SOMO: TAMBUA THAMANI YAKO KAMA KIJANA MKRISTO NDANI YA KANISA
Maandiko: 1Timotheo 4:12-16:
“Mtu awaye yote asiudharau ujana wako, bali uwe kielelezo kwao waaminio, katika usemi na mwenendo, na katika upendo na imani na usafi 13 hata nitakapokuja ufanye bidii katika kusoma na kuonya na kufundisha 14 usiache kuitumia karama ile iliyomo ndani yako, uliyopewa kwa unabii na kwa kuwekewa mikono ya wazee 15 uyatafakari hayo; ukae katika hayo; ili kuendelea kwako kuwe dhahiri kwa watu wote 16 jifunze nafsi yako , na mafundisho yako. Dumu katika mambo hayo; maana kwa kufanya hivyo utajiokoa nafsi yako na wale wakusikiao pia”
“Mtu yeyote asikudharau kwa kuwa wewe ni kijana, bali uwe kielelezo kizuri kwa waaminio katika usemi, mwenendo, upendo, imani na usafi 13 fanya bidii katika kusoma maandiko hadharani, kuhubiri na kufundisha mpaka nitakapokuja 14 usiache kutumia kipawa kilichopo ndani yako ambacho ulipewa kwa neno la unabii wakati wazee walipokuwekea mikono 15 uwe na bidii katika mambo haya, jitolee kwa ajili ya mambo hayo kikamilifu, ili kila mtu aone kuendelea kwako 16 Jilinde sana nafsi yako na mafundisho yako dumu katika hayo, kwa maana kwa kufanya hivyo utajiokoa wewe mwenyewe pamoja na wale wanaokusikia”
“Mtu yeyote asikudharau kwa kuwa wewe ni kijana, bali uwe kielelezo kizuri kwa waaminio katika usemi, mwenendo, upendo, imani na usafi 13 fanya bidii katika kusoma maandiko hadharani, kuhubiri na kufundisha mpaka nitakapokuja 14 usiache kutumia kipawa kilichopo ndani yako ambacho ulipewa kwa neno la unabii wakati wazee walipokuwekea mikono 15 uwe na bidii katika mambo haya, jitolee kwa ajili ya mambo hayo kikamilifu, ili kila mtu aone kuendelea kwako 16 Jilinde sana nafsi yako na mafundisho yako dumu katika hayo, kwa maana kwa kufanya hivyo utajiokoa wewe mwenyewe pamoja na wale wanaokusikia”
MAMBO SABA YA MSINGI YA KUKUSAIDIA KUTAMBUA THAMANI NA NAFASI YAKO KAMA KIJANA MKRISTO
2. Tambua kuwa hakuna Rika lililopewa upendeleo na nafasi ya pekee kama UJANA katika Ufalme wa Mungu.{Mithali 20:29; 1Yohana 2:14; Maombolezo 3:27}
3. Licha ya uzuri mwingi ulioko kwenye UJANA, UJANA ni kipindi cha MPITO i.e. UMEPIMWA KWENYE MUDA na kwa hiyo basi UJANA HUPITA UPESI.{Mhubiri 12:1; Yohana 21:18;Matendo 17:26;Mhubiri 3:1,11}
4. Kijana ni KIUNGO MUHIMU SANA katika mwili wa Kristo yaani KANISA hivyo ni vema utambue thamani na nafasi yako katika kujenga na kuimarisha KANISA i.e. Mwili wa Kristo.{Waefeso 5:23; 1Korintho 12:27;Waefeso 4:12,16}
5. Udhaifu na Ulemavu wa KANISA LA LEO ni matokeo ya VIUNGO vingi kulala na kutofanya kazi ipasavyo, na hasa VIJANA. {Mithali 25:14;}
6. Kijana anayeweza kuleta MABADILIKO kwenye KANISA ni Yule ambaye tayari ametambua thamani na nafasi yake kama kiungo katika MWILI wa KRISTO yaani KANISA, na anatumika katika kiwango na muda husika /sahihi {Yohana 4:34}
7. Ili Kijana Mkristo atumike vizuri kwenye KANISA ni lazima ajifunze kutoka kwa Yesu. Yesu ni mfano bora wa kuigwa na kielelezo sahihi cha maisha kwa Kijana yeyote.{1Yohana 2:6; Yohana 13:15;Mathayo 12:30;Mathayo 11:29}
SOMO: KIJANA NA TAMAA
Maandiko: Mithali 27:20
"Kuzimu na uharibifu havishibi, kadhalika macho ya kibinadamu hayatosheki".
