laid out before us
• Being present fully in the right now
• Understanding that every day is a gift from God and in turn choosing to rejoice and be glad in it
• Discerning the promptings of the Holy Spirit
• Recognizing those holy moments, those teachable moments, those defining moments when they are laid before us
AND HERE’S THE DEAL – if you and I strive to redeem the time, this year can be different.
MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS HIS WORD IN OUR HEARTS AS WE HAVE READ IN JESUS' NAME, AMEN.
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