31 March 2013 - Resurrection Sunday

Praise and Worship: Today's praise and worship style was different from the usual Sundays. It was explosive accompanied with great videos during intervals. All the songs we sang were simply awesome.

1. Shout Unto God

2. Hallelujah, Jesus is Alive

3. Because He Lives
 

Topic: The Reason for the Resurrection of Jesus

Today is Resurrection Sunday, a day greater than Christmas. Today is the day Jesus has risen and today also marks the greatest victory of the Lord.

The bible tells us that because He has risen, He will come back one day to bring us back home. Our bodies will be transformed with a body so real and touchable. In this new body, you can travel in the speed of light and you will never feel tired. Feeling tired is a thing of the past.

Scientists today tell us that the universe is still expanding at the speed of light. God created an expensive universe for us as a playground. You will be more alive than you think you are in your new body.
God counts death as an enemy. When God made man, God never meant for man to suffer but because we are living in a fallen world, sin abounds. Earth is tilted because of His mercy. If it wasn't tilted, the waters of north and south poles will melt and cause another great flood.
God planted that tree in the Garden as a demonstration of free choice for man. God wanted man to exercise free choice. If God just puts before man all good and non bad, then where is the free choice. The choice of man is death. God never once meant for man to die. It's never God's will.

Why did God raise Jesus from the dead?
God raised Jesus for our justification.

Ephesians 2:4-7
Verse 4: The bibles says God is rich in mercy. One can never find that God is rich in anger in the bible. God is love. Years ago, God had Pastor to study the time God brought the children of Israel out from Israel to Sinai and see if there were any who died during that time. Pastor searched but could not find reference of any who died. However, it was not the case in post-Sinai times. During that time, man rejected God and boasted that they can keep the law. God had no chance but to assess man based on their own efforts. The moment man murmured during post-Sinai times, they died. The law was given by Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Truth did not come with law, it came with grace. Man tried for 1,500 years of keeping the law in vain. After which then came Jesus sacrifice.

A recap of the sermon last week which is good repeating today:
There were 3 parables of Jesus raising the dead.
1. Jairus daughter
2. Widow's son
3. Lazarus who had been dead for 4 days.
To God, all are dead. There's no difference in who is more dead. Jesus came to make people alive. Let's not judge others when we were all once dead.

In Nehemiah 8:10, do you know what "the joy of the Lord" is referring to?
The joy of the Lord is you. You are His treasure. He gave up His son to buy you, in getting you.
Pastor shows a price of black paper representing us and the bible representing Christ. He slots the piece of black paper in the bible and tells us that this is how God sees us. God sees us righteous because seeing us is like seeing Christ. We are seated with Christ just like in verse 6 of Ephesians.
Verse 7: "that" is hina - in order that. You do something in order that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

Our English is quite limited. In greek we have many definitions of love such as eros, agape (highest form of love), etc.
For instance, for the word "powerful", in greek we have dunamis, energeia, ischus (inherent power), kratos.

Ephesians 1:16-23
Verse 19:
¹⁹ And what is the exceeding greatness of his power (dunamis) to us-ward who believe, according to the working (energeia) of his mighty (ischus) power (kratos).

The reason why we don't receive the resurrection power is because we do too much. Even for managers, there's something called over-managing. For parents, there's over-parenting. The law says "you must not you must not", it's all about you doing. God says "I will I will I will" in the new covenant.
The greatest power is released when you do nothing.

"But Pastor! When you do nothing, nothing will happen!!"
This is true if Jesus is not in the scene. If Jesus is in your life, when you do nothing, He does everything. He will turn bitter waters into sweet, bless you a pillar of cloud by day and night and part the Red Sea for you.

Pastor talks about the Mount of Beatitudes regarding the perfect acoustics "system". He shares that a person on the other side will be able to hear the person talking on the opposite side.

Matthew 6:
²⁸ And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:  
²⁹ And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  
³⁰ Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  
³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  
³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  
³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

In verses 28 to 30, Jesus addresses the women telling them they are better clothe than the lilies. Jesus assures us that He will clothe us. In essence, Jesus is not just referring to physical clothes here. He's talking about health and wholeness.

In verses 31 to 33, Jesus addresses the men telling them not to worry about eating and drinking. Jesus points to the birds in the air telling us they neither sow not reap yet the Father feeds them. Therefore, Jesus tells us to seek first His kingdom and He shall provide for you even if you do nothing. All these things that the world desires will be added to you. Pastor likes this word "added".

The more we worry, the more our supply stops. Don't see that the lesser we pray, the more we lose out. Many Christians think that we need to "persuade" God through our numerous prayers.
In actual fact, His supply is always flowing. Whenever you pray, what you are really doing is just diving into that "river" which is God's abundance.