"Kuzimu na uharibifu havishibi, kadhalika macho ya kibinadamu hayatosheki".
Utangulizi:
Coming soon.
SOMO: THREE WAYS TO HONOR JESUS OUR LORD
Scripture: John 12:1-8
Introduction
There are several instances recorded
in the gospels where a woman anoints Jesus with a precious ointment. This one
is thought to parallel the one found in Mark 14:3-9.
It had not been long since Jesus had raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead, an act which had created quite a stir, not only among the locals but also with the religious leaders. Jesus was nearing the end of His public ministry as, chapter 11:55 says that the Passover was rapidly approaching.
Scripture tells us that after raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus knew that the chief priests were plotting His death and so he did not walk openly among the Jews, but instead went to the city of Ephraim, a city near the wilderness. Six days before the Passover, the time when Jesus would host the last supper, right before His crucifixion, Jesus returned to Bethany.
It had not been long since Jesus had raised Lazarus of Bethany from the dead, an act which had created quite a stir, not only among the locals but also with the religious leaders. Jesus was nearing the end of His public ministry as, chapter 11:55 says that the Passover was rapidly approaching.
Scripture tells us that after raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus knew that the chief priests were plotting His death and so he did not walk openly among the Jews, but instead went to the city of Ephraim, a city near the wilderness. Six days before the Passover, the time when Jesus would host the last supper, right before His crucifixion, Jesus returned to Bethany.
Everybody needs a place to rest, to
relax and enjoy the fellowship of friends. This is especially true for those in
vocational ministry. For Jesus, on this occasion, it was the home of Simon the
Leper. Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus of Bethany were there, along with
the Disciples. Bethany is located two miles east of Jerusalem, on the eastern
slope of the Mount of Olives. Jesus was on His way to the cross. He knew that
in just a few short days He would face the agony of Gethsemane and the shame
and suffering of Calvary. Here we find Him coming to the home of His friends to
find a few brief hours of encouragement and support from His disciples, the
majority of which He knew would abandon Him during His darkest hour.
While this passage is given to us in
the form of historical narrative, it is nonetheless instructive. It teaches us
quite a bit about honoring Jesus. There are six things about honoring Jesus we
can gather from this text.
The first is that we should honor
Jesus in your home.
1.
Honor Jesus in your home
Notice how welcome Jesus is in the
home of Simon the leper. It was a place where His friends were, a place where
He felt welcome, a place where He could rest. No doubt Jesus at times grew
weary and looked forward to these times of serenity and peace. Here was a home
in which Jesus was the honored guest. A question every Christian should ask is
"How welcome is Jesus in my home?"
There are many Christian homes
wherein Jesus would not be all that comfortable today. Things that are watched
on television, words that are used, attitudes that are displayed, things that
are said all would be offensive to Him and would grieve His Spirit. There are
many homes where Jesus would always feel like an outsider.
As followers of Jesus Christ we
should strive to have homes where Jesus is always the unseen guest. We should
strive to live the kind of lives in private that could be viewed publicly
without any embarrassment or shame.
Honoring Jesus in your home means
making Him the Lord or Master of your home. It means that if Jesus were to come
to your house today He would feel right at home. It means you would not have to
spend hours getting rid of things or hiding things you would be ashamed for Him
to see. It means there is no room, no closet, no drawer or cupboard into which
He could not look. It means He would have free reign to go wherever He wanted
and you would have nothing to hide.
