Thank you for the opportunity for me to share again from God’s word today. It is always a privilege to be able to share with you, and a privilege to be part of this church.
Today also is a special day because it is our last service in this room. I don’t know if there is anything prophetic with this being our last service in here and me being up here. I think we can be very thankful how God has provided this place for us, and at the same time being thankful for our new place. I know we will continue what we have always been doing as a church; honoring God and making disciples.
I was very privileged to go to EN 2010. I might also add that I made 2 trips to the Philippines on my vacation; the first for Badet’s wedding and the second one for the conference and trip to Dagupan and Baguio.
I’m really getting to feel like a Filipino more and more. For example I stayed in 3 different Filipino homes on my last trip. I’m real good now at taking a Filipino bath. What do you call it? And I’ve picked up a few more words and phrases in Tagalog like “Load Na Dito.” So now I know more than “picture picture.” I learned the importance of a marienda. I was told not to eat too much sisig. And of course a lot of “1 2 3.”
The conference was special in many ways. The worship experience was blessed and I’m not just talking about when we sang my favorite song. I made lots of new friends. And I met people from different parts of the world.
The conference was a blessing because we had a time of worship, fellowship and we were blessed with many different speakers. All of them had something to share with us.
We got to visit Ptr Jonas’ former church Victory Dagupan and hear him preach there. And we also saw the place where he proposed to Janice.
I really loved Baguio City. It was up in the mountains and really beautiful. And we didn’t need air conditioning there. We had God’s air conditioning instead. And it was a good time to reflect on what we learned and heard at the conference.
When we were on our way back to Manila Ptr Jonas brought up the idea of doing this series on the conference, or better yet, as he refers to it; EN 2010 Remix. There are a lot of things we want to share with you.
Before I continue I want to share something with those of you who didn’t go to the conference. I know many of you wanted to go but for whatever reason you couldn’t go. We prayed for you when we were in Manila. And as I’m sharing with you, I want to share from one of the messages and what I learned. I feel very strongly that this is not to make you feel bad if you couldn’t go. Rather, it is to encourage you with what I learned. And hopefully it will pique your interest in coming to EN 2013. I have heard it will be in the United States.
Also, let me direct you to the conference website; www.en2010.com. There you will find a lot about the conference. And you can also listen to podcasts of each of the speakers. I think you will be blessed if you do.
For the last session of the conference, Ptr Steve Murrell shared. Steve, as you may or may not know is the founder of Every Nation. He tells us his story in this book, Accidental Missionary. He and his wife went to Manila for a summer mission trip in 1984. They had only intended to stay for a month. However, there was work that needed to be done after the group left for Seoul, Korea, so Ptr Steve and his wife stayed in Manila. They had only intended to be there for a summer. They’ve been there for 26 years. Does everyone know the mission statement of Every Nation? Honor God and Make Disciples. This book focuses on the second part of our mission statement in making disciples. However if you read it you will see how Every Nation got started and grew from making disciples. I understand there are over 40,000 Filipinos attending Victory in the Philippines.
Steve’s last message was on the first part of our mission statement; to honor God. This is what I would like to talk about with you today. Friends, in everything we do we must honor God. Unless we understand what it means to honor God and unless we honor Him we will not experience the whole reason we are here; to honor God.
I’ve heard that statement so many times since I’ve been coming to our church. As a matter of fact, the first time I visited here in December 2007 I remember reading this statement. Several months later I visited Every Nation Church Macau and remember seeing it again there. The only difference was the region. Let’s all read it together.
Now I know we’ve all said our mission statement many times. If I ask any of you what is Every Nation’s purpose, you will all tell me to “Honor God and Make Disciples,” right? Look at your neighbor and say, “Honor God and Make Disciples.”
I’d like to look at 3 things tonight. First what does “honor” mean?
We can look at it in several ways, but it usually means to give a person their place. We usually think of it as someone in a higher place than we are.
I don’t know much about the legal system in Thailand or the Philippines, but in my country in a court of law, the judge is addressed as “Your Honor.” This is a position of respect.
Or the President of the United States is addressed as “Mr. President.” The same goes for any other high ranking official.
I’ve seen how you honor a person in the Philippines. I’m not sure what you call it.
When we honor someone, we show them their place as well as our place.
Several weeks ago I was privileged to attend Badet’s wedding in the Philippines. It was my first Filipino wedding. As a matter of fact I was the only non Filipino there.
That afternoon, Shamaine and her brother Wilbur took me to rent a barrong and pants for the wedding. And at the last minute, Shamaine asked me to be in the wedding party as one of the Principal Sponsors. I was honored to be part of the wedding.
Can anybody tell me who we are supposed to honor at home? Our parents. Let me share with you some verses.
Exodus 20:12 ¶ "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Deuteronomy 5:16 ¶ "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
In these verses to honor means “to regard heavily.” In other words we must regard our parents as extremely important. The only one we are to honor more than them is God. We are to value them highly, care for and respect them. In the plan of creation, we are a product of our parents. And God’s blessing was based on one’s honoring their parents.
Ephesians 6:2 "Honor your father and mother"-- which is the first commandment with a promise--
Ephesians 6:3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
We are to honor our parents. Leaving Manila I was very thankful Ptr Steve shared this message with us about honoring God. Because I realized we are to honor our parents. It is commanded in the Bible. And I remembered, and I’m not proud of this, on how I did not honor my parents. I remember the things I did, and I was teary eyed about it. If I could live my life over again, that’s one thing I would definitely do; honor my parents. The good thing is both my parents forgave me for the way I treated them and I am very thankful for that. But I will tell you, that if your parents are still living, and I think for most of you they are, why not call them and tell them how much you love them and how much they mean to you. It’s something you will never regret.
To honor someone is not the same as respecting them. If you are driving too fast you might get stopped by a policeman. He will probably give you a ticket for speeding. You might not like the policeman. You might not have any respect for him. But he is the policeman and you are not. So you have to honor him and remember his place and yours.
I remember when I was in the US Navy. I can think of several of my petty officers I did not respect. But since they were over me I had to honor them. If I didn’t I would have been in more trouble.
Our mission statement says we are to honor God. That is the basis for everything else we do. If we’re not going to honor God, we are wasting our time making disciples. We’re even wasting our time being here. But don’t leave.
What does it mean to honor God? I think Ptr Steve put it very well when he said honor is “knowing your place, where you fit into world, creation etc.” When you show honor you show where you fit and where the other one fits; in this case where God fits.
How can we honor God? First remember that He is the only one who is worthy to receive honor.
Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
This is a scene in heaven with the heavenly hosts worshipping Him. Remember we are here for His glory and not ours. Is God worthy of your praise, glory and honor? Look at your neighbor and say, “He’s the only one worthy of my praise, glory and honor.”
We are to love God and others. They are the first and second greatest commandments.
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: "
