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Saturday, May 31, 2008
Built to Last Part 2 – The Jesus DNAPastor Tan 31 May 2008Continued from Part 1.Prayer is the key to revival! Everyone starts off with the idea of building something to last. The important things that we must build are values. The VALUES of having values: Visible Attract – People of the same value Lead – Different opportunities are presented to us. So values act like a compass. Unite – People with the same values unite Establish – Building a foundation Standard Recall: The 10 important values to we can build to last. DNAIs there some sort of DNA that an organization have? Can we then inject this DNA into society and began to change and transform people one at a time? We can then get a mass of people with the same mindset and it will act as a tipping point. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA): contains genetic information needed for all living things to function, grow and reproduce. Our DNA contains information about us. It takes 96 years to read our DNA. Similarly, for a church, the word of God becomes the DNA for the body of Christ. DNA contains the set of blueprints containing instructions. Using the same blueprint of City Harvest, we can have many branch churches that take shape to be similar to City Harvest. DNA is made up of four chemical bases. That is similar to our church’s values. The DNA distinguishes our church from other churches. DNA determines your personality. City Harvest members look and act the same way. When enough people share the same City Harvest DNA, we are then able to multiple. The speed in which DNA is replicated is the speed of growth in the person. The rate disciples are made in City Harvest is the rate at which City Harvest can grow. The City Harvest DNA cannot be taught in the classroom, but can be transferred through discipleship. 1 Cor 4:14 “yet you do not have many fathers” “imitate me” – have the same DNA as me, in the way I serve God, in the way I conduct my life If DNA has 4 chemical bases, what are 4 things that can sum up Jesus’ ministry?Jesus’ DNA has (1 Cor 13:13) these chemical bases: 1. Faith – Jesus lived by faith with His relationship with the Father. He lived on a dependency and trust in God. 2. Hope – Jesus had hope for the cause set before Him 3. Love – Jesus did everything out of love. He loved and forgave the adulteress woman All these can be summed up into one thing: Servanthood. Everything that Jesus did, he did it in the position of a servant. a) NimrodGenesis 10:6-10 “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord” The beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Nimrod was the leader who wanted to build the Tower of Babel. He wanted to be a world leader, the greatest of them all. Genesis 11:1-9 Nimrod wanted to build something that will last, but God came and aborted the plan. He did not allow it to happen, so Nimrod failed. b) AbrahamGenesis 12 (Just one chapter away) God wanted to make Abraham the father of all nations, a world leader. Why would God cause Nimrod to fail and why did God choose Abraham? Nimrod thought of himself, to make his name great, when he was building the tower, but Abraham was called to serve others. Abraham was willing to be broken (last week). Thus, Abraham lived a life of faith, hope (he hoped for a son for 25 years) – Abraham died without really possessing the land, love (for God) and servanthood. Nimrod was a “mighty one” = a cruel oppressor and tyrant. If you are not serving, you cannot build to last. You need to have the Jesus DNA to see growth and multiplication. Genesis 26:24 “for My servant Abraham’s sake” 2 Sam 3:18 “By the hand of My servant David” Numbers 12:7-8 “Not so with My servant Moses” “Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses” Numbers 14:24 “But My servant Caleb” Job 1:8 “Have you considered My servant Job” All these people had the blessings of God upon them and mighty works were done through them, because they were servants of God. God is finding a man or woman who is loyal to Him and willing to serve Him. And God will bless you like He blessed Abraham and your name will last. It is not by your might or your power, but by your attitude! Ish 41:8 Abraham was not called God’s servant forever. He was later called God’s friend. Exodus 33:11 “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to a friend” You become a friend of God first by being a servant of God, knowing Him. Serving is such an important part even in businesses. In a company, it is your customer that builds a business. Most of the time, customers – 96% - don’t bother to complain, they just go to your competitors. We should thank God for that 4% that bother to complain, to remind us of our weaknesses. Serving each other opens up a world of relationship. Our lives are an example. Serving involves sacrifice. Visible love opens invisible hearts. Serving is the highest form of meaningfulness in life. Phil 2:25-3:21 “my brother” = has the same Father, same DNA as me “fellow worker” = not a consumer Christian, but a producer Christian “fellow soldier” = fighting for the same cause “messenger” = trusted with carrying the Gospel, a faithful man “minister” = so that others’ lives can be touched, transformed There is a protein in our body – Laminin – that makes sure our overall body structure holds together. It looks like a cross under the microscope - In our body, we have millions of crosses that hold our body together! Col 1:15 “having made peace through the blood on the cross” The cross symbolizes: Hope Faith Love Servanthood Breastplate of faith, helmet of hope.
- wei
21 days to form a habit! Starts tomorrow!
Leaving a foot step - 5:38 PM
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Friday, May 30, 2008
For those who are having exams =)
"I LIFT MY EYES TO THE HILLS, WHERE DOES MY HELP COME FROM? MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD."
PSALM 121:1-2
"TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT.
PROV 3:5-6
"IF YOU BELIEVE YOU WILL RECEIVE WHATEVER YOU ASK FOR IN PRAYER."
