19 May 2013 - Pastor Lawrence

Praise and Worship: Today's worship was made even better with Pastor Darlene Zschech and her team leading us in praise and worship. We sang all new songs and it was always a joy to see their worship team. Their music are anointed and I think they make a fantastic rock band. Can't get my eyes away from the drummer as he seem to go on and on without feeling tired. The strength when he beats the drum is solid.

1. Your Presence Is Heaven


2. Victor's Crown

Darlene Zschech leading the worship team

The talented drummer

Wife says he is dashing, anyone with her?

Another shot of Mr Good-Looking

Last song for second service

Today, Pastor Prince is taking a rest and is on a holiday with his wife. Pastor Lawrence will be preaching the word today.

Pastor Lawrence came out and warm up the audience with a joke.

At the heavenly gates, Apostle Paul prepares to welcome Jack, the taxi driver with style. He prepares the music and heavenly hosts ready for Jack to arrive. As he arrives, Apostle Paul goes up to him and welcome him.

"Hey yo Jack, welcome to the heavenly places. We have been expecting you for a long time!".

On one side was a preacher who was observing quietly. He thought to himself, "I have preached for a good 50 years and served God with integrity. I suppose my welcome would be greater than Jack who is just a taxi driver".

He walks up to Apostle Paul. "Paul, here I am. I have arrived".

Paul looks and him sheepishly and acknowledged. This was not what the preacher expected.

He felt annoyed and told Paul, "Aren't you welcoming me like Jack? I have served the Lord for 50 years! I did great things for the kingdom!"

This time Paul replied, "Well dude you see, when you preach, people fall asleep. But when Jack drives, people pray!"

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Topic: The Mercy of God That Knows No Bounds

God does not save you because of your works. God loves you and is a God who always will.

Psalm 107:1-2
Verse 2: Today we are the redeemed of the Lord. What does the Lord wants us to say? Not saying "so". He wants us to give thanks to the Lord.

God rejoices when we do good. God is a good God.

Acts 10:38 says The Lord went about doing good. Today Jesus is the expressed image of the invisible God. The greek word for "expressed image" is defined as the exact impression of God. If you want to see God, just look to Jesus. God says healing is good and it comes from God. Today if you are sick, you can look to our good God for healing.

Sickness is an impression of the devil. Jesus said to the woman who was bent for 18 years, "... whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen years.."

We can see it is the devil who binds. But, we have a God who goes about doing good. He wants to heal you and He is the same today, yesterday and forever.

Referring to Psalm 107,
In NIV Translation, it says "His love" endures forever.
In AMP Translation, it says "His mercy and loving-kindness".

"Mercy" is a very rich word. It is hesed in greek. King David wrote Psalm and he had an insight of the mercy of God even though he was living in the old covenant.

We read in the bible that David was not a perfect man. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and caused her to be pregnant. In order to cover his sin, he planned the death of Bathsheba's husband by manipulating the retreat of the troops and leaving him to fight the war alone. He committed 2 grave sins.

2 Samuel 12:11-12
Verse 11 & 12: Prophet Nathan proclaimed judgement on David. You need to understand that they were living under the law of Moses back then and in the past, every sin is accounted for. For such sin, the sinner would be stoned under the law.
Verse 13: David deserved to die as he has 2 death counts against him. When he admitted he has sinned against the Lord, he was sparred from death. He experienced God's mercy and he knew something about His mercy.

Verse 24 & 25: After this entire episode, Bathsheba bore him a son, Solomon. Of all people, why did God choose Bathsheba and David to bear Solomon. It doesn't matter what sins you have committed, our God is full of mercy and second chance. God is quick to forgive and restore.

Through Prophet Nathan, judgement came. God does not leave it just there. God caused Solomon to come through Prophet Nathan.
Under the old covenant, there were punishment for sins. Prophet Nathan proclaimed that his first child will die. We saw that David knew the mercy of God as he prayed for his child to live in 2 Samuel 12:22-23. We are looking at a man who is living under an old covenant and yet he knew about God's mercy. There is a revelation in these verses that every first child who dies before his time, is in heaven. Pastor shared that his wife had 2 miscarriages and he points out that they are in heaven.

