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Monday, April 28, 2008
CG Sermon (April 23-27, 2008)
WHY WE SHOULD PRAY
In the coming weeks, we want our cell group meetings to be times where we can encounter God in prayer.
We want to increase the level of prayer corporately and also individually.
- It is in times of prayer that we build our relationship and communion with the Lord.
- It is also through prayer that we can lift our burdens to the Lord.
There are many, many reasons for and benefits of prayer.
THREE REASONS WHY WE SHOULD PRAY:
1. I pray because God wants to meet with me.
If God has a “need,” it will be His desire to fellowship with us.
Why? Because we are His sons and daughters.
God created Man so that we can have fellowship with Him.
- Many times, we are so busy doing God's work that we have no time to fellowship with him.
- Ministry unto the Lord must come before ministry unto the people.
In prayer, we’re not only telling God our prayer requests, we are ministering to Him as we spend time with Him.
It is essential that you first serve God in prayer.
- Just like in a marriage, when you love your husband or wife, you want to fellowship together and you put your partner first.
- If you put your work first and your partner second, then the fellowship will be broken and things will happen in a bad way.
Lk. 10:41
“And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are
worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’”
Some people say, “I have no time to read the Bible, meditate upon it, or talk to God.”
The issue is, should you serve others first and then serve God? Or should you serve God first?”
- You must put God first. We are called to serve God first.
If you make the decision to put God first, you will have the power, wisdom and anointing of God to do all the rest of the things.
Matt. 6:33
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Acts 13:2-3 “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said,
‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I
have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”
Paul and Barnabas were fasting, praying and ministering to the Lord; not serving the people.
- As you serve God, you will also begin to hear from God.
So prayer is pleasing God; it is the way you minister to God and fellowship with Him.
- God has a “need” that can only be satisfied by you.
- Even the angels cannot satisfy God the way we can.
Only Man was created in the image and likeness of God.
- Only Man can really touch God through prayer.
2. I pray to maintain the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
One of the ways we do that is to pray in the Spirit.
- When you speak in tongues inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is very refreshing.
- And there is a power that comes from the depths of your being (your spirit), from your stomach (your belly).
- Don’t pray in tongues mechanically.
- When you pray in the Spirit, pray with a sense of purpose and
focus on God.
- Engage with the Holy Spirit, because He is praying through you.
People who just pray in tongues in the flesh … only their lips are moving, but their hearts are not engaged and there is no significant activity in the realm of the Spirit.
So we pray in the Spirit to keep the fullness of the Holy Spirit every
day.
- If you don't pray enough every day, you can't maintain the
fullness of the Holy Spirit or meet the daily challenges of life.
- If you don’t pray, you will not be able to have victory over
temptation and the devil.
Mark 14:37-38
There is power in tarrying in God’s presence in prayer.
When we pray more than one hour, we become an open channel for the Holy Spirit to flow through.
If we are constantly filled with the fullness of the Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit will also flow through us
- When we pray for and touch the sick, the sick will recover.
- When we pray for the oppressed, they will be set free.
- Our prayers will carry weight and our prayers will be effective.
3. Through prayer, I can win the lost.
Prayer is very necessary for evangelism.
Many people try to make evangelism successful through their programs.
- It won’t work because we are not fighting against blood and
flesh.
- We are actually fighting for the souls of people in the spirit
realm.
Eph.6:12
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Mark 3:27
“No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods,
unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder
his house.”
In a while’s time, we will be praying for the lost as a cell group.
CONCLUSION
Here are some points on how we should pray:
1. In prayer, we must be clear about what we want.
- You must make your goals very clear, very definite, so that God's power may be directed toward those goals.
2. When you pray, you need to pray with your heart.
Many people try to use repetitive language in their prayers, but it is not the many words in prayer that gives it power.
If the prayers are not from the depths of your heart, they lose their power.