MATT 21:22
"IN ALL THINGS GOD WORKS FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM."
ROM 8:28
"DO NOT BE ANXIOUS IN ANYTHING. BUT IN EVERYTHING, BY PRAYER AND PETITION, WITH THANKSGIVING, PRESENT YOUR REQUESTS TO GOD. AND THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING, WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS."
PHIL 4:6-7
"I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME."
PHIL 4:13
"'FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU! ' DECLARES THE LORD, 'PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE.'"
JEREMIAH 29:11
"FOR I AM THE LORD, YOUR GOD, WHO TAKES HOLD OF YOUR RIGHT HAND AND SAYS TO YOU, DO NOT FEAR I WILL HELP YOU"
ISAIAH 41:13
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Encouragement for the 21 day prayers.
1 JOHN 5 : 14 to 15
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Mich!
Leaving a foot step - 11:39 PM
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Thursday, May 29, 2008
Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square or round? Probably half the questions we ask - half our great theological and metaphysical problems - are like that. [...] We cannot understand. The best is perhaps what we understand least.
- C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed, (1961)
Leaving a foot step - 3:28 PM
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Saturday, May 17, 2008
Continuing the Jabez Series on Prayer… Pastor Kong 17 May 08
In the book of Chronicles, there were many names mentioned, but God singled out one name, Jabez. Recall: Jabez means I bore him in pain. All of us are ordinary people but God wants us to do extraordinary things. 1 Chronicles 4:9 “Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers”
Honourable = kabod = more glory, more substance. Jabez had pressed into God and had broken through. So he carried with him the presence of God. Jabez was a man of prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” “if My people” “If” is the biggest word in the Bible. All things are possible IF you pray. As evidenced by South Korea, you may be poor today, but if you walk with Jesus, obey Jesus, you will never be poor all your life! The name of Jesus is Christ. We are called by His name – Christians. Thus, we are called to become prayer warriors. “humble themselves” In this context, the humbling of oneself is fasting. Fasting is the best way to say that God we are not leaning on our natural strength, our human cleverness, but we are leaning on your supernatural power. “and pray and seek” Prayer is the key that unlocks Heaven over our lives and our churches. If you seek God first and His righteousness, all things will be given unto you. But many people want to see God’s hand rather than God’s face. God is saying, can I alone be enough for you? The kingdom of God is the kingdom of relationship. You need to get connected to God and connected to His kingdom. “turn from their wicked ways” Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean you are perfect. God is saying, repent from your sin. Whatever you are struggling with, today, make a decision to turn away from it. God will give us the power and the strength to change from inside out. His grace is sufficient. “heal their land” Revival, transformation of the society. It starts from inside the house of God – the church. Out of His house flows the glory of God to bring down His kingdom. A mighty river of Holy Spirit will flow out of this church! The reason we need to be reminded of prayer as prayer can become a duty than a delight. Most Christians don’t pray, they serve. Why should we pray? 1. Temptations are over come through prayer. Matt 26:40-41 2. Hearts are softened towards God through prayer. Hos 10:12 3. God is found through prayer. Ish 55:6 Call on Him while He can be found! 4. Your life gets refreshed through prayer. Amos 5:4 5. Soul is encouraged through prayer. Luk 18:1 6. Persistence is built through prayer. Eph 6:14 7. The Holy Spirit empowers you through prayer. Eph 6:14 8. Anxiety is defeated through prayer. Phil 4:8 9. Revival comes through prayer. Acts 1:14. A few verses after that, the Holy Spirit comes. 10. You will shake the world through prayer. Acts 4:21. As we pray, we shake our generation! YAY 24,000 every weekend!!! God is bringing us in a season of revival! We got to find Him while He can be found! People need the Lord! Pray one hour a day for 21 days, get connected with God who we are going to spend an eternity with! June 1 – 21. Let’s believe God for 30,000 people! A mighty river is going to flow in our family, our ministries, our cell group, our church! *
Helloooo, I didn't manage to catch the empty points because someone called me. And I won't be able to catch tmr's service because I'm going to a peach farm in the morning. Can someone who took down notes during service edit the post? Hmm. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to thin air even though I know people do read this blog. Thanks Michelle! :)
Anyway, they were doing recording for Pastor Ulf's church (25th anniversary) and Pastor Kong was so cute! ahaha. Got NG somemore. Haha!
- wei
MICH was HERE to fill up the missing stuffs =D
Labels: Saturday, Sermons
Leaving a foot step - 7:38 PM
Since I'm on the computer like 7 days a week (i.e. everyday), I google and blog hop quite intensively. So, I stumbled across this blog while I was doing so random search on Qingdao.I like what this blogger wrote in this entry (I split it into paragraphs for easy reading):I believe that the universe is ruled by a personal God who is very concerned about the affairs of men. I believe that we are all going to die someday. But I believe that this fact is proof that somehow, somewhere, sometime, something went terribly wrong. You just cannot convince me that man was made to die. It wasn't supposed to happen that way. Somebody blew it. So sin entered the human sphere, and man is destined to die as a consequence.
But man's failure is not God's failure. God did not become less God because of man's fall. So God's standard is still perfection, but no man can live up to it.