Honoring Jesus in your home means He
would feel comfortable watching what you watch, listening to what you listen
to, joining in your conversations and reading your magazines and books.
Honoring Jesus in your home means that His presence is always taken into
account.
Honoring Jesus in your home
husbands, means you treat your wife with the love and respect she is due. She
is a gift from God to you and as your sister in the Lord, as one in whom the
Spirit of God dwells, you honor Jesus in your home when you love her like you
should.
Honoring Jesus in your home wives
means loving your husbands as Scripture teaches. It does not mean being a
doormat but instead being a partner, suitably fit for his needs. It means
allowing him to be the spiritual leader and following his lead. It means
showing him respect.
Honoring Jesus in your home children
means obeying your parents, doing what they say without arguing; it means
giving them the respect they deserve. After all, they are God's representative
in your life.
Jesus was the welcome guest of honor
in the house of Simon the leper. He should be honored in our homes as well.
This text teaches us that we are to
honor Jesus in our homes.
But if you are going to honor Jesus
in your home you've got to honor Him from your heart. And that's the second
thing I want you to see in our text.
2.
Honor Jesus from your heart
Notice verse two and three. Here we
find three different people mentioned, Martha, Lazarus and Mary. It is
interesting to note that each of these followers of Jesus had a different
passion, a different disposition of heart in how they chose to honor Jesus.
The first one mentioned is Martha.
The Scripture says they made Him as supper and Martha served. Go through the
Scripture and you find this picture of Martha, cooking, serving, giving the
best of her heart to God through the gift of hospitality.
Turn to Luke 10:38-42 for just a
minute.
Martha has been called the worried
housekeeper. Since Jesus was the guest of honor in her home she wanted
everything to be just perfect and she wanted to get everyone on board to make sure
it was right. (You don't want to be standing around doing nothing when a woman
gets on a cleaning binge, she'll put you to work.)
You see, for Martha, honoring Jesus
meant serving Him, doing that which she loved to do, doing that which she knew
best, cooking and serving. Counselors today might tell you that it was her love
language and she demonstrated her love to Jesus through this gift.
Because that was her gift to Jesus,
it was a valid expression of her love and devotion to Jesus, but it was not the
only valid expression of love and devotion to Jesus.
The next person mentioned is
Lazarus. The Scripture simply says that Lazarus was one of those reclining at
the table with Him. It would be easy to read something negative into the text,
and call Lazarus lazy, but that would be a mistake. There is a specific reason
the Scripture tells us that Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table
with Jesus. While Martha wanted to serve Jesus, Lazarus simply wanted to enjoy
His presence. He wanted to fellowship with Him, talk with Him, ask Him
questions and listen to Him speak, he wanted to enjoy every minute he had with
the Master.
Folks there is nothing wrong with
simply enjoying being in the presence of God. There are times and places where
we are to be still and know that He is God. There are seasons in our pilgrimage
that we are predisposed to simply enjoy fellowship with our Lord. That was what
Lazarus was doing. He was enjoying fellowship with Jesus.
But then look at verse 3 back in
John 12, where we find Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Instead of
serving Jesus food, instead of simply enjoying a conversation with Him, Mary,
moved with Love for the Savior, wanted to demonstrate her devotion in a more
dramatic way.
I want you to stop for a moment and
recognize that there are different levels at which we honor Jesus. There are
different levels at which we worship Him, different levels at which we show Him
how much we love Him.
Martha and Lazarus both loved Jesus,
and for them their response to Him was perfectly normal, but the text shows us
that what Mary felt led to do went way beyond what others had done.
The Scripture says she took a pound
of spikenard, which was made from a plant which grows in India, and she
anointed His feet with it and wiped his feet with her hair and the odor of the
ointment filled the house.
Notice several things about what
Mary did in anointing Jesus.
She
gave her best to Jesus.
