Living the Faith – Blessing or Burden?
Pastor Tan Thai · Oct 24, 2022
This sermon explores three essential aspects of the Christian life: relationship with others, personal moral conduct, and God's Word as a guiding standard. The pastor asks whether living the faith is a blessing or a burden, guiding the congregation through Psalm 119, Psalm 1, and Romans 7 to find the answer.
The sermon opens with its central question: is living the Christian life a blessing or a burden? Drawing from John 10:10, the pastor reminds the congregation that Jesus came so that his sheep might have life and have it abundantly. Three essential components of the Christian life are introduced from the outset: relationship with others, personal moral conduct, and God's Word as the guiding standard.
God's Word is presented as an indispensable compass for the believer's daily walk. Psalm 119:105 describes the Word as a lamp to one's feet and a light to one's path. The sermon quotes extensively from Psalm 119 (using the Vietnamese New Translation) to demonstrate that the psalmist did not view God's law as a burden but as genuine joy, an eternal inheritance, and a source of strength in times of trouble. Psalm 1:1-3 further illustrates the person who delights in the law of the Lord as a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in its season and whose leaf does not wither.
However, the sermon also honestly confronts the difficulty of living the Christian life through Romans 7:15-25. Paul describes a profound inner conflict: he wants to do what is good but ends up doing what is evil, and what he hates is exactly what he does. The sermon uses the pointed and somewhat humorous observation, 'We have met the enemy, and it is us,' to highlight that the greatest opponent to faithful Christian living often resides within oneself.
Although Paul cries out, 'Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?' he concludes with thanksgiving: 'Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!' This is the pivotal turn of the sermon: victory does not come from personal effort but from Christ himself. The Christian life becomes a blessing when the believer stops relying on their own strength and instead rests on the grace and power of Jesus Christ.
The sermon closes by calling the congregation to examine the three essential areas of their Christian life and to ask honestly: am I living in blessing or enduring a burden? When God's Word becomes a genuine source of joy and when one trusts in Christ rather than in self-effort, the life of faith becomes the abundant blessing Jesus promised rather than an exhausting obligation.