HAPPY NEW YEAR

But 2007 – where did it go?

I have decided to write a blog entry entitled 'The Year of the Lord's Favour', based on Isaiah 61
  1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour.
 
The year of the lord’s favour  


 The Dictionary definition is: Favour – (1): friendly regard shown toward another especially by a superior (2): approving consideration or attention
 
It is Biblical -
Gen 4 favour on Abel’s offering
Gen 6 favour on Noah’s family
Ex 33 Moses found favour with God (saw Him face2face-friend to friend)
Psalms, Proverbs - many mentions
Examples: Psalm 84: 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
Prov 12: 2 A good man obtains favour from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a crafty man.
Daniel 9: 17 Prayed for the Lord’s favour
Most famous (and topical) Luke 1: 25 Mary - God showed His favour   Bible TELLS not only favour with God, but also favour with Man
 Examples:
Joseph/Pharoah,
Daniel/Nebuchadnezzar, 

Bible also tells us How to receive favour
Obedience
1 Sam 15: 22  Obedience is better than sacrifice

Deut 28: 1 IF you obey….then…..

  The Isaiah 61 Year Of The Lord's Favour is linked to the Levitical Year of Jubilee – 7X7 +1 =50, debts are cancelled, slaves set free, land restored to owner etc

As far as we can see, Jewish people in OT never celebrated it

Fulfilled in Luke 4 in Jesus (Today……)

Totally fulfilled at Calvary’s Cross and Empty Tomb

Because of this……
For us Year Of The Lord's Favour IS every year!  Amen? And that includes 2008!


The concept of Jubilee  is linked in modern day to the poor. There was a lot made of the millenium year of 2000 as a Year of Jubilee

For us to declare the YOTLF, we cannot ignore this calling

We are not been called to build megachurches, have  best-selling CD's or books , though God by His favour may cause those to occur.

But we are called to preach good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearted and proclaim freedom and release from darkness for the captives.

God has said to us “Practice Grace, Mercy and Justice” He cxouldn’t have been any clearer!

When we face Him and He asks us “How did you Practice Grace, Mercy and Justice?” We’d better not answer,  “ Well we sort of…. Built this megachurch”

2008


Jewish people already in their New Year since September
Hebrew 5768 Samekh Chet, a year of Shmita (release, sabbatical) There are many prophecies about what God is doing and is going to do (I recommend Chuck Pierce)

Next month 4705 Chinese New Year of the Rat (Feb 6) Well, I need to tell you thatRat ranks number 1 in the 12 calendar animals. There is a related story for children. Once they wanted to choose 12 animal names as the sequence of the calendar, and announced to hold an animal race to determine the order. When the racing date was closing, Cat forgot the time and asked Rat the schedule. Alert Rat gave Cat the wrong time on purpose. Smart Rat stayed on the horn of Ox while crossing the river, then jumped over the bank to reach the finish line and become the champion. Cat missed the racing time and swore to kill Rat for generations. That's apparently why Cats always chase Rats !
Next year is also…….. International Year of Planet Earth; International Year of the Potato; And believe it or not ………International Year of Sanitation. (Thanks Wikipedia!)

In our Gregorian calendar it is 2008 (AD)

Anno Domini  (Latin for Year Of Our Lord)- history divided in two by birth of Christ

2008 special year –  It is Olympic year in my nation , China


2008 is also a Leap Year

Now, Leap years are years with 366 days, instead of the usual 365. Leap years are necessary because the actual length of a year is 365.242 days, not 365 days, as commonly stated. Basically, leap years occur every 4 years, and years that are evenly divisible by 4 (2004 and 2008, for example) have 366 days. This extra day is added to the calendar on February 29th. However, there is one exception to the leap year rule involving century years, like the year 1900. Since the year is slightly less than 365.25 days long, adding an extra day every 4 years results in about 3 extra days being added over a period of 400 years. For this reason, only 1 out of every 4 century years is considered as a leap year. Century years are only considered as leap years if they are evenly divisible by 400. Therefore, 1700, 1800, 1900 were not leap years, and 2100 will not be a leap year As I will be 147 don’t suppose that’ll trouble me much!. 2000 was.    Julius Caesar was behind the origin of leap year in 45 BC.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII further refined the calendar with the rule that leap day would occur in any year divisible by 4 as described above, hence Gregorian calendar.
  Ladies……Leap Year has been the traditional time that women can propose marriage. In many of today's cultures, it is okay for a woman to propose marriage to a man. Society doesn't look down on such women. However, that hasn't always been the case  When the rules of courtship were stricter, women were only allowed to pop the question on one day every four years. That day was February 29th.

It is believed this tradition was started in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose.  According to legend, St. Patrick said the yearning females could propose on this one day in February during the leap year. So watch out guys.  
Now - Why have I focused so much on the Leap Year aspect of 2008?
  Is it because we have one extra day in 2008 to do God’s will?

Well that’s True – and the Bible tells us that a nation can be changed in a day. And - Why should that day not be Fri 29 Feb 2008? Bible also says to god a day is like 1000 years.  