The Scripture says that ointment was
very valuable. In fact, it was worth about what an average worker would make in
an entire year. Jesus tells us in verse 7 that she had been keeping it for the
day that He would be buried. She poured out, with total abandon, the most
valuable possession she had. That's how much she loved Jesus.
How much do you love Jesus? The fact
that 20 percent of nearly every church gives 80 percent of the financial
resources to fund its ministries tells me that while many people may claim to
love Jesus, they are not willing to give Him their best. Many people who claim
to follow Jesus have never come to know Him to the degree that they are willing
to give Him the best of their lives. They are not willing to give Him their
children for the ministry or the mission field, they are not willing to give
Him their time on a daily or weekly basis, they are not willing to give Him
even one tenth of all He has given them. They may claim to love Jesus but they
don't define love the same way Jesus does.
Jesus tells us that if we love Him
we will keep His commandments and that greater love has no man than this, that
he will lay his life down for his friends. Jesus gave His life for us, what are
we willing to give Him? Have we given Him the best we have? And if not, what
does that say about how much we really love Him?
Not only did she give her best to
Jesus.
She
was also willing to humble herself in order to honor Him.
It is impossible for us to honor God
and maintain a sense of self importance at the same time. Like John the Baptist
said, He must increase and I must decrease. Mary worshiped in such a way that
was, in and of itself, humbling.
To pour a precious ointment on
someone else's feet is one thing, but to wipe it with your hair is another. One
commentator has noted that since a woman's hair is her glory, she was laying
her glory at His feet. She was giving up her pride, without respect for what
others thought, and she was worshiping Him, honoring Him, in humility.
Friends, I believe with all my heart
that when we come to know Jesus for who He really is, it will humble us. When
we know Him, coming into His presence will be no ordinary thing. Worshiping
Him, ascribing the glory and honor to Him that He alone is due will not be
something we do as a matter of routine. The better we know Him the more
personal, the more intimate, the more humbling our worship experience will be.
Have you ever been so overwhelmed by
the presence of Jesus that you were led to tears? Have you ever felt Him in
such a powerful way that you were driven to your knees? Have you ever felt like
Isaiah who, when coming into the presence of God said, "Woe is me for I am
undone!" That's where Mary was. The very presence of Jesus afforded her an
opportunity to worship that was intensely personal and experientially powerful.
And the interesting thing is that others in the room didn't get it. While Mary
is consumed with a passion to Honor the Christ, the Son of the Living God,
there were others there that loved Him and honored Him, but they just didn't
understand what she was doing.
And that's the next thing you should
notice about Mary's worship.
Mary
worshiped despite criticism.
Look at verse 4. Scripture tells us
that Judas Iscariot, the one who would betray Jesus, accused Mary of wasting
her precious ointment. Ointment, which he claimed, could have been sold for 300
denarii and given to the poor. Of course he was not concerned about the poor,
but the point I want you to see is that when you feel led to worship God from
your heart, there will always be some who won't understand. There will always
be those around who will say you are wasting your life, wasting your time,
wasting your money, wasting the best you have to give. But you can't let them
stop you. Worship, after all, is for an audience of one, and that One is Jesus.
When you love Jesus like Mary did,
what other people say doesn't matter. All that matters is that you demonstrate
the love you have for Jesus from your heart.
Folks, we need to quit worrying
about what others think. There are a lot of churches today that have altered
their worship services so as to "not be offensive to the lost." How
ridiculous! Worship is not for the lost because they don't know the One we
worship. Worship is the song of the redeemed, sung to the Redeemer. It is the
praise of the saints to the One who has made them Holy. It is something we do for
God's pleasure, without respect of what others might think of us or how they
might judge us.
That's what I love about Mary. She
doesn't care what others think, she doesn't care how public it is, or how much
it might humiliate her. She is there to worship Jesus and she doesn't let
anyone get in her way.