Romans 4:22-25
Verse 22: Abraham believed God.
Verse 25: Jesus was raised because of our justification. This word "because of" in greek usually is "hati". But for this case is "dia" which means, by means of, by reason of or on account of.

God can give you the best part in your marriage. Just like how He turned water into wine. When you feel that things are turning bland, trust that He will compress time and give you both the best wine.

God is outside time and when He says He forgives all your sins, every sin is forgiven. He took all your sins the moment you were born until the day you see Jesus again, and nailed it on the cross. Don't think for one moment that one sin has been left out. His death has conquered every sin of you and I.
The more you rest, the more God works. Don't have to feel stress about facing your boss tomorrow. It's God's stress, not yours. Just leave it to Him.

All of us are 100% sinners. "But Pastor, I was not that bad when I was saved". If you see yourself as 70% good and 30% bad, most likely you will love Jesus with that 30%.

Jesus took every beating on the cross for 3 hours until He declared, "It is finished" all for your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:17
Verse 17: Jesus has risen for us to be cleared of all our sins.

John 20:19-20
Verse 19: The first words to the disciples were "Peace be with you".
Verse 20: After that Jesus showed the receipts - nail pierce hands and side. The side of Jesus was pierced to redeem us from a broken heart. Medical doctors will tell you that when a patients suffers from a cardiac arrest (the heart ruptures), water and blood will be collected at the membrane, located just below the heart. So when the Roman soldiers pierced His side, water and blood flowed out which is an indication of Jesus suffering of a broken heart for us.

In closing,

Look at Romans 5:1-6, after Romans 4:25,
Verse 1: Therefore (it means referring to the previous verse), we now have peace with God.

Jesus resurrected and so your righteousness will never disappear. Your position before God will never change. He paid such a big price for you and I.

24 March 2013

Praise and Worship: Sean leads the praise and worship today with another 2 great songs.

 

Topic: Saved Once and For All

Pastor points out the beautiful song by Hillsong titled "Scandal of Grace", written by Joe Housten.
Jesus never lowered His standards but yet He was perceived as scandalous back then.

Luke 7:31-32
Verse 32: This context was talking about John the Baptist. John the Baptist was sent to pave the way of the Lord. John's ministry was aggressive and full of law, referred by the mourning part here.
Verse 34: Jesus' critics called Him friends of sinners. Nowadays this phrase is seldom used but in fact it's a wonderful phrase. Pastor reveals that once an Israeli becomes a tax collector, they become outcasts immediately. They were never allowed to enter the synagogue. To their families, they are better considered dead.
Verse 37-47: There were many times Pastor shared on this story but there is a beautiful truth in here. It clearly shows to those who think they are forgiven little, loves little.

Let's look in greater detail starting from verse 36 for the story of "Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman".
How you look at Jesus determines how much you receive from Him.
We are transformed according to the glory of God. When people see Him, they are transformed.
Whenever Jesus is invited, He always goes. However it depends how you invite Him. If you invite Him as a teacher, then He is a teacher. But if you invite Him as a saviour, that's where He is at home.
Whenever you have a heart for Jesus, you will see Him. Whenever you have the desire to see Jesus, stress becomes lesser.

Matthew 9:9-12
Verse 10: Notice Matthew invites tax collectors and prostitutes to a feast. So what do you think of a minister who invites people like these. Jesus feels most welcome when He is with them - sinners.
Once you see Jesus as a saviour, grace teaches you. Grace is a best teacher there is.

Back to Luke 7:33-50,
Verse 38: "wiped" and "kissed" are both imperfect tense. They are continuous. At this time, Jesus was looking at the Pharisee while the Pharisee was looking at the woman.
Verse 38: The Pharisee saw Jesus as a prophet. So does he have a heart of holiness? God is righteous making us righteous. Every forgiveness is paid for. On the cross, all the claims against sinful men have been paid on the cross. People think that grace is when we sweep everything under the carpet. The fact is God already saw your sins before you committed them and they were all put upon Jesus. Jesus never sin, it all came from us.
Verse 40: Notice the word "Teacher". Jesus' style is, since you see Me as a teacher, I shall teach you through a parable.
Verse 41: One denarii is one day's wage (in Matthew 20:2)
Verse 42: The word "freely forgave" is "charisomai" in greek.
Verse 44: Jesus turned as He was not looking at the woman all this while. Jesus then asked if he saw this woman. "Discern" here is "to discern mentally".
Verse 45-46: Jesus compares the work of the woman with the Pharisee.
Verse 49: The Pharisees then began to mutter to themselves saying who is Jesus to forgive.
Verse 50: Jesus assured the woman and told her to go in peace as her faith has saved her.

In closing,

Pastor jokes about teaching English now:
In greek, perfect tense is something done once and for all and never has to be repeated.
Imperfect tense is something done again and again.