Why does the mercy of God endures forever? We will all continue to sin but His mercies are new every morning.

Psalm 103:7-13
Verse 7: This is written by Kind David. God wants us to know His acts and ways.
Verse 8: The Lord is merciful and gracious and abounds in mercy.
Verse 9-10: David says He does not punish us accordingly to our iniquities.
Verse 11: So great is His mercy to you. God measures His mercy to the heights of the heavens.
Verse 12: Today it gives God great pleasure when you believe you are forgiven. He has removed all our sins as far as the east is from the west. To a Singaporean, east to west is aka Changi to Tuas. The Lord is talking about the whole universe.

We think we can out-sin the mercy of God. We think because we sins too many times till His mercy has been exhausted. Since when is anyone worthy for the forgiveness of God? Are you saying we can earn His forgiveness through our works? We are all unworthy and it is by His mercy and grace that we enjoy every blessing today. It has nothing to do with us but to do with God.

Revelation 12:10-11
Verse 10: The devil accuses us before our God day and night. That is voice of the devil. The voice of God tells you you are forgiven.
Verse 11: We overcome the accusations of the devil by the blood of the lamb. His blood has cleansed us and today we are whiter than snow. It doesn't matter the magnitude of your sins, it is about who died for you on the cross. That blood is not a blood of bulls and goats which last for a year. That blood is a blood of Jesus that lasts a lifetime.

We are special not because of who we are but whose we are. Once saved, always saved. God loves you with an everlasting love. That is why we say "Praise The Lord for He is good and His mercies endures forever".

Psalm 147:10-11
Verse 10: God des not take pleasure in your works. He takes pleasure when you hope in His mercy. It is the confident expectation in His mercy.

Pastor shares one of his favourite verse:
Jeremiah 31:3
I have loved you with an everlasting love.

God draws you with His grace, love, kindness and mercy. He does not draw you through fear.

Psalm 36:7
Verse 7: This "loving-kindness" is hesed.

David has this revelation which is so important to him. We can see from:
1 Chronicles 16:41
Verse 41: Herman and Jeduthun were the worship leaders. David told them to continue to praise the Lord. We give thanks to God because of His mercy that endures forever.
God emphasises here to let us know that He is filled with kindness towards you. This is a powerful phrase.

2 Chronicles 20:21
Verse 21: In the midst of war, they sung praises to God. They emphasised on His mercy while singing songs of praise. That is what God wants you to sing about. God wants you to remember that He loves you. He who is good will turn around the bad circumstances for your good.

2 Chronicles 5:13-14
During this dedication, a glory cloud came. Let's find out the moment when this glory cloud appeared.
Verse 13: When they said "For He is good, His mercies ended forever", the glory cloud came. When we focus on Him, His presence fills us. When you sing about His love, you will be filled with His tangible presence. God is reminding us over and over again that He is love.

When the Lord has to judge in Isaiah, He finds it strange and foreign to do so. Our God delights in showing mercy to us.

In closing,

Michael 7:18-19
Verse 18: Our God delights in mercy and this gives Him great joy.
Verse 19: All your sins have been wiped out in your life. He's not disappointed when He has to forgive you. He can forgive us because of the finished work of Jesus.

Grace is no just a doctrine. Grace is a very person of Jesus Christ.

Pastor shares a true story:
There was once a son who was addicted to drugs. He left his father and never came home. One day, someone told the father that they saw a man at a certain street who looked like his son. Upon hearing that, he went there everyday hoping to see him. Then one night, he saw his son together with many other drug traffickers. He went up to him, knelt down, kissed him and left.
One day, the son rang the door bell and it caught his dad by surpise. When asked why, his son explained that it was that night, when his father kissed him, he came to understand that his father were not angry with him. The realisation of the father's forgiveness brought him to repentance and back home.

It is through God's mercy that always leads us to repentance.

Jesus is the Driver

I was driving back last few days after dropping my granny home only to notice that both of my car headlights had blown. I was surprised as this seldom happens. If you know what I mean, you would agree that it is usually one that blows first, followed by the other. So this time it was rather unusual to me.