Our solution to this, is to expect God to lower His standards a bit out of recognition for our limitations. But God is not willing to be less holy to compensate for our imperfections.
So what does He do?
God is a God of justice. To satisfy justice, all He has to do is destroy us. But God is also a God of love. Because He is a God of perfect justice, he cannot lower His standard, but because He is also a God of love, He wants to redeem us. God's solution to this, was to send His own Son to live a perfect life. Jesus lived a perfect life, and then preceded to take the punishment for all of our sin. He became guilty of our sin so that we could inherit his righteousness. So we all have a choice. We can live a perfect life, and then stand before God in our righteousness and be judged on the kind of life we have lived, or we can stand before God clothed in Christ's righteousness, and be judged on the kind of life Christ lived.
But remember, God's standard is absolute perfection. In my case, the choice is quite simple, because I have already blown the first option. But that's the point. The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of God's glory. So we're all in the same boat. There is nothing we can do to be good enough for God.
Without His mercy, we are sunk. This, then, is why I am so troubled when I see sincere people prostrating themselves over and over again in hopes that God will love them. God's love is always given freely. We don't need to do anything (indeed we can't do anything) to earn his love and mercy. It is only available as a free gift. This is the essence of the Christian gospel.
I hope you can see that, when viewed from this perspective, all religions come up short, because all religion is about man reaching up to find God, and God is unreachable. Not only is God unreachable, but he is absolutely unreachable. But while we cannot reach God, God can reach us. So it is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed. The whole purpose of religion is to keep us so busy trying to be good enough for God, that we cannot see his hand of mercy reaching out to us.
Leaving a foot step - 8:19 AM
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Sunday, May 11, 2008
How to be a Mother that Impacts the WorldPastor Kong 11 May 081 Samuel 1Here we have the story of a wonderful mom, Hannah. In 1 Samuel, the society was leaderless and in a mess. Hannah’s husband had 2 wives and so there was serious trouble in her family and relationship. Also, Hannah was infertile. So she had an imperfect family, a rival and was barren.Peninnah often looked down up on her. But amidst this madness, Hannah did 3 things that changed her situation. Let’s look at how to be an ultimate mother, how to be a mother that can change the world.When God wants to rise up a great man or woman, He will use mothers.1. Hannah was dedicated to God.- She was a woman of prayer. She spent quality time in His presence
- V7: “So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord…” Hannah would go to the house of God. She was a lover of God’s house.
- She prayed that God will look over her. God not my will but your will be done. God I trust in your goodness. You know my needs, but it is not my agenda but your agenda. I am not angry with you, I put my life in your hands. What a beautiful and spiritual woman she was! What a beautiful attitude!
- She made a vow to God to not forget her, that if God were to give her a son, she will give her son to the Lord. She wanted a child for the right reason, to glorify God.
2. Hannah was dedicated to her husband.- Hannah did not have a perfect relationship or marriage, but she tried to make it work
- V5: “But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah”
- She forgave her husband, she traveled with him, she ate with him, she worshiped God with her husband (V19). The love of God in her heart moved and impacted her husband. Worship and prayer builds intimacy! Slowly, she was able to win her husband’s heart. A genuine love relationship was built.
- The key of making a relationship work is to pray and worship together, just husband and wife.
3. Hannah was dedicated to her child.- Hannah became pregnant and named her son Samuel.
- For the first 3-5 years, she groomed and mentored him.
- Family experts say that 50% of a child’s personality is build by 5 years old. By 8 years old, 80% of a child’s personality is build.
- Thus, the early years of a child are important.
- 1 Samuel 3:1 “Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli.” As a little boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. Samuel learnt to love and worship God, learnt to be so sensitive to God from his mother.
- Mothers’ examples of their attitudes towards God are important in impacting the nation.
- Hannah had her relational priority right: God first, then her husband, then her child. As a result, she brought forth a boy that became the greatest judge in history.
- God wants to do the same for every mother. He wants every mother’s child to be a world shaker and history maker!
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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO PEI EN OUR SPIRITUAL MOTHER! Ahhaa.(Wah! The Body Shop products! Our church knows how to treat mothers well!!!) ANYWAY, I AM BACK. Tsk tsk. If I don't upload service sermons then no one else going to do it?! :(I didn’t catch Saturday's service. Pei En, did you do that mothers appreciation thingy!!! Your mum touched anot!! Omgosh I was so touched by the JAMS church member and Joseph (ex-convict)’s appreciation (for Sunday's service lah)!Btw, did Pastor Aries change his hairstyle? Like his fringe?
Oh and if you reply me by tagboard I can't read it. I can't read ANY blogspot blogs, but can update. So it also means that Michelle I can't read your blog as well, so you better msn me lots. haha. On msn mon-fri, 9am-6pm always (at least for now).
- wei
Labels: Sermons, Sunday
Leaving a foot step - 11:38 AM
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Friday, May 9, 2008
Let us never forget that amidst all the labels that the world has placed on us, ultimately our Designer's label is "Child of God" (:
Leaving a foot step - 11:27 PM
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