E256 - Faith, Hope, Love

2008-11-18T22:11:00.003+08:00

Hi all.. below is the WHOLE COMPLETE list of electives for this whole week. please take a look. of cos u're free to jump ard etc..

1) PLEASE reach ur respective elective classes 15 min before the lessons start. cos 10mins before start, they'll let those w/o tags to go in. or else even with tags, God cant save you if you reach late hurhur

2) PLEASE queue up for our main sessions in the morn, ESPECIALLY at night. i know you guys took leave/pon sch (or wateva) to come for AC. but there're sad case ppl like me who cant take leave or else my MD may just sack me. so please be nice to me, and line up on time so i wont have to answer tonnes of calls, asking me how come my members havent reach, while i'm at work.

3) TAB AND CHERYL AND SAMANTHA are attending every service. i've appointed TAB to be our queue-ing i/c and tags i/c. when u reach, just call tab or constantly sms her abt ur whereabouts. ZEN is also a queue-ing i/c but she's in charge of the other 20 ppl of our cg.
please DO NOT sms "i'm reaching soon" <-- LIKE HOW SOON??? -_-'''
please sms "i'm reaching in 5mins"
please DO NOT sms "i'm at expo" <-- LIKE WHICH PART OF EXPO
please sms "i'm at hall 7" etc
please DO NOT sms "i'm queue-ing for toilet" <--- LIKE HOW LONG??
please sms "i should be done with the washroom in 10mins"
PLEASE quantify all your actions in MINUTES. dun come and kay siao and smoke me and say i'm reaching in 0.00023435241 x 100000 mins. i'll box u. i really will

4) PLEASE pass allllll tags to tab ok? scarly you come on wed only, den the rest of the days not coming. we don't have sufficient tags already. lets share so we can freely pass around the tags in case we've friends who're coming

5) PLEASE remember we're ambassadors of CHC. don't ma lu pastor kong ok? PLEASE LA, don't ma lu him. lets all wear nice nice + be friendly to foreign delegates.

6) ENOUGH NAGGING! ENJOY YOURSELVES!

p/s: don't miss me =( in as much as i LOVE God, i still need my job, or else i can eat grass during BF and as MY beloved cg mates, i'm sure u cant bear to see me eat grass.. ciao

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong

2008-09-23T09:24:00.002+08:00

Pastor Kong

20 Sept 08

Gal 4:1

CHC can only be built on sons and daughters. The Bible distinguishes between the heir and the slave. The church is not built on servants and slaves.

Gal 4:4 "God sent forth His son"

Jesus came to help us receive our full rights of sonship.

Gal 4:6

Sons and daughters have a love relationship with the Father, i.e. there is no fear!

Gal 4:7

I am an heir of God through Christ!

5 Characteristics of Sonship

1. The son carries the genetic code of the house

Gen 13: 11 We all live under a borrowed authority. We live under borrowed anointing.
"Lot chose for himself" - Lot was a selfish man. He lived only for himself, not the vision of his father.
Honour your father and your mother - this extends to your spirtual father!
To be a man of authority, you have to submit to authority.
Abraham loved Lot and Lot was closer to Abraham than anyone else. But Lot did not adopt Abraham as his father. God's house can only be built on those who share the same genetic code as their pastor!

2. The son serves the vision of the house

Gen 14:14 Abraham had 318 servants, but they got his spiritual DNA.
Phil 2:20 Paul had Timonthy as a spiritual son.
"like-minded" means carrying the same spirit.
V21 Sonship requires a dying to self - "not my will, but yours be done"
V22 Timonthy had proven worth. Being a son is not by confession, but sonship is proven under extreme pressure when serving. A son serves the father by interpreting his dreams.

3. The son shares the pride in the house

Provb 17:6 Fathers take pride in their children.
"And the glory of children is their father" - that is a healthy pride.
Be proud of the house you were planted in.

4. The son accepts discipline in the house

Hebrews 12:5-7 "For whom the Lord loves He chastens"
It is the willingness to be disciplined that qualifies us to be sons and daughters.
Hebrews 12:11 The true son receives correction with humility.
Psalms 51:7 God desires a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Only broken people can God use.

5. The son gives birth to children

True sons and daughters are givers of life.
Love: desire to give at the expense of self.
Lust: desire to take just to please self.

The truest of all sons is Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 Jesus gave His life to build God a house!

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong

2008-09-17T09:50:00.002+08:00

Pastor Kong

13 Sept 08

Psalms 127

The church is built on Jesus. But how is it to be built? God is able to build His house because of people. V3 The church is a spiritual family. God is a God of generations. God builds through mature relationships. Children in Hebrew means sons, who are the builders of the family name.

Romans 8:14 "sons of God" In Greek, "son" means someone who can handle the responsbility of his own life and to carry the visions and dreams of God for his generation.

Hebrews 3:1-6

V1 Consider Jesus.

V2 Compared Jesus to Moses.

V3 Jesus is greater. He is the one who builds God's house.

V5 Moses was faithful, but he was the servant.

V6 Jesus was the son. The church is built on the Son of God, not Moses, the servant.

Characteristics of sonship:

A biological son/ daughter carries the genetic code of their parents.
A spiritual son/ daughter carries the spiritual quality of the house (in terms of attitude, faith and values).

1 Cor 15 What is true in the natural is true in the spiritual.

If you don't hold the values of your pastor etc, you are not a citizen of the church, but merely a guest.

Phil 2:19-23 "that as a son with his father" Likeminded = carrying the same spirit, attitude, outlook of life. Timonthy will instinctively care for people like what Paul did. He carried Paul's spiritual DNA!

A servant needs to be told what to do. The son doesn't; he just does it.

Phil 2:21 Paul says that sons are rare because "all seek their own". The heart of man is naturally self-interested (as long as I'm paid, I work. Otherwise, I don't). But a son, "not my will, but your will be done". Sonship requires the dying to self, flesh, ego, career, life.

Luke 16

Recall: 3 ways that promotion will come:

1. By being faithful in the little things

How faithful are you when nobody tells you what to do?

2. By being faithful with money

Tithes, pledges
Luke 16:11 When wer are faithful with our money, we will get the true riches of Heaven.

3. By being faithful in your (spiritual) Father's vision

Eventually, our Father will give us a vision
Luke 16:12

Timonthy did not know Paul until later in his life. He became a son by choice. Adoption works 2 ways!

John 6

Many are servants, but sons are hard to find. Servants can be water baptised and baptised in the spirit, but sons are baptised in the spirit of the house.

Genesis 12:7-8 "Bethel": house of God. First time Bethel was mentioned

Genesis 13:1-4 Second time Bethal was mentioned.

Genesis 28:10-12

The house of God is the place of visions and dreams.
V12 The angels are bringing requests to God and visions and dreams to us.
The house of God is the gate of Heaven.
V18
The house of God is the altar of God on earth.
Abraham gave a tenth, so did Jacob.

Powerpacked Sunday Sermons! Pastor Tan

2008-09-17T09:32:00.003+08:00

Pastor Tan
07 Sept 08

Jeremiah 29:11
"I know the thoughts" - when we have the right thinking, we have right living
"thoughts of peace" - God is not the creator of our problems!

Thoughts that we should remove from our minds:

1. Defeated thoughts

Don't think: What is the least I can do to pass school? Instead, we ought to think: How can I be better in my school work?
Think prosperous, victorous thoughts!

2. Critical thoughts

If you are nit-picking all the time, there will be no joy in your life.

3. Negative thoughts

Thinking the worst about people all the time.
We need to remove the thought that God is waiting to punish us!

We are much greater on the inside than ont he outside because we have the Holy Spirit with us.

We need to change the way we think about:

A. Who we are in God

Matt 14:25-32 "if it is You, command me to come to You on the water" - why did Paul say that?
Let's look back into history.
1st level of education - Beit Sefer (first 5 books of the Bible) House of books.
2nd level of education - Beit Talmund (rest of the books) House of learning.
3rd level of education - Beit Midrash (learn from the Rabi)
The best of the best, will be chosen by the Rabi with the words "come, follow me".
When Jesus said "come, follow me", the apostles immediately followed Him. This availability meant that they were not under any Rabi and were not the cream of the crop.
Every Rabi has his own interpretation of the Bible, called the yoke. When Jesus said that His yoke is light, He was speaking that as a Rabi.
When the apostles knew that they could cast out demons, they were excited because they knew that they were becoming like Jesus.
Paul was thinking: If my Rabi could do this, I can do that too. When the winds came, he was not doubting Jesus - Jesus was standing on the water in front of him! - he was doubting himself.
The Rabi will not choose those who he believes is not worthy. .: As much as we have faith in God, He has faith in us! We have tremendous faith to do change in the world!

B. What is important to God

We can be busy doing the good things that we miss out the best.
Story of the boy, his shells, and a starfish. From here.

"I close with a story from Rob Bell I just heard this week. He tells of a time when he was walking on the beach with his wife and two boys. The boys were picking up seashells along the beach and carrying them. Suddenly, the older son saw a huge starfish floating in the ocean. He ran out in the water to get it, went about up to his knees and then came running back. He was crying, and his family encouraged him to go get the starfish. He ran out again, seeking the big prize, and got about waist high in the water, closer to the starfish, but then came running back again. Encouraged by his family, he made a third trip out, got right up next to his prize, but came crying back without it. His family could not understand why he had returned without it. In tears, as he held up both of his fists clenching all that he had picked up along the beach, he replied, "I couldn't get it, because my hands are full of shells."

C. Our giving to God

Do we really care for the poor and needy?
What is the reason behind the giving?
We should tithe not forgetting the needy.
More than anything else, God wants our hearts.
Psalms 50 God says, if I were hungry, I will not tell you.
Cor We should give what we have decided to give in our hearts.
If you know the thoughts of God, you will know your future.
Work WITH God, not against God!

Powerpacked Sunday Sermons! K.C. Treat

2008-09-17T09:17:00.003+08:00

Faith for the success of life

Pastor K.C. Treat

30 Aug 08

Sucess is fulfilling the word of God in our lives.

Matt 9:22 If you belive, all things are possible to him who believes.

Eph 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith..."

Romans 1 The gospel is the power of God only to those who believe, so lay hold of it by faith!

1. Faith is our connector with God

If you are not plugged in, you won't be able to download God's 'free applications'.

2. Faith change the negatives in our lives.

Even Jesus faced storms! But He had faith!
The negatives are not from God, but God gives us the ability to face Satan.
Romans 8:18-21
Gal 3:13-14 "Blessings of Abraham" Abraham is the father of faith!
Romans 4:17 "calls those things who do not exist as though they did"
Romans 4:18-21 Faith is believing that God's promises will come to past! What God puts in our hearts, He is able to perform.
Mark 11:22 Have the faith of God! Faith is in our hearts and mouths. You are commanded by God to have faith!
Matt 8:5-13 As you have believed, so let it be done unto you. Don't buy into this world, use faith to change the negatives!

3. Faith will frame your future

Hebrews 11:1-6 Faith is the tangibility of what you are hoping for. Faith brings visions to pass.
Provbs. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Many people want something, but they become hopeless and helpless.
2 Cor 4:13 "I believed and therefore I speak" David used his faith to overcome. We should have the same spirit of faith!
2 Cor 4:16 When we focus on the spiritual things, things in nature change. Focus on the internal and the temporary changes!