In verse 47,
⁴⁷ Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
 
The word "forgiven" is perfect tense. You must understand that God created time. That is why He was never "I was". God doesn't live in the future either. That is why He doesn't say "One day I will heal you". When God says all, you think of all as the day you were saved until you die. But to God, his all includes your tomorrow's sins even before you commit a sin.
Due to this fact, people come hard on us and criticise saying that we are giving people the license to sin. This is not true because of this story. Jesus points out the works of the woman for the Pharisees to see. But to the woman, He addresses her faith. The works of Jesus is natural. It produces not for others to see but it's the fruits of His grace.
The word "loved" is past tense. It's a demonstration of her being forgiven much.
Many people see their forgiveness as a present tense. So whenever they commit a sin and depending on their denomination, they may either confess their sins as it happens or periodically. Whenever they hit another sin, they do the same. They do not see the perfect work of Jesus on the cross.

In verse 50,
⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

The word "saved" is perfect tense. You are in fact saved once and for all. What a way to find eternal security from the beauty of greek. Not only you are saved, you are saved eternally.
The word "In" is "into", to enter into peace.
For the woman, each time she does the act, she loses a little of her soul. The act of her giving Jesus the alabaster box is an appreciation of Jesus restoring her lost soul.

10 March 2013

Praise and Worship: Sean leads the praise and worship today with these 2 great songs.

Video sermon is aired today as Pastor Prince is still away in Israel with his leaders. Pastor will return next week.

Topic: Grace-Based Leadership (Preached on 12 July 2012)

There are some leadership that God deals with and causes them to come to naught while there are some leadership that flourishes.

In the book of Judges 9, the bible tells us that before Gibeon died, he had 70 sons and many legal wives. Abimelech was the son of Gibeon. The bible shows us that Abimelech actually forced his way to be the head leader of the 70 sons.
If a leader promotes himself just like we see in this story, something is wrong. A real leader is humble and not self promoting.
In order to achieve his goal for himself, Abimelech hired gangsters to kill each and every one of the sons but Jotham was unharmed.

Judges 9:7-21
True leaders are secure in what God has made them to be. If you are a teacher, you don't have to make yourself to be a preacher. Notice this olive tree in the chapter is secure in what God has made it to be. The fig tree is mentioned next in the verses. The fig tree realised his ministry is sweetness. Then, look at the vine tree. They are all secure in who they are and they make the best leaders.
The bible teaches leadership. You can find the word "ruleth" in the bible.

If there is no leadership at home, bad decisions will be made and the devil likes that. Don't have to be a forceful dictator at home but look to be a loving decision maker. Just like Pastor Keith whom Pastor points out. Any leadership that threatens does not come from God.

If you carry on reading the story of Abimelech, you will see that his ministry is full of pride and threat. Pastor shares how Abimelech died in this story. There was a certain woman who dropped an upper millstone on his head and that crushed his skull. If you read on during his dying moment, he told his armorbearer to draw his sword to kill him lest everyone knows he was killed by a woman. That was the amount of pride he had.

A leader will lift people up to God, not like the world where it is a top down hierarchy.
Today, the church print lots of books not because Pastor Prince wants to be a famous author, but to serve people, spread the good news of the finished work. It is not about Pastor but because only God can do it.

So what makes our leadership effective? Look to 1 Corinthians 3:10-17. Whatever foundation we lay, it is faith. Everything is based on Jesus Christ and His finished work. You cannot build on your own foundation. God tells us to be careful on what we build and we can only build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

Why do young people enjoy shouting and screaming for their idols? Young people always want to see Jesus in human flesh. Know that you are the Jesus with skin on to your children. It is better for your children to scream or shout when they see church leaders rather than we see them shouting for people in the world. Don't get too concern cause we all know they are actually shouting for Jesus; they want to see Jesus in flesh.

Back to 1 Corinthians, from verse 12 onwards, it describes the type of foundation breeding the sort of returns. It mentions that though the foundation is burned and he suffers a loss, yet he is still saved.
"The Day" in verse 13 is referring to the day of fire/testing. It is not 24 hours but just a season. The seasons of good days are longer than the season of testing. The day of fire will reveal what sort of foundation it is built on. If your foundation is built on wood, hay or straw, they will be burnt.

In bible representation:
- Wood represents mankind.
If you depend on your flesh, it will burn up. In reality, we need less human smarts and depend more on God's grace. Some people think they are too smart.
- Grass represents people.
- Flower represents the glory.

Isaiah 40:7-8
⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
    Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    but the word of our God endures forever.”

Moses built his health on the correct foundation. If you built all your works through your own efforts, the day of fire will destroy it.