3. When you pray, you present your burdens to the Lord.
When your prayers have no focus and direction, and it is not a prayer that the Holy Spirit is impressing upon your heart to pray, it is not a “heartfelt” prayer. If the prayer doesn’t touch you, it won't touch God.
4. When you pray in the Spirit, learn also to pray with understanding.
When you are praying in tongues, listen to the Holy Spirit and learn to let Him pray through you with understanding.
5. When you pray, be persistent for something that God is impressing in your heart until you sense a breakthrough.
- As you concentrate your prayer on one matter, it can
become very powerful like a laser beam and you can break the power of Satan.
Hey CG, lets really pray for the lost souls! Really felt that this is the key to our breakthrough! Want to thank you for making this happen last week! Cg-16 Svc-18! Praise the Lord! We have been constantly hitting our target but lets not be satisfied ya?
Also, wei, i know that you are praying for us as well! What we are experiencing here is also partly because of your prayer! So do continue to keep each other in prayer! Amen?=)
-Peien-
Leaving a foot step - 7:45 PM
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Thursday, April 24, 2008
People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy. Proverbs 28:13 (NLT)
How often do you play the “if only” game?
• If only I had it to do over.
• If only I had listened sooner.
• If only I could erase the past.
• If only I could forgive myself.
Because no one is perfect, we all have regrets. We’ve all made bad choices, said foolish things, wasted time, and hurt ourselves and others.
How do you release those regrets?
Here are some strategies that don’t work:
1. WE BURY THEM. Burying the past doesn’t work. Like creatures from a horror movie, unresolved regrets come back to haunt us over and over. Minimizing (“It wasn’t a big deal”), rationalizing (“Everyone does it”), and compromising (lowering your standards) are ways we try to bury our regrets.
2. WE BLAME OTHERS. This tactic is as old as Adam and Eve. When Adam sinned, he took it like a man – he blamed his wife! We use blame to balance out our guilt.
3. WE BEAT OURSELVES. We try to pay for our guilt unconsciously through illness, depression, setting ourselves up for failure, and other forms of self-punishment. The problem with beating up on yourself is this: your conscience never knows when to stop! Many spend their entire lives in self-condemnation.
What does God want me to do with my regrets?
• Admit my guilt – Own up to it.Don’t make excuses. The Bible says, “People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy” (Proverbs 28:13 NLT).
• Accept Christ’s forgiveness – He’s waiting to clean your slate.Ask him to clear your conscience, and then remember “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT).
• Forgive yourself and focus on the future – “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19 HCSB).
Even if there are some issues which seemed to be unforgivable, we need to pick up our courage to let them all go.
-Peien- (courtesy frm Benny)
Leaving a foot step - 3:41 PM
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Sunday, April 20, 2008
Shame
Pastor Kong 19 Apr 08
1 Chronicles 4:9
(Related to last week's sermon)
How do we know that Jabez was spiritually hungry?
- He went after prayer
- He had holy dissatisfaction - He wanted more of God's anointing! 1 Chro 4:10 He wanted God to "enlarge my territory" so that he could get influence in the marketplace!
- He wanted to serve God - God only answered the prayer request of Jabez and David immediately due to their spiritual hunger.
Jabez = painful, hollow, depression --> Jabez lived with a painful past and he struggled with shame and rejection.
Revelations 12
Satan is the accuser of the brethren. Thus, he will constantly shame us into giving up our visions and our dreams.
People who overcame shame:
- Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers, but he overcame the shame barrier to become someone of high position in Egypt
- Abraham struggled with trusting God for a son, but he overcame that and was made the father of all nations
- Moses was a murderer
- David was a murderer and an adulterer
- Simon Peter denied Jesus thrice and cursed Him
But in Christ, we are a new creature! Like Jabez, we have to deal with our past, or else we will not have faith for the present nor hope for the future!