10 Aug 08 Pastor Kong

2008-08-11T22:23:00.006+08:00

Qualities of Servanthood
Pastor Kong
10 Aug 2008

The themes of sermons being preached this year are (1) Prayer and (2) Servanthood.

Genesis 24:16
The Holy Spirit is looking for the kind of believer who is able to be the bride of Jesus.

"beautiful to behold": good to look at. When you are beautiful on the inside, you are radiant outside. The way we look is a reflection of our inner spirit. It is the same for the church - we become who we worship!

Rebekah was beautiful and wealthy, but above all, she had a spirit of servanthood.

7 Qualities of Servanthood

1. Servanthood is WILLING

Gen 24:18 Serving is an issue of the heart
1 Peter 5:2 The Bible calls us to serve with our hearts.
Willingness makes us energetic and motivated, while fatigue follows the unwilling.
In Gen 24, Rebekah said that she was willing 7 times! That is what the Holy Spirit is looking for!
Psalms 110:3 God's people will be willing in the day of His power.

2. Servanthood EXCELS

Gen 24:19 Rebekah served until the camels had finished drinking, i.e. all the way!
Hebrews 12:2 God is a good finisher!
Phil 1:6 He who has began a good work will finish it.
When God blesses us, He blesses us exceedingly and abundantly. God is the God of more than enough!
If you want to do something, do it with excellence. Excellence means exceeding expectations, it is the attention given to details that leads to superior performance.

3. Servanthood is SWIFT

Gen 24:18, 20
Rebekah understood the importance of speed.
The degree of your willingness to serve is measured by the speed of your execution. You disqualify yourself when you take your time. Keeping people waiting is not serving at all.

4. Servanthood is NEVER CONVENIENT

Luke 17:7-8 Serving will always eat into your time and your comfort zone.

5. Servanthood is HONOURING

Gen 24:18 Servanthood is honouring when honour is needed.
Luke 14:8 People are drawn to the humble.
A man/ woman of God is filled with hospitality and is a lover of people.

6. Servanthood is WORK

Camels are one of the smelliest animals on earth!
Rebekah's servanthood opened the doors to her destiny.
Destiny is not what you know, but how you serve.

7. Servanthood is about CARING PEOPLE

Ultimately, this is what determines the quality of servanthood.
Hebrews 13:1-2 Angel means messenger of God. When you serve a stranger (an outsider who is not in your church, your cg or your circle of friends), they may be the key to your destiny.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

本小姐回来了... Eh heh heh. Gonna inject some life into this blog.

Let's keep Pei En in our prayers, and those who are having their exams soon - Samantha, Mich, Paul, MK. Plus ML in her job hunt. :)

2008-07-26T21:51:00.000+08:00

WELCOME BACK WEI!

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Mike Connell 05 July 08

2008-07-05T17:42:00.004+08:00

Overcoming Disappointment – How God helps us overcome disappointment
Pastor Mike Connell
05 July 08

Luke 4:18

God's Priorities
God’s first priority is to bring us back to him physically, to respond to his love after hearing of his love.

His second priority is to restore and heal the broken hearted.

His third priority is to bring deliverance to the captives, those who were bound by unclean and demonic spirits.

Jesus came to fulfill all the 3 priorities. The same Jesus that did the same things years ago is the same today. Mark 1:40. Even though Jesus had the anointing to do all that, we still have to have the faith in Him. Something is always required of us.

What is Disappointment
Luke 24:
You only get disappointed if you are expecting something good to happen and it does not to happen. Or when you were not expecting something bad to happen and it happens.

Disappointment is part of life. So you need to know how to deal with it. Daniel experienced a great disappointment – he lost everything and his friends wanted to kill him, but he dealt with it.

忍
The Chinese word for endure is the word for the knife over the heart. So the Chinese way of dealing with disappointment is to knife it down and keep it inside the heart locked away. Biblical perseverance is not the same – Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. This kind of perseverance is positive, not negative like the Chinese way where you bury your grief, your bitterness and your anger. Those negative emotions are buried and still there. God’s way is for the broken heart to be healed. If you have been hurt, you come to the Lord and get healing.

When David went to his hometown, he was disappointed. But the man of war wept. God has given us emotions to express. Emotions are not meant to control us, but they are an expression of our soul. Mark 3:4-5 God expresses His feelings openly. Jesus was also an extremely emotional person. God is passionate. And He created us to be like Him, so emotions are part of us, not something restrictive.

You are not called to follow the culture of the world (e.g. the Chinese way of dealing with disappointment).

When people are disappointed, they protect themselves from disappointment. This is why people form ungodly beliefs – All men are evil etc.

Luke 24:13, 20
The disciples had committed their lives to follow Jesus Christ. They had wrong expectations as to what it would be like to follow Him. So, after 3 years, it’s all over and there is no Jesus any more. Imagine how disappointed they were!

Things that disappointed people tend to do

Disappointed people find people who were also disappointed and fellowship around their disappointment. A disappointed person can’t help you out of your disappointment!
V15. They start reasoning – Why does this happen to me? Disappointments are opportunities for growth, in character and faith. You choose whether to rise up over disappointments or let disappointment overwhelm you. You can ask God many questions and He won’t answer you – Ask: ‘God, this has happened to me, how should I deal with it?’ instead of ‘Why me?’
When disappointment is overrunning in your life, you get blinded and you shut down your heart from reaching out to the Lord. There is a spiritual withholding of what Jesus was to do when the disciples experienced disappointment.
Whatever is in your heart will show in your eyes and your face. When disappointment is in people’s life, you can see it in their posture and their face.
The disciples were leaving Jerusalem – where God has called us to, for the place of comfort. When disappointment is ruling your life, you began to draw back from serving God to where you feel better – In alcohol, in gaming, shopping, eating etc. You try to comfort the pain instead of seeking the comforter, the Lord who will help you overcome it! Often, in the beginning of your work in the Lord, you have to pay a price. You pay in the beginning, but then you see the fruits of the Lord increasing in your life after that.

How Jesus dealt with the disciples’ disappointment

Jesus drew near to the disciples. So, we need to draw near to God.
When you listen to people talk, it reveals the things in their hearts. He made them face the feelings in the things they were talking about. What’s going on in your life that is causing you to feel so sad? Jesus began to draw out the disciples’ feelings.
Jesus reminded the disciples about God, and then faith began to arise in the disciples’ hearts. Their disappointment has been completely overturned!

How we can deal with disappointment

When you are disappointed, you need to come to the presence of God.
You need to face the reality of what has happened. You need to admit that someone has disappointed us. What is it that has disappointed you. Bring out what has happened.
Ask yourself, ‘how is this affecting me?’ Talk about it to the Lord, express your feelings to Him. Psalms 42. People can’t get healed unless they face what happened to them and be honest how they really felt and how you react to it. If you become resentful, that is your resentment. All these reactions, you are responsible for them and they affect your futures. In your heart, you need to forgive them. When you come before the Lord, you need to release forgiveness to the people who have hurt you.
You need to refocus our attention to the Lord and His word. Luke 24:32. Mediate on his word and his promise. That is when our heart will began to burn and be restored again. God loves us and He wants to heal us.

You don’t have to stay that way, Jesus came to free us from that. Talk to Him, face what happened, grief over it and let the emotions go, repent of how you have reacted to it, then ask the Lord how you can move on. God can only speak to us when our hearts are open to Him. Your memories don’t go away, they only get stored away. Ask God to remind you of the disappointments in your life so that you can set yourself free from them.

- wei (很快就要回来了！哈哈）I will be attending a local church (in Shanghai with my friends) next weekend and will be back the following weekend. So until then, ciao!

Powerpacked Sunday Sermons! Pastor Tan 29 June 08

2008-06-29T12:26:00.004+08:00

Life & Light
Pastor Tan
29 June 08

“In Him was life and the life was the Light of men”
When we talk about engaging the marketplace, we often mention that we want to be the salt of the world and the light of the world.

How do you go to shine your light?
Light over here means understanding, illumination. When you go into the world, you bring the solution into the world, becoming a problem solver.

How do we get this light?
The light comes out from the life that is inside of Jesus. This life was all the way in the beginning at Genesis.Genesis 5:1-2. “and called them Mankind in the day they were created”. God created mankind. Mankind means a new being that is like God, in the sense that we have a spirit. God takes this spirit and puts it into two bodies, the male and the female. When we talk about the inner man, we are talking about the spirit inside of us. When we pass away, our spirit leaves our body to go to be in the Lord. Man and women are equal in the eyes of God because our spirit is valuable to God.

When we have this spirit, this makes us what we call human beings, and not a god being. For you to be qualified to be called God, you need to be uncreated, omnipotent, omniscient.

Genesis 2:7
God put His life into Adam. Man is created in the likeliness of God in 2 areas:

In image – Men has an outward resemblance to Got
In likeness – Men is inwardly similar to God in spirit (Spirit life and Moral likeness). God has moral likeness, He is not just a light or a force. The moral likeness of God became His standard of holiness. The spirit life of God is where God gave Adam His presence.

For us to understand how light gives life, we need to understand the purpose of man. God created Adam first. Everything God does is intentional and meaningful. The fact that God created man first before Eve, means something. However, in the society today, the role of the man is questionable.

Who is the real man? The traditional man, the man who shares the household chores but thinks that his wife is equal with him in terms of being the breadwinner or the househusband?

Society has confused roles with purpose.

The purpose of a person/thing determines its potential, vice versa, the potential also determines the the purpose.

Adam was put in the garden. Genesis 2:8
- The first thing God give to man is His presence.
Adam was given instructions Genesis 2:15-17
- There are information, instructions and revelation.
- Man are called to communicate and teach
- Like a father needs to communicate and teach their children, children need the imprint of their father.
Adam was given work to tend
- So that there will be productivity.
Protect the garden
- The man to be the protector of the house and brings security.
Adam was given tasked to name animals Genesis 2:19-20
-He must have ownership and leadership towards the family or things under him.

Notice that God bless both man and woman. And only after he give all this jobs to the man then he created woman, to be a helper for man.

And here my computer says that I don’t have enough bandwidth and I missed out one whole chunk of the sermon because I usually will download part of the entire service and then watch it like 15mins later on Realplayer. Sorry peeps. :(

Why must men bring God’s life and light into the world?

Claim back lost territory (God created this world for us! We need to claim back this world from the devil!)
Restore back what is our original purpose (To shine for light of all to see)
To deliver creation from corruption (All the world is yearning for the revelation from the sons of God. Romans 8:19-20)
The women can’t wait for it

2 Cor 4:4-10
The devil is blinding the minds of the people so that we cannot see the light. When we go into this world, we are hard-pressed, we are perplexed, we are stuck down, but not destroyed. Because the life of God that is inside of us is exerting an equal amount of resistance as the pressure of the without comes in. So no matter what the world does, we will never be crushed even though we are as fragile as an earthern vessel.

God never intended for Adam to run out of His garden. Man was never meant to be away from God.

When the veil was torn, it was torn top down. God was never meant to stay in a temple. He wanted to be inside each one of us.