- Silver represents redemption.
- Gold represents righteousness.
- Precious stones represents the breastplate on Jesus' heart.
God is saying if you build your ministry on grace, you will receive your reward. The day of fire will reveal your foundation built on grace.

Back to 1 Corinthians 3:17, it says:
¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

Many believers are frightened and interpret this verse for sexual scenes. Many times, we have read this verse out of context. The context in this verse is referring to the ministry. It is talking about building your ministry on gold, silver and precious stones and not on moral values. The word "defile" is the same greek word as "destroy". The word "defile" is defined as "corrupt" by Matthew Henry translation.
God is actually saying to us that whoever comes and teaches you to depend on your wooden head, heart or hands, or preaching the false doctrine, He will burn it up.

The greatest thing you can do for your pastor is to pray for him. Pastor shares about how he was under attack a few times in 2012 specifically on his throat. Once he had to undergo a day surgery to remove something that was stucked in his throat. All these are indications that he is doing something correct for the Lord.

Back to 1 Corinthians 3:17, many believers associate these verses in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20.

¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
¹⁶ Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”
¹⁷ But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.  
¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;  
²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Verse 18: Flee sexual immorality. Never trust your flesh and assume you can handle it.
Verse 19: Our body is a temple of God. Paul always uses the phrase "Do you not know".
Verse 20: You are bought at a price.

There are believers who interpret that God destroys your body due to sexual immorality but we know that both context are different. Pastor is not saying that there are no consequences to sexual immorality. There are consequences and your body may bear the brunt. But we cannot interpret the verse out of context.

We are not called to produce to fruits but to hear the fruits.

In closing,
Back to Isaiah 40:7-8, it talks about men trusting in their own efforts will fade away. The word of our God stands forever. Don't listen to preachings saying because the word of God stands forever, Jesus will remember your sins forever. That is never the case because all our sins have already been judged on the cross.
In fact these verses are repeated in the New Testament in 1 Peter 1:23-25. It is the gospel of grace that was preached to you.

²⁴  For, “All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵  but the word of the Lord endures forever.”. And this is the word that was preached to you.

3 March 2013 - Pastor Lim Lian Neo

Two songs sang during praise and worship today.

1. You Never Let Go by Matt Redman

 

 

2. I Surrender by New Creation Church

Lyrics:
You love me as I am
Chose me even when You knew
I was tainted by sin
Compassion so divine
Flowed from deep within Your heart
Mercy opened my eyes

To a love so strong, so deep, so wide
It embraced my soul but demanded Your life

I surrender, surrender my heart
to the greatness of Your love
I surrender, surrender my heart
To the fullness of Your grace

Now holy hands I raise
My sins have been erased
I stand justified by Your grace
Accepted as Your own
An heir to heaven’s throne
In awe, I am yielded and still

For a love so strong, so deep, so wide
saw through my disgrace and has set me on high

I surrender, surrender my heart
to the greatness of Your love
I surrender, surrender my heart
To the fullness of Your grace

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

Topic: To Be Set Apart From The World

Pastor Henry led the holy communion today. He highlighted that today is 3rd March. Jesus died young at the age of 33 so that you can live long to 120. If that is not enough, add grace grace "55" and it amounts to 175. That is how long Abraham lived till. And if that is not enough, add another grace"5" and it amounts to 180. That was how long Isaac lived on earth and his secret to long life is through laughing his problems away.

Today Pastor Prince is away for a trip to Israel with his pastors to embark on places where David walked before.

John 17:14-17
Verse 16: Talks about not being worldly.
Verse 17: Shows us the key for our children to be champions. We sanctify them with God's truth.

How does God shows His holiness to us?
Exodus 15:11
Verse 11: "Fearful in praises" does not mean to be fearful of God. We are fearful and tremble to see God's wonders.

Whatever and where ever you are, you are special and uncommon. We are not worldly and set apart from the world.

Pastor Lian shares a testimony of how a little boy who was labelled "slow" by his teachers. His parents enrolled him for taekwondo hoping that it would instil in him a spirit of discipline. He excelled in the sport and was recommended to participate in the national competition. As a mother, she hoped for her son to come out first as she witnessed that the rest of the opponents weren't as good. Though she was a little disappointed that her son came out third in the competition, his son told his mum "It's ok, thank God for the bronze medal".
Pastor Lian points out that this is our children, set apart from the world, uncommon and we are the envy of others because of Jesus.

Acts 20:32
Verse 32: The word of God that gives us His inheritance is through God's grace.

Psalm 5:12
Verse 12: We are uncommon because we are set apart by the grace of God.

In closing,
2 Kings 4:25-27
We all know this story in the bible very well but may miss out what the Lord is telling us. In essence, the Lord is saying to us that if our soul is in distress today, we can speak to ourselves and say what we want to see, not say what we see. If you are in any problematic situation, you can still say "It is well".