Types of Shame Barriers
1. Inherited shame
- Simply because we are born into a fallen race
- Like Adam, we stay away from God and from his good work
- But the wages of sin is death
- We have overcome inherited shame because Jesus took the shame of our sins for us. While Adam was ashamed of being naked before God, Jesus was stripped and laid bare so that we could be covered in the robe of righteousness
2. Imposed shame
- Shame imposed on us by other people
- Jesus was mocked by the Pharisees, who said that He was the illegitimate child of a prostitute
3. Actual shame
- Due to things that one actually does
But Jesus died so that we could live! God is a shame buster! Any thing we feel, God can heal!
Jabez founded the city of Jabez, which preserved the word of God. He overcame his shame barrier to become a revelator of the word of God.
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Helloooooo! Just wanted to say THANKS LOTS for the gifts!!! And I didn't manage to get everyone's home addresses, so either someone collate for me (I've seen the power of asking muhahaha) or you can send to me via email (suatwei[at]gmail.com), offline msg me on msn (suatwei[at]hotmail.com), facebook, my blog or somewhere I can see! Oh and I have a camera in my laptop so we can make faces at each other online. I'm kidding btw. (-.-)''' But I will try to go on msn more k. Errr for speedy replies, email and facebook are better bets. And I will try to keep up the sermon posting k!
Please pray for me as well k! Safety + Good health (esp!) + Able to work well with colleagues + Patient boss + Meet lots of friendly people + Able to keep up spiritual health + Able to communicate well. :)
See you all again in the next half of 2008! Oh, and please write to meeeee (Chen Xue Wei): Unit 15A, 9 Tower, No. 35 West Donghai Road, Shinan District, Qingdao, Republic of China.
- wei Labels: Saturday, Sermons
Leaving a foot step - 5:50 PM
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Monday, April 14, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PEARLINE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
our dearest, sweetest pearline, may all your wishes come true! you're like so quiet and shy during cell group! don't be so shy la... feel free to talk more and share more about yourself to us, we want to know you more too! God loves you, and i love you too *_*
grace
(the 1 whom you like to call "fish", but i'm sooo totally not "fish")
Leaving a foot step - 11:17 PM
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
Prayer
Pastor Kong 12 Apr 08
1 Chro 4
v9 Jabez: The pain/ sorrow makerv10 "that I may not cause pain"Jabez was just an ordinary man, but he was able to achieve extraordinary things through God!Honourable = Kabod (Hebrew) = glory, substance, weightJabez had the anointing, substance and presence of God. Why was he so anointed?He had unusual spiritual hunger!- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for you shall be filled
- Hunger - Although we can guarantee the quality of food one eats, we cannot guarantee the appetite of the people
- .: We need to have an appetite for Him and His word. If we don't hunger and thirst, He will pass us by!
Jabez prayed for God to/for:
- Bless his spiritual life
- Enlarge his territory
- God's presence and power to increase in his life
- God to keep him from evil and power
Spiritual hunger will always lead to a strong prayer life! And it is only through prayer can we unleash the greatest potential of our life!
Samson was given superhuman strength. He was gifted with leadership potential. But he was the only judge that did not lead his people. Why was it so?
He was not a man given to prayer. Without prayer, you will never reach the highest potential in life, no matter how talented one is. For Samson, his hair was representative of his prayer life. The longer he prayed, the longer his hair.
While we are in the world, we are not of the world! The world will try to shave us of our prayer life, much like how Samson's hair was shaved off, and if so, we will lose our power!
A church is only as great as its members. We need to pray so that our church has power! We need to have a strong prayer life so that the potential of City Harvest will come to fruitation!
While it is easy to praise and worship God, prayer does not come as easily. We know it in our heads, but not in our hearts. Although we ought to pray like how the Lord's Prayer and the Tabernacle Prayer is prayed, we need to remember that God is a colourful and exciting God! When God draws near, our lives become more colourful!
How do you seek an invisible God?
- Blessed are those who have not seen but believed!
- Seek God with the eyes of our spirit
- Get addicted to the presence of God!