Omgosh, I really love this sermon. Can someone please fill up the missing bits :( - wei

I think is something like that - Mich

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong 14 June 08

2008-06-14T17:30:00.004+08:00

What Makes a Good Father
Pastor Kong
14 June 08

Matt 6:9
Children often based their concept of God on what they see from their earthly fathers.
In Matt 6, Jesus teaches about prayer. From this passage, we can see what our Father God is like.

“Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name”: Jesus says that God’s position is in heaven.

The 5Ps of a good father:

A good father has a respected position. One of the 10 commandments say: Honour your father and mother. A good father earns the respect of his children.
A good father has a wonderful plan. Matt 6:10. God has a wonderful plan for us. He is a big God and the given of dreams. Follow the path that He has set for us, it pays to follow his will.
A good father provides. Matt 6:11. “Give us this day our daily bread”. Phil 4:19 “My God will supply all my needs according to His riches and glory”. No good things will our Heavenly Father withhold from us. In the same way, earthly fathers need to provide not just material needs, but also the emotional and spiritual need for the family. Family experts say that there are 6 ways for them to be more involved: (a) Find an activity to do together regularly (b) Help but not force your child to develop hobbies and interests (c) Mentor more and discipline less during teenage years (d) Talk to your child, be a good listener (e) Love your child’s mother with all your heart, show your child what faithfulness is like (f) Your child is never too young enough to be told “I love you”
A good father pardons. Matt 6:12. “Forgive us our debts” God is so forgiving because He is very loving. Whether it is big sins or little sins, He forgives us. If we fail to confess our sins, He will discipline us, not because He hates us, but because He wants us to become better people. When our earthly fathers discipline us, it is because they want the best for us.
A good father protects. Matt 6:13. Our Heavenly Father protects us from the devil. In the same way, earthly father is to protect his family from harm, as well as provide spiritual protection - praying that you will find the destiny that God has for you etc. A good father is spiritual.

Ultimately, a good father reflects the character and the love of the true Father!

- wei

2008-06-12T23:12:00.004+08:00

Art of Distinction By Robb Thompson

You will never be celebrated for your similarities but for your differences.

You may not be neccessarily be rewarded for the things you do but you will be disqualified for the things that you didn't do.

We need to discover our differences.

7 Unchangeable Laws of Differences:-

Your life is the product of your own construction.

Today's excellence is tommorrow;s mediocrity. Whatever you do something, is a building block for what you are going to become.

1. Law of pursuit

- You will only possess what you consistently pursue.

Phil 3:13-14

Prov 8:17-19

Matt 7:7-8

You got to be passionate with what you are pursuing.

2Cor 4:16

2. Law of Serving

-A servant is never defined by his willingness to serve but by the execution of his service.

Luke19:1-23

Matt23:11

Luke 22:26

Luke 16:11-12

3. Law of Character

-i'm sorry to report that whatever you compromise to keep you will certainly lose.

Gen 3:1-6, 23-24

2 Sam 11:1-4, 12:7-14

Jug 16:15-19, 28-30

4. Law of Attitudes

-The attitude of the servant determines the atmosphere of the place

Est 1:10-12, 2:13-17

Col 3:22-24

5. Law of Association

-Every relationship you have is either drawing you closer to or further away from God's will for your life

Prov 13:20

Ps1:1

1Cor 15:33

- 3 types of people in your life:

a) Compromisers: Always trying to get you to compromise your standards.

"It's ok you don't have to be so stiff and rigid"

Isa 59:19

b) Companions: Those that are neither good nor bad for your future. It's nearly impossible to tell their effect.

c) Committed: Those who are undoubtedly committed to your success.

Every relationship is magnetic. Choose the relationship that has chosen you.

6) Law of problem solving

- Your value in life is directly linked to the problems you joyfully solve for others

eg. Jospeh, David, Esther, Jesus, Timonthy

Phil 2:19-20

7) Law of the seed

Everything in your future is created by something in your present.

Gal6:7

2Cor 9:6

Prov 11:24-25

Gen 8:22

Everything that you'll become, God has given to you in seed form.

Deception finds its life in what people don't tell you.

A half truth is a whole lie.

Gen 8:22

Rom 1:21

-Peien-

2008-06-01T18:13:00.001+08:00

Wheee camp is approaching! So this is our camp cheer and the things to bring lists! SO GEAR UP URSELF! and expect for a great breakthrough!

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Tan 31 May 08

2008-05-31T17:38:00.004+08:00

Built to Last Part 2 – The Jesus DNA
Pastor Tan
31 May 2008

Continued 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.

DNA

Is 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) Nimrod
Genesis 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) Abraham
Genesis 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!

2008-05-30T23:39:00.003+08:00

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

-=-

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!

Musings from C.S. Lewis

2008-05-29T15:28:00.001+08:00

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)

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong 17 May 08

2008-05-17T19:38:00.009+08:00

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

From a random blog...

2008-05-17T08:19:00.005+08:00

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.

Powerpacked Sunday Sermons! Pastor Kong 11 May 2008

2008-05-11T11:38:00.003+08:00

How to be a Mother that Impacts the World
Pastor Kong 11 May 08

1 Samuel 1
Here 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!

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

We are all children of God!

2008-05-09T23:27:00.002+08:00

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" (:

2008-04-28T19:45:00.003+08:00

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-

2008-04-24T15:41:00.003+08:00

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)

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong 19 April 2008

2008-04-20T17:50:00.006+08:00

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.

_____________________________________________________________

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

2008-04-14T23:17:00.003+08:00

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")

Powerpacked Saturday Sermon Pastor Kong 12 April 2008

2008-04-13T13:54:00.006+08:00

Prayer
Pastor Kong 12 Apr 08

1 Chro 4

v9 Jabez: The pain/ sorrow maker
v10 "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, weight

Jabez 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

Powerpacked Saturday Sermon! Pastor Tan 05 April 2008

2008-04-06T13:14:00.002+08:00

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

"Have to do" --> "want to do"
Gal 5:13-15 Love your neighbour as yourself

In serving... From SYSTEMS to SERVICE

Hierarchy --> Heart of a servant
Matt 20:25-28

In source... From SELF-CENTRED to SPIRIT-CENTRED

Zech 4:6
God is not looking for perfect vessels, He is looking for willing vessels

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

2 Tim 1:6

In supervision, follow-up... From CONTROL to CONCERN/CARE

In work... From DUTY to DEVOTION (love)

In attitude... From GETTING to GIVING

Get our encouragement from God
Honour those you want to influence

In lifestyle... From EXPLANATION only to EXAMPLE

John 13:13-15
Washing of feet by Jesus - He led by example

When you can do all these... From BONDAGE to BREAKTHROUGH

Our life changes when our thinking changes!

The Presence of God (Fri sermon) 04+04=08!

2008-04-06T13:08:00.002+08:00

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

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Tan 29 March 2008

2008-04-04T08:43:00.002+08:00

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:

Simultaneously & contradictory attitudes or feelings towards an object/ person/ action
Continual fluctuation
Uncertainity as to which approach to follow

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:

Saving money - planting seed in the ground
Spending money - throwing away the seed

Job 8:7

Don't despise the days of small beginnings!

Saving means:

Spending less
Putting asside a store or reserve (accumulation of wealth)

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.

Grace's Birthday

2008-04-02T00:37:00.002+08:00

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!

Short Interview with Rick Warren, (PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE)

2008-03-25T14:13:00.002+08:00

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor ofSaddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, "which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor , care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

wei

Today is Easter! Not about eggs and bunnies, but about JESUS!

2008-03-23T11:50:00.005+08:00

Greetings earthlings! \/ (errr if you understand what I'm trying to portray).

TODAY IS EASTER!

Okay, I tried to combine the 2 easter sermons...

Luke 23:32-34
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”
When Jesus was saying this, He was referring to your sins and my sins that nailed Him to the cross. Jesus died of a broken heart because of the sins of the whole world, but yet He still asked of the Father forgive us!

We will never understand what Jesus has really done, until we really put ourselves in His position. His closest friends, His family, His followers, His disciples, people whom He gave His heart to ran away in his greatest moment of need. One can only imagine how painful that really was.

How did He manage to take all that as man?

Amazing love. For who? For us!

Because of what He has undergone to forgive us, is there really anything too hard for us to forgive! :)

Hebrews 12:1-2
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Shame is fear-based and it makes us believe, wrongly, that we are unworthy and unloved.

Shame robs us of the motivation to seek care (the joy of living), causes us to be shut down emotionally and become a relational cripple, it causes us to have anger, hostility and unforgiveness in our hearts, it causes psychological problems and problematic moral behaviours.

But because Jesus has accepted all our emotional rejections, our physical and emotional abuses, we can can be free from all that! In Him, we can find back our joy of living, we can enjoy healthy relationship, we can forgive and forget!

Isaiah 53:3-5
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

Meng Kwang's Birthday

2008-03-23T11:48:00.002+08:00

Meng Kwang, this is for you (:

This entry is 2 days late! =/

First and foremost, Happy (Belated) Birthday to Meng Kwang! Not too sure if he reads this..

Bro, hope that you like the gift that we had gotten for it, though it may not be much. :)
I guess its been about 3-4 years that you had been attending church.
During which, you had gone though various phases in your life.
So happy to see you grow older. Ahem..

You're 19 years old now.
We pray that you'll grow even closer to God and always have faith like a mustard seed.

Like what Pastor Kong always says,
We walk by faith, we live by faith...

Shine for the Lord wherever you are,
Praise Him for whichever situation you're in,
and Love the Lord with all your heard.

Happy 19th Birthday Meng Kwang. (:

Powerpacked Sunday Sermons! Pastor Phil 16 Mar 2008

2008-03-16T12:21:00.003+08:00

The Anointing

Pastor Phil 16 Mar 08

Luke 4:18

Jesus wasn’t anointed to be a father, a husband or a businessman. He was anointed to be a preacher. The anointing is for every single one of us today.

1 John 2:27

The Matrix: Neo says to Trinity – Can you fly one of those things? Not yet.

Do you know how to be a businessperson, a husband or anything that God calls you to be? Not yet. But the anointing will teach me all things!

God will call you to do things that you don’t feel adequate to do. Moses got a vision out of a burning bush. Eph: But it is in God. It is in your weakness that the power of God manifests. God is who gets the glory for everything that we do. The anointing will give us tiny instructions. Joseph had a pure heart, but everything that could go bad went bad in his life, but he kept his pure heart and so he was able to understand the anointing of God.

It is not us living on our skills, our intelligence, but us living on the anointing of the God. If we do the former, we will lose the anointing. God will test us and put us through trials.

Adam lost out on the trial and he lost the Lord’s anointing. Jesus went through 2 trials and when you emerge from a trial, you have an anointing.

If we need to grow a church, we need people who have gone through battles, criticism, things that the devil has thrown as us, who stand and fight, who emerge from the wilderness victorious. God is not building a weak church. He is building a world changing church. The overcomer is the one who gets the anointing, not those who know the Bible more or what.

God never brings fear into your life. He brings peace, not anxiety. What we do repetitively in our life makes our character. Jesus had a habit of going to church and He was handed to the scroll of Ish. It was because He had a habit that He was present when God spoke to Him.

1. The anointing is a tangible force

It is a spiritual life flow that can get into our clothes, our homes.