But, as I prayed about 2008 , I sensed four key words :

LEARN

EQUIP

ACT

PLANT

  Let me take them one at a time:

  L is for LEARN

  One of the things I learn, as I get older is just how much there is still for me to learn. As a young man I often felt arrogantly that I sort of knew everything I needed to know.
  I have since discovered the ridiculousness of that thought and have discovered that, every day, there is a fresh opportunity to learn something new  
  I want to share with you some Bible verses…   1 Peter 2  2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3now that you have tasted that the Lord is good

Hebrews 5 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Are these verses in contradiction with each other?   Is it milk or solid food what we should be feeding ourselves on?

The answer is both……God is calling us to grow up and to go deeper. Whether we are a baby Christian or a nature believer, don’t stay where you are

First thing God wants us to learn is the truth contained in His Word.

Second thing God wants us to learn is I believe to Hear God’s voice
  Third thing God wants us to learn is I believe is more of His character. Through His Word, through hearing His Voice and spending time with Him, being constantly filled with His Spirit.  
2008 is to be a year of learning, put on our ‘L’ plates and lets go for it.


  E is for EQUIP

  If learning is about growing personally, Equipping covers ‘all of the above’ plus it takes responsibility for reproducing ourselves in others   Look at these verses from Ephesians……………………………………
  Ephesians 4  11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
  I am a great believer in the five-fold ministries described by Paul. And I am also a great believer in the identification and use of spiritual gifts. 


Why? Paul has it sussed: to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up


God did not call us to make converts.


It is not a case of altar calls, raised hands and new believers’ pack. Don’t read me wrong, I love it every time a sinner repents and we know that there is the mother of all parties in heaven.  
But we are commissioned to make disciples.
  Let’s say we are recruiting soldiers to go to war. We don’t achieve our objective when they sign on the line, but when we have put them through thorough training day and night in such a way that they are fully equipped to represent our country on the front line.
  But our major challenge is I believe the challenge of reproducing ourselves.
  Let’s become an e-enabled churches and be an equipping people.  

A is for ACT

   James 2 14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 ‘Now is the time for compassion to turn into action’.   
But talk is cheap…….
  It is all very well for us to talk about “Practice Grace, Mercy and Justice” Makes us look good, a little bit of self-righteousness, even admiration from outside.
  We could fall into the ‘Of course our church supports refugees’ trap. Very convenient.
  But the time for talk is over and the time for action is here.
  Let me ask  a leading question: ‘What are we gonna do in 2008 in response to God’s unmistakeable call?’
  Put our cheque books away – this is NOT what I am talking about here. I am looking for sleeves that are rolled up and hands that are dirty. As Jackie Pullinger puts it: ”Soft hearts and hard feet – not the other way round”

 A testimony from Ps Derek Ma. of the Vine.... "So today, for the first time ever in my life, i spent Christmas Day serving. Most Christmas's, i just spend eating, playing, enjoying.. you know the deal. some years i've had traditional Christmas roast, or spending time dressed in red and green. buying gifts for each other...   this year was very different.   by the way, this isn't a "wow look at me, i was serving!" post, but this is more, hey read what i learned this Christmas... and besides, this is MY note...   anyways, our Community Pastor John Mac and his wife Anne lead a team of people to provide a lunch for anyone who was alone this Christmas. it is kind of targeting the asylum seekers in Hong Kong, but any are welcome. Janice was on this team, and i just helped out where i could.   to throw a lunch for over 150 people, complete with a gift exchange, multicultural buffet, 4 massive christmas cakes, games, songs and dancing... it was amazing to see. Janice and i were in charge of the gift distribution... it got pretty out of control at one point but there were a few people who i could visibly see that we really blessed by the gift they received. and you know what? those small moments made it all worth it.   bringing joy to people who have suffered, who have no voice in Hong Kong, to those who are lonely, to those who need... whatEVER the need... this was a first for me to experience this on this special day of celebrating the birth of our Saviour... i mean, i usually reserve this for myself to enjoy...   weeks ago i preached to HKIS youth, one Hong Kong's most $$$ high schools... that while Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, we must remember that ultimately Jesus was born to die for all of us... why? for us to receive forgiveness and love..   and then to give it away.   i've been struggling with this for a few days, but on this special day i wanted to write a simple note to say to one and all to enjoy an amazing Christmas... but to not forget to remember those who need to receive Christ's love.... to remember to give instead of only receiving.   while i feel a bit hypocritical because tomorrow i get on a plane to take a holiday, but i know that i, in a very small way, have made a difference to someone's Christmas... someone who may have needed it a whole lot more than i did.   James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  
May 2008 signal the time for our compassion to turn into action. The stage is set, the curtain has gone up, the spotlight is on – time to act.  
My last letter is more complex, and hard to cover in an article such as this
 
P is for PLANT


This is more difficult to cover in a blog post


For a couple of years I have had this image of a Vine growing over the wall and the verse….

Gen 49:22 "Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine near a spring, whose branches climb over a wall


I am not 100% sure what planting means in 2008, only that it is on God's heart

 
What is CERTAIN is that 2008, leap year, does require a leap of faith  
I am gonna ask to you NOW -“Will YOU JOIN ME IN SAYING YES TO THE YEAR OF THE LEAP

  We will ask God to send His Holy Spirit to help us – and approach the New Year with excitement and expectation

 
Blow the shofar - This is the year of the Lord’s favour