- Ish 40:30 "youths shall faint and be weary"
- If you do not have the strength of God inside, you will faint and fall away from Him
- Having a vision is not enough, you need to have a passion to continue living and loving
- Ish 40:31 "those who wait on the Lord"
- Spend time waiting on the Lord in prayer
- It is not whether it's night or day - it's about praying
- No matter how much hair you have shaved off, your hair can grow back and you can get back the power and the presence!
- Prayer is private
- Matt 6:5 "secret place" "sees in secret"
- Psalms 91:1 "secret place of the most high" is where you can find the "shadow of the almighty"
- It is important to dwell, wait and spend time in God's presence
- Find a quiet place, a place of solitude that is secret between God and you
- Get a hold of God and put an action to the prophesy that God has put in your heart
- Read the Bible and pray
- The Christian life is beyond worship!
- Jesus often sat the feet of the Father in prayer
- A prayer warrior is always a worshiper but a worshiper may not always be a prayer warrior
Labels: Saturday, Sermons
Leaving a foot step - 1:54 PM
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Sunday, April 6, 2008
Thinking with Excellence Pastor Tan, 05 Apr 08 How we are in life is dependent on how we think. 2 Peter 1:5-7 Virtue added to faith. Virtue = Arete (Gr) Arete = Excellence, efficiency 7 Stages of Development 1. VIRTUE Laziness & fooliness are more condemned than drunkenness Excellence = exceed a given standard that is ordinary, average, terrible, unworthy
a) To be superior in quality Quality never happens by chance. It is by high intentions, having purpose in our hearts. Not to compromise. The call of God in our lives is the call of excellence, not the call of mediocrity If anything is worth doing, do it well If you don't have the time to do an excellent work, when would you have the time to redo it? It's not about being nice, but doing things with excellence - paying attention to details etc. Broken window hypothesis: Leaving one window broken indicates that disorder is tolerated and this invites more disorder Songs of Solomon 2:15 The things that spoil the wine are the little things
b) To obtain greater in quantity Be as productive as possible John 15:16 Faithful and fruitful Instant gratification doesn't happen. It takes persistancy to be productive Abraham Lincoln: Your beginning may be small but if you don't lose heart, success will come Winston Churchill's greatest speech: Never give up Psalm 126: 5-6 We must be willing to pay the price The price of success places a demand on: (i) Our heart Provb 4:23 - "issues of life" High achievers are people who are able to motivate others and themselves. They have deep emotional tanks. Successful people love what they do. Story of the donkey in the well: The key to overcome failures is to shake them off and step on them (ii) Our time Learn to manage our time! All of us have 24hrs a day Time is the occurence of events one after another Thus, time management is event management! .: Wake up early! It gives one a headstart. Time to pray, think, plan. Sleep less, live longer! Optimum hours of sleep is 6.5hrs (iii) Our money To dream costs nothing, but acting on our dreams is pricely If God gives you the vision, He will also give you the provision Luke 16:11 Are you faithful in the little that God has given you? Learn to spend your money within your ways so that when you have accumulated enough, yuou can spend on whatever you want
c) To transcend job description Go the extra mile Matt 5:41 Be people who are willing to do more 1st mile: duty. 2nd mile: Love Be like God, go beyond the 1st mile! Romans 13:8 Love can only begin AFTER the call of duty is met
d) To outdo myself each time I am my biggest competitor Exceed expectations - God is able to do that! Eph 6:5-8 "not with eye service, as men pleases" Do not do your work only because other people are watching, but because you know God is watching
How can we change and start thinking differently? From LAWS to LIBERTY In serving... From SYSTEMS to SERVICE In source... From SELF-CENTRED to SPIRIT-CENTRED In leadership... From LEGALISM to LOVE If you don't love God, you loyalty will not last If you don't love a person, you will not respect him/her If you don't love, there will be no love involved
In mentoring... From FEAR to FAITH In supervision, follow-up... From CONTROL to CONCERN/CARE In work... From DUTY to DEVOTION (love) In attitude... From GETTING to GIVING In lifestyle... From EXPLANATION only to EXAMPLE When you can do all these... From BONDAGE to BREAKTHROUGH Our life changes when our thinking changes!