Life is resident as a tangible force in our life. When the force and the confession that comes with it aligns, it releases the power of God.

2. The anointing frees us

It is like oil on a rusted nut; it lubricates. There are some tight nuts in the church and need some oil to be poured on them, tap them on the head with some theology, to get them loose.

3. There is a great variety of anointing

You can be anointed for entertainment, acting, music, business etc. The anointing is an enabling power that enables us to do the impossible, the incredible, the life-changing, world-changing that God has called us to do.

4. Anointing gives us joy

Ish 61:3

The spirit of heaviness steals joy from us, but God’s answer from the heaviness is the anointing of joy, especially when we move out of trial.

5. Anointing is able to be imparted

Luke 6:19

The anointing is imparted to you from the laying of hands.

Hebrews 6

When you submit to a person and allows the person to lay hands on you, you allow the anointing in your life to increase.

6. It is imparted in a measure

Moses was carrying around a large portion of anointing on his life, and when God took part of it and divided it among the elders, they fell under the power.

7. The anointing will revive you

Acts 3:19

We need to make sure that we turn up a church every week and turn up for conferences because we need the anointing that revives us. The work we do wears us down. We won’t be worn down if we are revived every week.

2 Kings 4

Some of us have been out in the heat of the day, but you feel the heat, the discouragement. The Lord says that if you let His anointing come into you today, He will revive you right here and right now.

How do I get this anointing in my life?

1. Emerging from a trial in victory

2. Recognising where I am weak, and that is where God can move

3. By waiting on the Lord. Those who do so will find their strength in the Lord

______________________________________________________________

I know that Pastor Phil preached a different msg on Sat, so if anyone wants to post that up, you are very welcome to do so :)

draw the cow

2008-03-10T22:38:00.004+08:00

as i've promised, pictures of last week's game (click to enlarge)

each team consists of 2 members. 1 member will be blindfolded and is supposed to draw a cow, which his/her partner will direct. communication and team-work is of utmost importance. enjoy the pictures!

wanxiu and brendan

paul jones and peien

mich and samantha

artists of the day: mingli and tab

-grace-

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong 08 March 2008

2008-03-09T10:52:00.004+08:00

Servanthood II

Pastor Kong, 08 Mar 08

Matt 20

v25: Comparing the Kingdom of God (Serving others) to the Kingdom of our world (Lording over others)

v26: Those who aspire to be great, let him be servants. To become a servant does not mean that we become servile (meaning: slavishly submissive or obsequious; fawning).

Psalms 71:21

"increase my greatness"

Psalms 18:35

Our God wants us to be great! But spiritual greatness is being a servant!

v27: "let him be your slave"

Servant - diakonos (Gr) --> Has the freedom to work or not to work

Slave - doulos (Gr) --> Belongs fully to his master and cannot choose to do what he thinks he is talented or gifted in.

.: To be a slave is to be one who is willing to do demeaning, demanding things undo the Lord.

Luke 16

v10: Handling the little things

Do a job well to the max
Details determine our destiny
God is so detailed that He keeps a record of everything regarding us, down to the number of hair we have on our head and our DNA!
Moses was a man given to details, as seen by the construction of the taberacle according to God's instructions
1 King 10: Quality of Solomon's temple
Excellence is attention given to details that leads to superior performance. Excellence will guarantee your promotion!
If you can work hard without supervision, you will get promoted.

v11: Handling money

How you handle money will guarantee how you receive true riches (power to heal, to speak the Word, cast out demons etc.) from God

v12: Handling what belongs to another person

Be it material goods, their loved ones or his visions and dreams
It is when you handle what belongs to your leader well, the authority that is over your leader's life will come upon you.
This is the kind of people that God will promote in their life, ministry etc.
John 1:16
Decide today if you can be someone God can use to influence and change cities!
Eph 6:18
Love: width, depth, length, height
Serving someone has to do with love! - You can love without serving but you cannot serve without loving!

1. DEPTH - We are to serve God

We are created for God, to serve God's will. How are we serving God's will right now?
Psalms 84:10 - Serving God was David's priority

2. HEIGHT - We are to serve leaders

2 Kings 3:11 "poured water on the hands of Elijah"
Elisha was a faithful servant to his master
Are we willing to take up roles that are lowly? Doing so will get us twice the portion of the Holy Spirit!
Do you pray for your leaders? Prayer build intimacy.
Do you pray with your leaders? When 2 or 3 are gathered, God will be there.
Do you love your leader enough to fight for your leaders?
Exodus 33:11 "his servant Joshua"
You serve your leader by being as passionate for God as he/she is. Flow with your leader. Authority flows from top-down, not vice versa! We serve a God who is just and balanced in His kingdom. We live on borrowed authority - we get it from who we submit to
Kingdom of God = Kingdom of relationships

3. WIDTH: We are to serve one another

Matt 20:28 "To help other people" (NLT)
Servant - To serve God, to serve the Church
Jesus could serve us inspite of our imperfections, how about us?

4. LENGTH: We are to serve the world (non-church going people)

Daniel 1:4
Joseph served Potiphar, the prison warden and the pharaoh, none of who are Christians.
We win people by serving them! THe more we serve, the more present God becomes in their life!

- wei

Powerpacked Sunday Sermons! Pastor Kong 2 March 2008

2008-03-03T10:19:00.003+08:00

Servanthood
Pastor Kong 02 Mar 08

John 13:3
Jesus knew

What He had --> Power
Who He was --> Position
Where He was going --> Purpose

Jesus was so secure in who He was that He washed the disciples' feet; became the servant of all! John 13:4

The cleansing of the feet is done by the lowliest servant. The fact that the disciples' feet were to be washed after supper showed that none of them were willing to serve one another.

Jesus said that He has come to serve, not to be served. Servanthood was in His nature because serving is loving. You can love without serving, but you cannot serve without loving!

John 13:14

What kind of people will Jesus welcome and praise? "Well done, my good and faithful SERVANT"

So, why serve?

1. Servanthood is key to promotion

Phil 2:5-7

Promotion doesn't come by action. It is because of our attitude. Our attitude determines out altitude!

V6: "taking the form of the bondservant". A bondservant in greek means slave. This means He is willing to serve anybody, everybody for all eternity!

V9-11 Because Jesus was the servant of all, God used Him mightily. Similarly, if we serve, God will make us the salt of the earth and the light of the world!

My problem is my attitude, not the environment I am born into!

Dan1:4 Daniel had the ability to serve the king, who was a pagan, a non-Christian.

2. Servanthood is the key to authority

Luke 19:19 - "cities" When you serve, you are guaranteed of authority!

3. Servanthood is the key to destiny

Genesis 24

Abraham: Picture of God, the Father

Issac: Picture of Jesus, His son

Looking for a bride - the Christian -for His son. The criteria for Issac's bride was a girl who served!

V22: Serve and the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be given to you! Her servanthood led to her destiny, and from her lineage came Jesus.

- wei

Samantha's 19th Birthday

2008-02-29T21:43:00.014+08:00

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to "Who?????????"

to our dear Samantha!

Birthday wishes from us all:

*****

Hey Sam,

Glad to have you join us in the cell group!

So glad to see someone new when I came back to Sg.

Have blessed years ahead and may you continue to grow in the Lord!

Cheryl <3

*****

hello sam! :))

super happy that mich brought you to join us in this family of love!

in the coming year, may it be the best yet year filled with God's wisdom to live life to the fullest to fulfil your destiny in Christ! :)

may you be happy, pretty and healthy healthy!!

loves!

-tab-

*****

yo sista!

happy birthday!

may your dreams and wishes come true this year

may God bless you especially in your studies

and grow more with your spiritual walk with God =)

God bless

and love you lots

grace

*****

heyo samantha tha tha thaaaa~

Happy birthday!! ;) Its really such a wonderful blessing to

have you here in our cell group! you have brought much laughter, joy and fun

into the cell group! Keep on shining for the Lord and keep on growing in Him

in all the walks of your life! Hugs!!

wanxiu

*****

Happy Birthday to u... ( x 2)

Happy Birthday to Samantha... (Repeat 1st x 1)

May all ur wishes come truth...

LALALA

_D_

*****

Samantha! Happy Birthday to you!

Hope you had enjoyed yourself today.

May the Lord bless and prosper you in every single area of your life

and grow to know him even more.

Be so mightily blessed!

Mingli

*****

Hey Samantha! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You are such a great addition to the cg! :) Can really see that you are passionate in loving God and you are such a great ball of energy!! Thanks for revitalising our cg! haha. Hope you will continue to grow stronger in the Lord and experience how real He is! Anyway, I googled what your name means and it means "Listener of God" so listen out for God - He has a great destiny in store for you! :) :)

Suat Wei

*****
HIYA!! =D

Happy Birthday!!

I love you with the love of God!

Mich

Hi Samantha!

Happy Birthday to you!

Just wanto take this opportunity to appreciate your faithfulness and hunger for the Lord.

I pray that God will continue to guide and take you to your destiny!

ShinE for Jesus!

=Peien=

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Rev Dr Ulf Ekman 24 Feb 2008

2008-02-25T00:58:00.006+08:00

Fear not
Rev Dr Ulf Ekman

Is 41:10
"fear not" was mentioned about 365 times in the Bible. .: Fear not everyday!

Fear is the opposite of faith. Faith pleases God, so fear does not please God.

We need to combat fear. Fear causes one to hide in the crowd and not fulfill our potential, so God wants to help us move out of fear and into faith.

Matt 25:24
Parable of the Talents
v 24 The perception of the man of 1 talent of his master was that of "a hard man"
v25 "And I was afraid" Wrong perceptions causes us to react in fear. The man did not know his master, hence fear puts negative ideas into our heads. We need to have faith in our hearts and this pushes fear out of our lives.

"fear of God" does not mean to be afraid and to shun away from God. It means to respect God. He is our Father, so He will make us feel at home, feel a sense of belonging, protection, security, provision.

Romans 8:14-15
"did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear"
When we are born again, something breaks and we receive the Holy Spirit by adoption, which puts our spirit in sync with God's. The Holy Spirit then speaks through within us to our minds. This is unlike the devil, which speaks straight to the mind.

Acts 18:19
"do not be afraid, but I speak..."
The word of God will break the fear in our lives. If God is with us, who can be against us!

Romans 8
Be free of the carnal mind.

2 Tim
We have the spirit of soundness!

Fear is the lack of trust. Fear is the intuitive understanding that my personal power is not enough for what I'm supposed to do, and the lack is where fear comes in.

God loves you, so don't hate yourself! Be who you are. We are not created by Xerox, and not to be a lousy copy of someone else!

You will never lose what you give up. You lose what you hold on too tightly.

We will always be something special to the Lord.
Is 43:1-3
"For I am the LORD your God"

____________________________________________________________

Power of Prayer:

Michelle - Going for job interview this week, pray that she will be able to secure the job which involves her interviewing selected personnels.
Wan Xiu - Increasingly better job opportunities to come her way, and bosses that respect her decision to go to SOT. For her to be able to go to Shanghai.
Paul Jones, Pearl, Grace, ME! - Exams, exams, exams. (I have income tax mid-terms so do pray along the lines of remembering all the small details of different types of taxation and knowing how to apply them. :))
... add on?

