Calvin Synod Herald, 2017 (118. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2017-01-01 / 1-2. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 3 Sermon of the occasion of the Ordination of Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba Krasznai Bishop, Calvin Synod Conference, United Church of Christ October 29, 2016 Answering the Call "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, holdfast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor." Romans 12; 9-11 These are Paul's words to his friends, his fellow Christians, at a time when he was imprisoned and facing persecution for being a Christian. And he goes on to tell how these words should come to life - they were read for us. I will, for the moment, emphasize those that HE had to think about seriously as he waited in prison: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, " These are easy words for someone to say if things are going well. They are not so easy if one is in prison, awaiting a possible death sentence. But that was Paul's situation when he wrote these words. Christ into our lives, in other words, when we decide that we want to follow Him and be obedient to His teachings and commandments, then we turn away from our sins, choose to follow Christ, and strive to live a life that glorifies His name. The door of salvation before you, the narrow gate, is still open. This is the time of God’s grace for all of us. Jesus calls to you, “Strive, struggle to enter through the narrow door. ” Accept Him or renew your relationship with Him today. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life, or if you want to renew your relationship with Jesus, because you got tired of life happenings, then you can make a decision. Open your heart before Christ and make a conscious decision. Please pray the following prayer silently in your heart if you want to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord or if you want to renew your relationship with Him. Please, pray this prayer: Lord Jesus I need you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Please lead my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be. Amen. Yours in Christ, Rt. Rev. Dr. Csaba Krasznai Bishop When we read the Bible, we often think of what we find there as "ancient writings," to be dusted off for ceremonial purposes, and perhaps some good ideas that we may or may not find up-lifting. However, if that is how we understand the messages in the Bible, they are meaningless. They were not in fact written to people who had been dead for 2,000 years, they were written to and for US. to be made a living part of our lives today. If we as Christians do NOT understand the Scriptures in this manner, then we are wasting our time in this church today. Pretend that these words were written to you by an uncle, and you just came across his long-lost letter to you. And this is what he has written to YOU, his favorite niece or nephew: "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality." Beautiful words your uncle Paul wrote you. But then he also writes: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink." And our tendency is to ignore this - it is totally insane! These are words we want to relegate to those "dusty Scriptures" that are meaningless to us! Interesting, isn't it. We tend to pick and choose what we will willingly accept from the Scriptures - we pick and choose what we accept from God's word. But when we do that, we are not Christians, we are only self-centered. Then we become the "white-washed tombs" Jesus speak about in Matthew 23:27, beautiful on the outside, but with dry bones - decay - on the inside. But we expect our Pastor to follow those words. As if he is the "professional" Christian among us. As if - "If he keeps those words, then we are OK.". I would totally disagree with you. And so does Jesus, and so do all of the writers of the New Testament and the Old Testament that we claim is our "standard", our "guide" in life. We recognize that there are those who seem to be closer to keeping these words in their everyday lives. And we feel that our pastor better be one of those people. Our Uncle Isaiah also wrote us a letter, and he tells us of the day when HE started to take God seriously in the sixth chapter, the eighth verse of his letter to us: "And 1 heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." " The fact is that God does call us all - everyone in this