Labels: Saturday, Sermons
Leaving a foot step - 1:14 PM
The Presence of God Prohesying about the end times. 2 Samuel 6:3 Don't put God on a cart~ God doesn't travel on methods, He travels on people! 2 Samuel 6:5-7 Uzzah tried to help God - translated to today's context: people trying to crank up God's presence. You can have good intentions but that does not excuse irreverance. 2 Samuel 6:10-11 "Obed-Edom": the servant of God We need to bring down the presence of God in our serving. 2 Samuel 6:13 God wants His ark (presence of God) to be carried on the shoulders of men and women. 2 Samuel 6:14 When we are doing things God's way, even trials can be joyous! "Dance": bodily expression of joy Twirling, praising - loud, vocal, expressive Labels: Friday, Sermons
Leaving a foot step - 1:08 PM
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Friday, April 4, 2008
James 1:5-8
"Let him ask in faith..."
God is a good God who wants to give us the things we ask in faith.
V8
The double-minded man will not be able to receive the things he prayed for.
Success is not restricted to those who are lucky.
To get to where I want to go in life, I must start where I am.
No one who is born again becomes a spiritual giant today.
All change begins with a decision - its a mindset - & out of a decision comes dedication and committment.
The greatest enemy of our life is ambivalence. It can turn a vision & a dream into a nightmare.
Definition:
James 4:17 James 1:7-8 Psalms 119:113 "I hate the double-minded" What causes us to be indecisive: Procrastination We need to defeat this to get to where we want to be Story of the 3 demons who want to convince Christians that there is no God: They decided that the best way was to tell them that there is no hurry to do anything whatsoever Goal setting in Health, Ability, Relationship, Vision, Emotional life, Spiritual life, Thought life (HARVEST) We procrastinate because we are afraid of change, of failure, and because we have not planned for the future
How do we combat Procrastination? Activate your planner Breakdown large tasks into smaller steps & focus on getting them done on time Create deadlines Deal with the mess - clutter kills productivity Encourage yourself - "I can", "I will" Face your fears - Do the hardest task first Goals are reviewed daily Hang on, don't give up - treat failure as an opportunity to do better Initiate now - Ecc 11:14 If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done
* Money doesn't grow on trees but money behaves like a tree. Bible: Job 8:7 Don't despise the days of small beginnings! Saving means: Judges 13:24 "Mahaneh Dan" - Place of decision Is between: "Zorah" - A hornet's sting "Eshtaol" - A place to inquire of God, to seek the face of God Judges 14:1 At Mahaneh Dan, Samson did not choose Eshtaol. This created a pattern of doing things wrong all the time Judges 16:1, 4, 20, 25, 31 He was brought back to where he started because he never made the right choice. Labels: Saturday, Sermons
Leaving a foot step - 8:43 AM
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Wednesday, April 2, 2008
AH, I was away and couldn't do what I should do.
So here I am repenting and doing what is to be done.
Thou shalt be forgiven, Amen.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heeee~
Personally, I find it weird to write touching stuffs for Grace. Hahaha. You know those, "I love you and thank you for being such a wonderful sister in Christ" kinda thing? So not Cheryl-Grace.
But.... I wanna take this time to let you know how appreciated you are. *wink wink
Someone whom I can talk to about almost anything under the sun. (Mind you, there's tons of stuffs under the sun okay...)
Anyway Miss Chee, hope you had enjoyed yourself this birthday.
God bless~
If you have something you wanna post here for Miss Chee, feel free to do so. :D
If you do not have the login info, ask Miss Chee.
HAA~
WE LOVE MISS CHEE!
Leaving a foot step - 12:37 AM
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