- suatwei

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Tan 11 Feb 2008

2008-02-21T07:04:00.004+08:00

2 Peter 1:5-11 Important spiritual values: If you have them, you will never be barren!

BUILT TO LAST

Nobody starts off something without the intention to last.

Is focus and change contradictory?
No. We need to focus on the right things to experience change.

What is important vs. what happened in the past.
Instead of worrying, seek first the Kingdom of God. Matt 6:33

You need to change your values, your mindsets, need to seek the spirtual aspects.

Story of the rich young ruler: He focused on the commandments like a law, but did not understand the spirit of the commandments, that is to love people and to love God.

.: We need to focus on values that are built to last! Values are needed for long-term growth.

Matt 12: 25
If you want your house to stand, it has to be united - have values that everyone agrees on. The place of agreement is the place of power, while the place of disagreement is the place of powerlessness.

Values

1. Loyalty

Choose which god we are going to serve, which company we want to work in etc.

2. Commitment

Wives: Commit yourself to your husband and his visions
Until you are committed, the visions will be just castles in the sky

3. Respect

Speak well to one another
Whatever you don't guard - like how Adam didn't guard his relationship with God - you lose
Familarity breds content
You don't elevate yourself to that person you are taught to serve. You serve!
Submission to authority is a Kingdom attitude
Humility: Phil 2:5-11. Note: Jesus is God!

4. Accountability

Maintain connectedness (i.e. communication) witht he one you have a relationship with
John 15:5
Be connected to the one who first gave you your ministry

5. Family

Your family is something that God has entrusted you with
Live a balanced life!
The Strength of a Man:

The strength of a man isn’t seen in the width of his shoulders.
It’s seen in the width of his arms that circle you.

The strength of a man isn’t in the deep tone of his voice.
It’s in the gentle words he whispers.

The strength of a man isn’t how many buddies he has.
It’s how good a buddy he is with his kids.

The strength of a man isn’t in how respected he is at work.
It’s in how respected he is at home.

The strength of a man isn’t in how hard he hits.
It’s in how tender he touches.

The strength of a man isn’t in the hair on his chest.
It’s in his Heart…that lies within his chest.

The strength of a man isn’t how many women he’s loved.
It’s in how he can be true to one woman.

The strength of a man isn’t in the weight he can lift.
It’s in the burdens he can carry.

(Thanks Cheryl! :))

6. Love

Matt 12: 20
Love is that which motivates us to serve God
John 15:12
Is a commandment to love one another just "as I have loved you"
God loves us too, and in that loving environment, there will be security
1 Cor 13:4-5
Faith moves in an environment of love - people feel accepted, that is, if they fail, there is grace

7. Faithfulness

i.e. trustworthy
Luke 16:10, 12
1 Cor 4:2

8. Hard work

i.e. diligence
2 Peter
2 Thess 3:10

9. Integrity

Living in truth, speaking in truth, building your life on truth (private & public life)
John 14:6
Build your life on truth: Better would be your way and your life
John 8:44
By being a liar, you are saying that the devil is your father!
Matt9:12-13
Put your life right when it is wrong

10. Generosity

Don't be a taker, be a giver!
Acts 20:25
1 Tim 6:6-8
The way to break envy is to be a giver
James 3:14-15
Envy is demonic

Where do all these values come from?

Exodus 20:1

v3: Loyalty
v4-6: Committment to who you are serving
v7: Respect
v8-11: Come beck in connection to God again
v12: Family
v13: Whoever has hatred in his heart is a murderer
v14: Faithfulness
v15: Hard work
v16: Integrity
v17: Don't be envious, be generous

Romans 1:29-30
The world at end times will have values that are a total opposite.

2 Tim3:1-4
Moral laws!

V.A.L.U.E.S. of having Values

Visible: Values give you an identity

Attract: Values attract people of similar values

Lead: Values are like a compass when you are presented with many opportunities - what am I to do? Go back to your values.

Unite: Without committment, we can't build anything

Establish: Values establish a firm foundation especially when there is external pressure

Standard: Values set a form of measurement

Chickapow! Friday Sermon 15 Feb 08

2008-02-21T06:38:00.002+08:00

For tab! :)

FAMILY

Human beings are made for relationships!

4 Purposes intended for us as a family

1. The family is a shelter from storms

i.e. a refuge, a base to count on
Provb 14:26
Storms that I will face in life: Storms of change, of failure, of rejection
Ecc 4:12
How to turn E256 into a home: Hear (listen), Hug (physical affection), Help (give people what they need), Hope (build each other up rahter then tear) - Practical ways to show love!

2. The family is a place to play

i.e. kickback, relax, enjoy life
Healthy families create fun! --> Fun has to be created to happen

And tune into the next 2 during this week's cg!

Paul Jones' Birthday!

2008-02-19T00:34:00.004+08:00

Hello my friends!

It's BC (a.k.a Birthday Coordinator) at work.

Who's birthday is it???????????? (On 18th Feb)

It's our beloved Paul (smaller and younger one). :P

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to Paul Jones!
Happy Birthday to you!

WOOOOO~~~~~~

Dear Paul, here's what some of our cell group members has got to say to you~

*****

Really continue to grow more in the Lord,
May you grow in your faith,
Obey God with all your heart,
Most importantly, Happy Birthday!

-Cheryl

Dear Paul,

Happy birthday! this day marks as 16th birthday! You are now an teenager!
Continue to seek the Lord more and more and he will show you your purpose and destiny.
I hope that your studies will always be shining as salt and light around the friends you have.
I also pray that you will have a healthy body!
Take care of yourself, I believe that this year your life will be greatly impacted by God
and will be your best year yet!

Cheers,
Michelle =)

hey dude.
happy birthday. its such a blessing to have u in the cg with us.
keep on growing and shining in your sch
use the gift that God has given to you to bless others arnd u
p/s: pls bring ur bible + NOTEBOOK next time. *griNz.

Wanxiu.

Powerpacked Sunday Sermon Pastor Kong 10 Feb 2008

2008-02-15T04:16:00.002+08:00

Marriage

Pastor Kong, 10 Feb

Genesis 2

§ Marriage is the first institute – it was not an afterthought, it existed before Man fell and salvation was available

§ It is not part of God’s salvation – You don’t need it to be saved – that is why it is available to all

Ecc 9:9

§ Marriage is a piece of Heaven on earth available to all, even the lost

Roles & Responsibilities of the Husband

Eph 5:22-25

§ Marriage is so important on earth because it is a symbol of the relationship between us and God as well

§ When we say that our marriage doesn’t work, we are saying that our relationship with God will not work.

§ We need to make sure it works!

1. To be the leader

- Christ is the Prophet, Prince and King à likewise husbands to their wives

- As the Prophet: Husbands have to show the way

- Jesus healed 7 blind MEN. This shows that husbands – MEN – need to be the one with the vision, because the head (king) is where the eyes (vision) are.

- .: Men need to grow more and more in the Lord so that he can lead

- As the King: Husbands have to carry themselves with nobility

- Nobility meaning that husbands should be a gentleman, not abusive, and not curse and swear

- As the King: Husbands need to be like the Holy Spirit – To lead, to drive, to rule and reign his household wisely.

2. To love his wife

- Love unconditionally, selflessly, sacrificially

- Every time we backslide in our hearts, God grieves but because He loves us, He will forgive, that He will be faithful even though we are unfaithful.

- Similarly, a husband should love his wife like how God loves us.

Roles & Responsibilities of the Wife

Genesis 2: 18 “it is not good that men should be alone”

§ It was the first time that God said that something is not good

§ When God created Man, He gave him a job à Men need jobs

§ But by being alone, Adam will not have a healthy character

§ God made Eve because God is more concerned about developing Adam’s character than his job

1. To be a helper

- In achieving her husband’s visions and dreams

- Hence, wives need to be thoroughly familiar with their husbands’ visions and dreams

- The wife must believe in the husband

- Thus, the wife is the dream enabler, no the dream thief!

2. To submit

- Eph 5

- To submit does not mean in a controlling way, but to be supportive and honouring towards their husbands

- Women respond positively to agape love

- This is seen by how God LOVED US FIRST, so if husbands loved their wives first, wives will see that love and respond positively to it.

- .: God holds us responsible for that relationship

- Romans 5:12 “through one man sin entered the world”

- This “one man” is not mankind as a whole, but A MALE. Because of the husband, it can cause the woman to turn against her true nature and sin.

- Genesis 3:6 (NIV) “and gave some to her husband, WHO WAS WITH HER”

- Hence, Adam saw Eve talking to the snake and eating the apple, but he did nothing about it

- 1 Tim 2:13-15

- Adam was given the revelation, what would happen if one were to eat the fruit, and not Eve.

Story of Judah and Tamar

Genesis 38:1-26

Show the failure of a group of husbands that led to a woman to do desperate things.

Judah had 3 sons. Er had to be a terrible husband to Tamar for God to kill him. Dhan, had to marry Tamar by “Levirate marriage” (Lavir lat: husband’s brother) for Tamar to produce a son to have a heir to his brother’s lineage. However, Dhan did not give Tamar a child on purpose. He was greedy and plotting. He took advantage of Tamar (Note: Lust is the desire to get at the expense of others) without taking responsibility.

“Maturity does not come with age. It comes with responsibility” – Dr Edwin Cole

Husbands, if you do not give your wife what is due to her –her security etc. – she is going to get it with or without your help.

(v14) Man can cause women to compromise on their virtues and integrity, to be a manipulative woman, to demean herself to get what is rightfully hers. Like Tamar, women do not expect men to be perfect – she wanted them to be responsible.

(v19) Tamar had to keep changing personalities – righteous woman, widow, prostitute.

(v20) Judah will keep a promise to a prostitute rather than to Tamar. And this is true in today’s world – men will provide nice houses and buy jewellery for their mistresses but not keep their promise to their wives.

(v26) Turning point. Judah knew why Tamar did what she did and took responsibility at last. Although Judah had failed, he repented. And because he repented, centuries later, Jesus was born from this lineage.

2008-02-08T01:00:00.000+08:00

alo... i'm reading pastor ulf's "the spiritual leader" and just wanna share something.

what is a team?

a team is a group of people who have come together, forming a deeper relationship for a common purpose. first of all, they are committed to a purpose - a goal- and because of this, they have devoted themselves both to the purpose and to each other in a personal and working relationship. there may not be, except in marriage and the family, a deeper, more radical and more exciting relationship than that of being part of a spiritual teamwork. and its effect can be immense. consider how the disciples Jesus trained were sent out into the world to plant the gospel everywhere. the effectiveness of a team is tremendous, and the dynamics very strong. often, pride and fear can hold us back from joining a team. but you will never prove your strength by trying to cope alone. in the long run, the effect of being isolated can be devastating.

firstly, the purpose - the goal - is always before your eyes, creating a constructive and productive atmosphere. secondly, the group provides protection and mutual edification. therefore, it is the members' responsibility to help and exhort each other, not to criticise or look down on each other's weakness. Jesus never sent out the disciples alone but always in teams of at least two.

in a church situation, the ideal is for the whole church to be one big team. this is how the first church functioned. the more realistic solution, however, is for the church to have smaller group, cell groups, work groups, leadership groups and evangelism groups. thus, there can be various kinds of teams in one and the same church, which work in different ways but under the same vision. the result is greater efficiency and better relationships. however, it is important that one thing does not exclude each other. in a church, both the small groups and the big gatherings are necessary. we need both intimacy and fellowship, meetings and great manifestations. saying that you would rather join a small church because it offers more fellowship is an indication of selfishness. a large church has the capacity to reach out so much further. and in a large church, there are individuals and groups that can fulfil the need of fellowship if you are open and loving, and not closed and self-centred.

grace

Happy CNY

2008-02-06T16:24:00.001+08:00

! 新年快乐！

身体建康

万事如意

学业进步

年年有余

恭喜发财

龍馬精神

心想事成

大吉大利

五福臨門

出入平安

快高長大

生意興隆

盤滿砵滿

笑口常開

天天向上

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons Pastor Tan 2 Feb 208

2008-02-02T21:29:00.000+08:00

Fortitude

Pastor Tan, 2 Feb 08

What is Fortitude?