But there is one other thing you
should notice about Mary's worship, about her act of honoring Jesus. It is also
found in verse 3, the Scripture says that the odor filled the house.
The ointment got into everything. It
saturated her hair, it filled the house with its sweet aroma. That's what true
worship does: It leaves its indelible scent on you and one everyone around you.
People, when you're in love with
Jesus, the aroma of that love, of that reverence, of that fellowship bleeds out
all around you. Even as the aroma filled the house where Jesus was, it will
fill the place wherever you are.
We must honor Jesus from our hearts.
But finally, notice that we are to
honor Jesus when we can.
3.
Honor Jesus when the opportunity is at hand
Notice verses 7 and 8, Jesus
corrects Judas, telling him that the poor would be with them always but that
they would not always have Him.
Jesus is telling us that we should
honor Him, we should worship and adore Him whenever the opportunity presents
itself. He is speaking about the extemporaneous nature of our worship.
Mary did not put Jesus on her day
timer, she did not have to schedule some time in her otherwise busy day
specifically to honor Jesus. She did it when the opportunity presented itself.
She was ready and eager to honor Him and was thus able to do so at a moment's
notice. While others around here were serving food or simply enjoying our
Lord's company, Mary was absorbed in worship.
God wants our love and our worship
to be spontaneous; He wants us to be passionate about honoring and loving Him;
He wants it to become a magnificent obsession. While there are many good things
about solemn and formalized worship, that which comes as a natural response to
our love for Him is usually most heart-felt. The honor Mary gave to Jesus was
authentic and natural. She honored Jesus when the opportunity was at hand.
This is what Jesus is saying when He
says that the poor we would always have with us.
Many people have misunderstood what
Jesus said to somehow be cruel of insensitive towards the less fortunate.
Nothing could be further from the truth. If you study the ministry of Jesus
most often you will find Him with the poor and the dispossessed. Jesus was an
itinerant preacher who owned no home, had no animals or livestock, no
retirement plan. He had no earthly possessions to speak of. The only thing He
had was the robe which the soldiers gambled for as He was dying. Jesus was
always concerned about the poor and while the disciples wanted to send them
away, you'll remember that Jesus had compassion on the multitudes. He saw them
as sheep in need of a Shepherd.
Jesus was not being insensitive to
the poor, He was merely stating a fact of reality. The poor will always be with
us. Knowing the hearts of men as He did, understanding the greed of humanity as
He did, He knew that there would always be those who were poor.
What Jesus was saying was that we must
honor Him, or serve Him whenever we have the opportunity.
Mary would not always have the
opportunity to anoint the Lord's feet with oil and so she had to do it when the
opportunity was at hand.
The truth here folks is that
opportunities for spiritual service, for honoring Jesus through our lives are
passing. We should not procrastinate or put off till tomorrow what we could do
for Jesus today.
Conclusion
Does Jesus get honor and glory from
your life? Is He honored in your home? Would He feel comfortable at your dinner
table? Or would He feel at home with what you watch, read and listen to? Do you
honor Him from your heart? It's easy to put on a show for others to see but is
your worship heartfelt? Are you preoccupied with this idea that Jesus must be exalted
through every facet of your life?
Are you looking for ways in your
everyday experience to bring honor and glory to Christ?
Allow me to make four practical
suggestions:
- Make Him the unseen guest at all times. Some folks leave an empty chair at the table to remind them of His presence, and sometimes a physical reminder of His spiritual presence can be helpful.
- Make a practice of meditating on Him and His Word. Out of sight, out of mind is more than a saying, it is a truth. The more you meditate on Him and His word the more you will be cognizant of His presence with you.
- Make a practice of talking to others about Him. One of the ways we honor Jesus is to speak to others about Him. In fact, to bless the Lord means to speak well of Him.
- Ask God to open your spiritual eyes to see opportunities where Jesus can be honored in your everyday experience. God is at work around us, enabling us to bring Glory to Him. The more sensitive we are to His working, the more we will be aware of opportunities to honor Him.
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