2 Cor 6:4-6
Fortitude is the strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain and adversity with courage.
Simply put, fortitude is endurance. When the Bible says that we require Faith and Patience, fortitude is that patience.
2 Cor 6:4-6 (NLT): "true ministers of God"
2 Tim 3:10: "I never give up"
God has given us big plans and dreams, we cannot be quitters, we have to have fortitude in our lives! That is how we show ourselves to be true servants of God.
"Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" - Winston Churchill
"I am not called to be successful. I am called to be faithful." - Mother Teresa
God has called us to be faithful, especially in our faith!
A Champion is not someone who never fails; A Champion is someone who never gives up!

How then do we increase fortitude in our lives?

E-N-D-U-R-E!

1. Embrace God's purpose in that situation

When you go through difficulty, ask yourself: For what purpose is God allowing me to go through it?
1 Peter 1:7
Trials are in place to test your faith - Is your faith pure?
What is God's purpose? YOU! Your faith, your character, your salvation!
Once you find God's purpose, it will be greater than the trials you are facing in your life.
Trials train our faith muscles so that we will be saved right to the end.
James 1:3-4: "endurance" --> "mature and complete"
Thus, our lives have a meaning and focus!
Let's trust in God, in His heart, knowing that He will never let me down
Romans 5:3: "rejoice" --> "endurance" --> "develop character"
We don't rejoice about the problem. We rejoice in what the problem can develop in us.

2. Nurturing your spiritual roots

Mark 4:17 (The parable of the Sower - The 4 different types of heart)
(CEV) "as soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up"
(Mes) "shallow soil of character"
We need to have a compass in life - something to trust in even if my gut feeling says otherwise. What is our compass? The Bible!
Luke 8:15
Romans 15:4
What is the significance of the Bible? For us to receive patience (=endurance) and comfort (=encouragement).
We will have victory eventually! Victory with patience!

3. Direct our attention to Jesus Christ (God)

If when in trouble we look to the world, we will be in distress. If we look to ourselves, we will be depressed. If we look at God, we will be at rest.
The more we look at God, how BIG He is, the smaller our problem is.
Hebrews 12:2: "fix our eyes on Jesus"
Jesus looked beyond the cross to see the purpose of God. This was how He managed to endure the cross and the shame.
Testimony of Neivelle Tan.

4. Use your experience to help others

God doesn't waste our experiences, both good or bad.
2 Cor 1:6-7: "we in turn can be an encouragement to you"
Our greatest life message come out from our weaknesses.
2 Tim 2:1o: "willing to endure anything"

4. Rely on God's power

We are not able to make it on our own power.
God has not meant for us to go through life using only our own strength either.
"for I will overcome the world"
Col 1:11
Romans 12:12: "don't quit in hard times, pray all the more harder".

5. Expect God to bless you

To give you a breakthrough. After all, the Gospel is GOOD News!
Similarly, our lives will end off positive!
James 1:12
James 5:11
Job
By our faith, we determine how much God can do for us in difficult times.
Hebrews 10:36

Let's end with a story! From here.

When the winner crossed the finish line in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic marathon, officials thought the race was over. Then, an hour later, John Stephen Akhwari, a runner from Tanzania, entered the stadium. Bloodied and bandaged from a fall, he limped painfully with every step.

As Akhwari made his way around the track, the crowd began to cheer loudly. When he crossed the finish line, you would have thought by the roar of the crowd that Akhwari had been the victor.

Later, when asked why he had not dropped out, Akhwari replied, "I don't think you understand. My country did not send me to start the race. They sent me to finish the race."

At the end of the race, you'll then be able to say like Paul did of old: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

________________________________________________________________

C'mon people! Let's continue to run with endurance the race that is set before us! Let us not, like what Pastor Tan says, one day say: I was ONCE a Christian. I ONCE went to church. Let us not forget the God of our youth. Have you seen those old people sitting in service, still rocking to our contemporary praise songs? Let us be like them! Old, funky and still on fire!

Also, I think there will be a tendency for people to read to the end of this sermon and only remember the words "Expect God to bless you" in their minds, because we only want God to bless bless bless us. But let us remember all the E-N-D-U-R-E points when we are going through hard times. Even if it is not applicable to you now, I hope that by typing and organising this sermon into something that is more reader-friendly, you know that you can fall back on the archives for Bible-tried-and-tested outlooks into your situation.

If you are facing a time of difficulty or disappointments in your work, or in school, E256 would love to pray for you. Post COMMENTS or just post a new post. Because if there is one thing I can give to you other than a listening ear (and Pei En's 24/7 Hotline), it would be my time spent on praying for you. :)

P.S. MICHELLE can you do me TWO favours: Activate comments (tried but I don't see a link) and do up a category thingy to chuck all the sermons into. Xie le!

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! A.R. Bernard 26 Jan 2008

2008-01-31T00:58:00.000+08:00

The Holy Spirit

Rev. Dr. A.R. Bernard, 26 Jan 08

The Church

Acts 9:31

The church became stronger because the people lived in the fear of the Lord. The church increased in numbers due to the encouragement/ comfort of the HS.

Their daily lives were lived in the consciousness of the “fear of the Lord” (i.e. reverential fear, honour of God) and the “comfort of the HS”.

On the day of the Pentecost – “In the last days, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.” .: The HS is the present administrator of God’s plan.

As the individual is in the marketplace, in the world, trying to preserve our values, the HS sees it, seizes that heart and makes it the sphere of influence in the world.

Luke 4:18

The spirit of the Lord is upon me.

The success of Jesus’ ministry was because of the HS.

The HS anoints the leadership etc. It is still relevant today in CHC. He is the power by which we accomplish Kristo Kai Kosmo. .: We need to move up to be in places of influence.

The Disciples

Acts 1:6

Up until Jesus died and resurrected, the disciples did not understand His teachings.

Matt 1:8-18

When the disciples first encountered Jesus, they thought Him to be a prophet. They did not understand Jesus to be the Messiah, the incarnation of God.

The HS is going to be as to you what Jesus has been to the disciples – to prove protection, provision etc.

John 13-17

Acts 1:6-8

The disciples still did not get His kingdom and Messiah-ship.

“You shall receive power when the HS has come upon you”

To the disciples: Wait in Jerusalem, so you will receive us.

Witnesses: the people whose story is so convincing that the jury has to say that he is right

.: When the HS comes, what they did not see before, they will see clearly.

We don’t go into the world because we have power vs. we are the power. Recognise the difference of having power vs. representing power (Like policemen) – We are to represent the authority of Jesus.

Peter received a revelation from the HS – “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. But he did not understand the meaning of what he said.

Matt 16

“He told them sternly: Do not tell anyone what you have just heard” – Jesus put a prohibition on their understanding of His Messiah-ship.

Matt 17

Icons: Moses and Elijah – Individuals whose deaths were mysterious (i.e. no body found or was lifted up to the Heavens)

God may not reveal some things to us because of our reaction, which might potentially be in error.

“Do not tell anyone what you saw until after my resurrection” The prohibition on the disciples was because in their present moral and spiritual capacity, they could not have represented Jesus in a clear and proper way. Not without the HS, who will “bring all things into your remembrance”

How do you witness the reality of someone living when you don’t have a physical body?

In Acts, when the HS came, there was wind, fire and they saw tongues falling into them such that the disciples spoke a message that convicted the 3,000 people who were present. What did they preach? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have to share with similar conviction, to show how real our living God is even though there is no tangible body.

When you become a Christian, you don’t have a relationship with a religious system, but a relationship with a person. We have to go back to the main character of the Bible!

You can’t help but be successful when you are with someone who is successful. How are you doing spiritually? How is your relationship with Jesus? It is the quality of your relationship, not the other things that matter. We can’t live out Kristos Kai Kosmo without the HS!

________________________________________________________________

Sorry if it sounds a little incoherent. It's just how he preaches, you know, fast forward rewind.

- suatwei

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong 19 Jan 2008

2008-01-20T14:40:00.000+08:00

Faith

Pastor Kong, 19 Jan

What is Faith a.k.a Confidence?

Hebrews 11:1 - "substance"= foundation, support. "evidence of things not seen"= confidence in the things I cannot see, but in knowing I will get it.
.: Faith is synonymous with confidence, i.e. Faith = Confidence
Faith is the positive attitude of confidence in knowing that God is with me every step of my way.
Confidence can be seen in my ability to hold my own with people, be it those I'm meeting for the first time or with friends.
BUT confidence has the tendency to leak away

How do I Stop My Confidence from Leaking Away?

Confidence comes from the assurance that I have got Jesus with me.
Praise and worship creates an atmosphere of faith, which is needed for the power of God to travel.
Matt 4:1-9 - The devil tested Jesus 3 times on His confidence in being the Son of God. The devil used religious language, so the greatest temptation by the devil is in the area of my being a Child of God.
The moment you act on a negative emotion, it overwhelms you. The more of whatever you act upon, the more you strengthen, so choose to act upon the good and the positive!
Matt 11: 2-6 - "offended": Scandalised (Greek), Trip up, Stumbled, Enticed to sin
.: The key to confidence is relevation - I will do what God has called me to do.

How did Jesus Build Up His Confidence?

John 13:3

He knew where He came from - I need to know my position, who I am in Christ.
He knew what He had - I need to know my gifts and abilities.
He knew where He was going - I need to know my purpose.

How does Pastor Kong Build Up His Confidence?

By having a life message, which is: To love God wholeheartedly and to love people fervently.
Of which his life message stands upon: The Great Commandment, The Great Commission and the Cultural Mandate.
We need to find our own life message!

What is a Sure Sign of Having Confidence?

Confidence gives you the power to be the servant of all.
John 13:4, 14 - Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.
Mentioned in the Bible - Joseph had the ability to serve because he was secure in himself. Daniel.

Key Takeaways

Without confidence, you can't please God.
Confidence gives us power.
Confidence gives us the ability to be the servant of all.

How Do I Maintain My Confidence?

The key is to have a secret place in God to turn to, a place to strengthen myself.

Psalms 91:1

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 23:1-4

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Note: "The Lord" (3rd person) to "He" (2nd person) to "You" (1st person) shows the closeness of God to you as you walk through troubled times, times that will undermine your confidence.

________________________________________________________________

Anyway, would like to add that yesterday's service was a really great one, full of the presence of God, and as Tabitha said, Pastor Kong's anointing has really increased!

I came to service, you know, like usual, but when Pastor was talking about confidence, it really struck me and a longing came into my heart to increase my confidence in the Lord more. And as we were singing the worship song, I was thinking, Lord, break down the stone walls around my heart, I don't want to keep come into service and not be touched by You, I want to surrender myself to You, I want to learn how to place You first in my life. Then His presence became so strong that I started crying. I don't usually cry in normal circumstances and the only other time I cried so uncontrollably was the first day my sister brought me to the JW church, not even that day in Expo when I went for the altar call, or even for Benny Hinn's, but as the tears came, and amidst all the noise, one thought flashed through my mind and it was "I forgive you", and I knew that it was God telling me so, for my big sins, my little sins, for moments of rebellion, for doubting Him, for lack of confidence when people ask me To Prove, many many for-s.

Hmmm. And it's no coincidence that Pastor preached about my baptism name right! heh heh. d:

So I feel like I have given a brand new, guilt-free start to 2008 and I'm sure many of you know that 2008 is going to be a great year that is full of changes, so let's get hyped up and prayed up for it! :)

- suatwei

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Tan 12 Jan 2008

2008-01-20T13:28:00.000+08:00

Instructions:
To be read with open mind.
Why read this:
If you fell asleep in service/ was doodling in service/ was zoning out in service.
So you will be blessed.

Credits:
All Bible verses if typed out are sourced from biblegateway.com.

Story of the time management consultant from Grace Chee's blog with edits. Thanks Grace! :D

________________________________________________________________

Col 3: 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Note: You won't do something that is important to you unless you see the value of it.

FORGIVENESS

Pastor Tan, 12 Jan 08

What is real forgiveness?

Real forgiveness:

Is unconditional, based on grace rather than based on whether we deserve it or not
Is always my initiative - I should always give forgiveness whether it is asked or not
Does not minimise the seriousness of the offence. Minimising the offence cheapens forgiveness. If one says "It's okay", it does not need forgiveness. Provb 26:18-19.
Isn't resuming a relationship without any change. Because forgiveness is given by grace, resuming the relationship is to be done by the offender, and needs: a) Genuine repentence b) Restitution/ restoration c) Trust to be rebuild (Forgiveness and trust are different)
Isn't forgetting what has happened. To forget something, we have to refocus on something else. E.g. By saying I'm trying to forget about my ex means that you are bring reminding yourself what you are trying to forget!
Isn't your right when you are not the one being hurt (the victim).

Why We Forgive

If I don't forgive, I won't be forgiven by God.
God has forgiven us.
Forgiving releases past hurts & bitterness - Before God gives us the 'new wine', we need to change to 'new wine skins'!
Renewal: Replace/ repair something that has worn out.
We need to stop playing the 'Blame Game'. Life is 10% what happened and 90% how we react to it.
Your values: What is most important to you, what you stand for (conviction), what you are willing to pay the price for.
Hebrews 12:16. If we value things based on circumstances, we forget the real priorities in life. This makes you place importance on what is momentary.

A time management lecturer was giving a lecture to some students on how they can plan their time.

As a demostration, he took out a big jar and started filling it with rocks. The rocks quickly reached the top of the jar, with lots of empty spaces in between. He asked the class, "Is the jar is full?" to which the students replied confidently, "Yes".

But the consultant shook his head and took out gravel and started to pour it into the jar.

The gravel filled the space between the rocks, and he asked the class again, "Is the jar full?" The class knew that there was more to it, and so they answered no.

The lecturer smiled and nodded. He then took out a bucket of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand filled the spaces between the rocks and gravel. Then he turned to the class and asked yet again "Is the jar full?" The students not knowing what to expect, but knowing that there was more than what meets the eye, said no. So, the lecturer took out a jug of water and started pouring into the jar until the jar was full.

At the end of it all, he asked, "What did you learn from the demostration?"

A hand shot up and the student answered, "There're always more things you can add to your schedule to maximise your time." Heads started nodding in agreement in the classroom.

The lecturer paused and said,"No."

"It means you need to put the big rocks in before you put the gravel, the sand, and water into the jar. Otherwise, the big rocks will never fit into the jar. So, if unless you factor in the most important things in your life first, you will let everything else rule you instead, and you will not find time for the what should be your priorities in your life."

How do I Forgive People?

Give up your right to get even. Romans 12:19 - Let God avenge for you instead!
Learn how to set bounderies in life. Bounderies are not walls, but walls with gates that allow good and bad people to come into your life.
Learn to respond to evil with good. Luke 6:27-28
Repeat the above steps as long as necessary. There is not time limit to forgiveness. Learn to release it to God.

Our life changes only when our thinking changes!

Is there anyone that you need to forgive? If you can't think of anyone, ask God if there is anyone you need to forgive! :)

- suatwei

2008-01-15T00:22:00.000+08:00

Ooo, nobody blogging? Blog more please =D

Please keep Samantha and Me in prayers as we are having our semester test this coming 3 weeks. Until 31 Jan! Jia You!

As some of you all know, I am opening my own shop, yea the beta of version of my shop is up! Do visit my blog for more details! =) and my shop sell swarovksi crystals earring and are all hand-made by me!

Cheers,
Mich

2007-12-30T00:54:00.000+08:00

We are a family that love love love! Woohoo!!! So many things going on yea? Appreciation night & service today!! Uploading the funny pictures up here! the rest will be in multiply =)

Raiding MingKwang's specs!!! =D

When you have Grace and MK around, it wouldn't be very peaceful!

Awww!!! WUB WUB

Look closely and u will spot da difference!!

****Exculsive**** Disclaimer: Don't shout!! when you see it****

Fellowship with yummy food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! salvia dripping=X

E256 has grown strong in 2007!!!! and looking forward to 2008!!! Lets grow stronger in the word!

CONGRATS TO!!!

Suat Wei and Tabitha has become our cellgroup helpers
Suat Wei as Treasurer
David and Cheryl as birthday coordinators
Mich as IT personnel

Oh I heard there a midnight kbox going on 31dec aka countdown celebrations, approach Tabitha for more info!!! Sing till you drop! Wooohoo!!

Love ya,
Mich

2007-12-23T01:51:00.000+08:00

Appreciation night theme is BLACK & WHITE!!!!!

I would love to receive appreciation cards!!!! So get writing! and YES I WILL WRITE TO YOU ALL TOO!

Senstosa outing pictures, I already uploaded them into the multiply account so go ahead and download or look a look. Exclusive video "Grace the dolphin who eats McChicken"

Mich

2007-12-17T18:25:00.000+08:00

Appreciation night theme vote!!!

<<<<<<

Only can vote once per com. =)

2007-12-17T17:21:00.000+08:00

You can try it @ http://www.munkyourself.com/us/

Record it through com's mic =D They will auto change your voice to chipmunk's voice

Mich

Course stupéfiante

2007-12-11T22:37:00.001+08:00

Hello everyone!! :)

finished with your exams?

Had fun at CAMP BREAKAWAY??

think there's no more?

think again!

next event....

Date: 16 December (Sunday)
Place: Harbourfront MRT control
Time: 11am

Things to prepare:

about $10 cash (minimum)
clothes suitable to run about (an extra set is very much advisable)
a few friends ! :)
AND of course...YOURSELF!

-tabs-

TTT Series 1- Do you have what it takes?

2007-12-07T16:10:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer

==================================================================
well guys and girls. as promised, will be sharing my TTT notes, which have been rephrased and i've asked permission. please do not distribute this widely. Link our blog and also the TTT webbie. do not paste this on your blog.
==================================================================

Btw, its better to go for TTT class yourself, because you just *MIGHT* meet someone. i'm kidding.

TTT's about finding the right partner, but even more about self-reflection. Jeremy (coincidently, L's ZS) conducts the class. Expect to see people much older then us tho.. around late twenties, thirties.

anyway, as pastor kong says in the sermon last week, its time for goal setting! so I hope this helps you, whether you are feeling and urge for a merge and there's no emerge.

remember.. its about self reflection!

================================
Session 1 Do you have what it takes?
================================

Activity : Write down 10 things that you want your potential partner to have.

Ask yourself, are these personality traits or character traits?

When you are looking for a partner, look for GOOD CHARACTER. Its the foundation and will determine how a person will treat, you, him/herself, and the kids!

Character is...
1) The principles in which you live your life by.
2) The moral attributes that define as as individuals

Simply put, they are the fruits of the spirit: Love, Joy,Peace,patience Kindness,faithfulness,gentleness and self control.

So, why is it hard to find someone of good character?
Because there is a price to pay for it. (going through failures etcetc)

Take a think: Which parts of your character needs changing?
What pitfalls do you have in your life. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link. You may not be rewarded for your strength, but you can be disqualified for your weakness. You cannot change what you are unwilling to confront.

Importance of Integrity

Integrity -> means completeness, prosperity, innocence,uprightness (Hebrew: tome)

It is the uncompromising desire to do what us right according to the highest standards of behaviour, regardless of the situation.

It is only through the building of integrity in our lives that we can reach our FULL potential and fulfill the plan that God has for us.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting fact:

God does not choose your mate for you! (are you guys shocked? yes remember we have a free will.)

Here are the bible verses to prove it: Prov 18:22, Prov 25:2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 Myths about Love

Myths are beliefs that we have about love that stops us from making smart decisions about love! e.g. from your taiwan/hongkong/korean drama serials, movies (esp Lust Caution), books, herworld, LIME mag etcetc.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myth number 1: True romantic love conquers all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
You won't have relationship problems
You only have yourself to blame when things go wrong
Romance and courtship is enough to make everything work

REALITY CHECK: Compatibility and commitment is needed!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myth number 2: You will know true love at first sight.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What happens if you believe this:
- ignore the rest of the relationship
- miss the chance for real lasting love
- just infatuated with an image

REALITY CHECK: True love takes time, infatuation/crushes for a moment.

Suat just read this cute article about crushes (in case u don't know what crushes are). Click me!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myth number 3: The perfect partner will fulfill you completely.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you feel emotionally empty before a relationship
you'll prolly feel as empty when you are in a relationship!
Eph 3:17-19

REALITY CHECK: the right partner will fulfill many of your needs but NOT ALL.

Relationships are about giving and sharing. Manage your expectations! Use every season of your life, single or not and live in the NOW.

============================

Tune in next week for: Types of relationships that won't work!
suatz signing out.

2007-12-03T21:13:00.000+08:00

hi one and all

so tomorrow is the start of our BREAKAWAY BREAKAWAY BREAKAWAY BREAKAWAY BREAKAWAY CAMP! let's really come prayed up and expecting tonnes of fun during these 3 days!

things to note:
*please bring your own sleeping bag (princess me ain't no gonna share my bag with you)
*if you're coming for night sessions only, please eat your dinner before you come (me ain't gonna share my food with you)
*if you're staying overnight, please entertain yourself to sleep (i ain't no babysitter to put you to sleep and you need NO PSP to make yourself sleep, don't bluff me)
*bring sunblock (today's sun is HOT! i don't need to see toasts in this saturday's service)
*and for goodness sake, use common sense and bring clothes ok? my clothes stink like mad, i'm sure you wouldn't wanna wear mine hurhur and of course your water bottle. or else you'll dehydrate to a piece of wrinkled paper then i'll laugh at you =X
*bring bible!!! (later pastor aries spot you hurhur)
*BRING YOUR CONSENT FORMS (i'll whip you if you didn't bring your forms cause i won't be able to torture you MUAHAHA!)
*BRING MOOLA! (that's money if you didn't know. if you're coming for a day please bring $5 and if you're coming for 2 days please bring $10, irregardless staying over or not. and bring extra $20 for emergencies)

SEE Y'ALL SOON!

gracy

Suat Wei has just completed her exams HOORAY

2007-12-01T23:41:00.001+08:00

THANKS EVERYONE FOR PRAYING FOR ME! :D
Especially all the encouraging smses! <3
Exams still on for: Pei en, Mingli, Paul & Suat Ying

(^3^)/
Suat Wei
who would like something from her angel, thanks d:

2007-12-01T22:25:00.001+08:00

Mich

2007-11-29T22:12:00.000+08:00

You know I’ve had some lonely days
I’ve made mistakes and had to pay
I’ve had some friends that walked away
Just like mama told me
But there’s someone whose love is real
Who cares about the way I feel
Every pain, and erase every stain
There’s peace when I call out your name

Jesus, You’re my everything
The cross, You did that just for me
So whatever You take me through
I promise you
I’ll spend my always with you

No one can touch my heart like You
Or make me smile the way You do
I finally found someone who
Who really, truly loves me
And when my strength has come and gone
Your life in me it makes me strong
Your hand is where my heart belongs
You take all my pain and erased every stain

Jesus, You’re my everything
The cross, You did that just for me
So whatever You take me through
I promise you
I’ll spend my always with you

Jesus, my whole life has changed
Since that day I cried Your name
For every time You’ve brought me through
I promise You
I’ll spend my always with You

grace

2007-11-29T17:11:00.000+08:00

movie screening of
Alvin & The Chipmunks ...
Date : 15 Dec 07 (Sat)

Time : 11 am

Venue: Plaza Singapura

Tickets are available at $3 per person.
Each ticket also entitles the person to a combo set, either 1 coke + 2 packs of mixed nuts or 1 coke + 1 pack of pop corn .

Please note that this is actually for staff and family members of capitaland and each stuff can only purchase a max of 4. So i'm asking my colleague who is not going to help me order too.
Note that as each staff can get a max of 4, we will not sit as a cg togther, but definitely will sit in 4s. (hope you understand what i mean). Also, my HR dept will ballot for the seats. So please don't complain if you happen to get a bad seat ya? =)

So after hearing all these conditions, if you are still interested, please let me know asap! Preferably by 30 November. Latest is 5 Dec. Sms me!

Peien

2007-11-28T10:53:00.000+08:00

E256! Bored this holiday? Nothing to look forward to? Life getting mundane? Then this is the camp for you! Make new friends, have tons of fun and just BREAKAWAY from the mundane life! Prepared to get wet and wild and forge meaningful relationships through this camp of self-discovery and fun.

Registration fee is $5 (may even be free). But for the wonderful memories and friendships PRICELESS. C'mon people, rise up and invite your frens to this fun filled event!

2007-11-27T12:53:00.000+08:00

EXAMS SEASON

Alright! Its examination time for some of us here. Here are the dates so that you can do your part by praying! =) A cg that prays together stays together and we'll definitely want our people (esp moi..) to pass with flying colours ya? *wink*

Hansel: 27 Nov 2007 - Last paper actually. So bombard him and tell him how much you miss him!!

Praise: 28/11/07, 3/12/07 and 5/12/07

Wei: 26/11/07 - 29/11/07 and 1/12/07

Pei en: 5/12/07 and 11/12/07

Mingli: 11/12/07

So during this period of time, please do encourage one another and pray real hard for them ya?

But of cos dun forget our lovely cheryl in Beijing, pray for safety wherever she goes! =)

Peien =)

2007-11-26T22:06:00.000+08:00

met up with peien and tab at my void deck to take a long drive down ECP to send our dearest ms gorgeous aka ms cheryl ong, at 730am (ok, maybe like 745am, i was pigging on my bed) anyway it was a totally KO drive and it was silent in the car if not for the radio that's whispering in my ears to keep me awake.

was busy hunting down coffeebean at T1 as suat claims she's there. peien tab and me walked around the whole T1 yet couldn't find coffeebean! 3 of us can't be THAT blind right? so i had to take out my extremely powerful tool: hp. and gave her a call and sotong suat claims she's at T1, and i said "did u take the skytrain" and she still can tell me no lor! so smart! ok, don't blame her ladies, she studied the whole night at changi airport. i forgive your blurness.

and like what suat blogged, our ms gorgeous forgot to bring her winter jacket. tsktsk ok, i shall not emphasize on how sotong we all were that morning. pictures!

group picture!

expeditioners! look at how sweet our pride and joy is

this is the exclusive picture found only on shine256.blogspot.com! man, this is like perfect moment

WE MISS YOU MS GORGEOUS!

i'm bringing sexyback, i'll let you whip me if i misbehave

ps: eh.. this blog got censorship board or not. haha i should be president since i'm g-rated right?

yo sistas! it's yo gracy in da house!

1st day in Beijing

2007-11-26T15:13:00.000+08:00

1st day in Beijing

My dear cell group members,

Ahhh... I can't go to my own personal blog. Hopefully blogger wouldn't fail me.

Anyway, thanks to those lovelies who came to send me off. =D Just to let you guys know that its nice here, cold but good if you are wearing enough clothes.

Food here is good, a little too salty. Portion of food is like, WOW. Its humongous. I didn't take any photos though. But my friends did. Shall go get it from them and show you guys.

Canteen food is cheap cheap cheap. So far the most expensive meal I had in Beijing Information Technology College (BiTC) cost me RMB4.6. One rice, 1 Veg and 1 Chicken with Potatoes. And I couldn't even finish it.I had all these at like less than SGD1!

Heeheehee. I will be travelling to the city later to look for my dad and my friend, all by myself! Exciting.

Alrights... I will update again.

Till then!

XOXO,
Cheryl

cheryl's left on the jet plane. miss her already!

2007-11-26T00:32:00.000+08:00

Edited: PRAISE TAN here. grace say i din type my name!

hey sistas and bruddas!

its like 12.38 pm now. Zzz. near bedtime!

anyway, tabs, big grace, small grace and me were at T1 seeing our cheryl off to BEIJING (not shanghai)

was ton-ing at T2 starbucks to mug for exams. totally zombied. was standing in the queue, when the barista asked a foreign couple next to me where they were from. Guess where people. ARGENTINA. I almost burst in to song.

'' dun cry for me argentina, the truth is i'll naaaaaaaver leave ewwwwwwwwww''

too much connie and carla. oh yar.

===
A polar bear walked into a bar
Polar bear : can i have a --------- Beer please?
Bartender: whats up with the pause
Polar bear: *holds up his 2 paws* they have always been there.
===

major topic diversion.

ok anyway, cheryl and her entourage of guys (2 guys only actually) help her carry her stuff. took loads of pics and stuff. she brought winnie the pooh to beijing. I wish she brought me instead. she forgot to bring her ONE and only winter jacket! aiyo miss gorgeous. so billy the brother cab all the way down just to pass it to her.

on a more serious note, though we'll miss Cheryl for a few weeks, i thank God that cheryl has a spirit of self-improvement, wanting to know more about the world and about business. pray that it will be really fruitful for her and that thru this God will begin to give her insight to her future.

We are all really proud of ya Cheryl! chickapow!

P.S. me suat wei peien mingli (i think) hansel are all having exams, remember to pray for us! you'll reap what u sow!

cheerios peoples of e256

2007-11-25T02:37:00.000+08:00

Yesterday we had a fun FUN fun time at Miss Gorgeous's house! Enjoy the pictures! Anyway, resizing of pictures is needed before you start posting! If you are using photoshop, which is easier to resize =X, the width must be 600 and below, best is 500 to 550. Like the following pictures! And do set some nice colours for your fonts when posting! And best viewed in Internet Explorer~

We played spongebob square pant monopoly! And I admit our cellgroup members are young!! The whole game was quite erm childish too. =X

*Serious*

THE FOOD

Photo taking time!!!

Mich =D

Multiply Account

2007-11-25T00:38:00.000+08:00

HELLO EVERYONE!

this is to let you all know, our multiply account is up too! username and passwords...you should know. :) *winks*

feel free to upload all the photos and videos ya? Remember to at the same time... add as contact if you have a multiply account or am deciding to have k? Multiply rocks! :)

Also, please keep 16th Dec 2007 free! it's the confirmed outing day date! :)

God bless! :)

-tabs-

leaving on a jet plane (I wish)

2007-11-24T13:39:00.000+08:00

leaving on a jet plane (I wish)

Hi my lovelies,

This is Cheryl in da' house yo! =P

As you guys can see, my attempt in trying to be hiphoppy clearly failed. Still, I'm cool, we're cool. Right?!

I am so thankful for this blog. My busy busy schedule often do not allow me to be able to speak and fellowship with everyone. By everyone, I'm referring to the 16 members. Muahahahaa.

Anyway, yesterday's pot luck and movie marathon was a blast. You guys are so awesome. Food and drinks flowing in abundance and TONS of movies (thanks to Grace).

Will someone please quickly upload all the pictures, compile it and blog it here?

Anyway, I am leaving soon.... Today would be my last day in Singapore. You guys don't know how much I will miss all of you, really.

I just wanna say that all of you had been dear to me. I had been in this cell group for at least 5 years? And this is my first time leaving you guys for 2 months. Those who think you won't miss me, you are so gonna be wrong. HAHA. I know all of you will miss me like crazy.

(My friend said I not just have thick skin, I'm just skins.)

Alrights, I think I won't have access to Blogspot in Beijing as well. I will send my posts to someone to help me publish it. (I'm gonna do that for my personal blog too)

That's all for the 2nd post in our blog.

Adidos!

2007-11-17T02:32:00.001+08:00

Welcome!

Dearest E256, our cg blog is finally up! I hope that this blog will truly serve as an avenue to bring faith, hope and love in our cell group. =) It's an honor to be contributing the first post here! I want to take this time to thank our sweetest Michelle for making this dream into a reality! So please feel free to contribute your thoughts (in love of cos haha..), fotos and videos here. We will also update whatever programs and events that we'll have. Do stay tune ya!
As the year end is approching, let us not forget to be a soul winner for Jesus. Like what is mentioned in the blog, let us shine! Shine E256! =)

LETS BELIEVE GOD FOR 20 BY END OF THIS YEAR!

Love,

Pei En

E256 - *Faith, Hope, Love *

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Short Interview with Rick Warren, (PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE)

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Meng Kwang's Birthday

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draw the cow

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Story of Judah and Tamar

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Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! A.R. Bernard 26 Jan 2008

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Kong 19 Jan 2008

Powerpacked Saturday Sermons! Pastor Tan 12 Jan 2008

Course stupéfiante

TTT Series 1- Do you have what it takes?

Suat Wei has just completed her exams HOORAY

1st day in Beijing

cheryl's left on the jet plane. miss her already!

Multiply Account

leaving on a jet plane (I wish)

E256 - Faith, Hope, Love