I drove home relying on my fog lights and since all the streets in Singapore are always lit up, it wasn't a problem. In fact, I suppose it looks sportier on the outside? No? Alright, I know it doesn't..

Throughout the journey, I had this little revelation through this little illustration of the car headlights.

We are just like a car. When our headlights have blown, theoretically we have become "blind" to the outside and we're unable to see what's ahead of us. We find it difficult to drive home safely since we can't follow traffic rules anymore and instead, we become a danger on the road and even to cyclists.
Now, it is not about the car that matters but the driver isn't it? He stops at the traffic, takes a bend while looking out for cars or pedestrians, decides when to pick up speed, chooses the best corner parking lot (Singaporean drivers all love), switches lane carefully and so much more. Most importantly he makes sure you are home safely.

In our daily lives, we try our very best to change things at our workplace, in our family or our friends. We want to be the best and see what we want to see. For the many countless reasons that we work through our own self efforts, did we actually realise that we are just a car?

Jesus is the driver and if we acknowledge that, I am sure we can be at rest in all we do and yet see an increase in our lives. Let's not attempt to get into the driver's "good books" thinking we can through our efforts.

In fact, the driver cares much more about the car more than you think! Not only he drives home safely, he even keeps you clean when you are dirty or even so, send you for a polishing job!

Now, we look good after the polishing job (youth renewed), we do not worry about the next destination (restful), we go wherever He brings us (right place and right time) and we see His provisions in our lives (prosperity). Best of all, we do nothing (grace).

This is what our Jesus is all about!

P/S: I hope you are blessed by this blog entry! Share on Facebook if you are :)

5 May 2013

Praise and Worship: Adeline led us to sing this song titled "I Will Follow After You" written by Pastor Ben in 1995. Amazingly long time back. It's a beautiful song but can't seem to find the single on the Internet. The closest match was sung by this young man in our church which I thought he sang with emotions slightly over the limit. Probably this is what is meant with the saying "Running high on emotions"? If you do come across other variants of this song, please inform me so that I can upload the song here :)

1. I Will Follow After You: (Prefer the video showing lyrics rather than a really raw look! :X)

 

Topic: The Secret to Serving the Lord

The bible tells us the biggest reward we can get is to have a life of perfect health, wealth, well being and wholeness. Everything we have received is by grace and all we have to do is to behold Jesus.

It is painful to be full of yourself, self centered. When you look at an earthly king, you are not transformed. If you look at Jesus, you are transformed.

John 12:26
Verse 26: God loves everyone of us in a special way. Out of all these people, God honours a group of people - to those who serve Jesus. If you serve Jesus, He gives you special rewards. Serving the Lord is not just Christian works. You can be doing alot of things in the name of the Lord but for personal gains or pride. God knows your heart. But first of all, you need to find something in church to get involved in. It is an honour and privilege to serve our Lord. Whatever time you give to the Lord, He will bless and multiply back to you. You cannot or will not lose out serving King Jesus.

Of all the four gospels, there's one that speaks about Jesus being a servant. You can be a CEO of a company, political leader, a father or a social man. Likewise when God sent His son, He knew that one gospel is not enough to portray His beauty.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus is depicted a king. (Lion)
In Mark, Jesus is depicted a an Ox signified as power.
In Luke, Jesus is portrayed as a man. A gospel full of grace.
In John, Jesus comes down as flesh, represented as the eagle. Every leader should have these 4 faces. We got to know when to be a man. You can be a CEO at work, but your wife wants you to be a man at home.

There's a place to be a friend in some social settings.

1 Corinthians 15:58
Verse 58: In God's estimation, no work or labor is in vain in the Lord. The word "steadfast" means to sit. You don't work to be saved. You can do nothing to be saved. In other words, your life is relaxed. When you parent, you parent relaxed, without stress. Christ has redeemed us from all stress. The word "immovable" means nothing can move you from serving the Lord. The word "abounding" means to go beyond the boundaries. In greek it means quality and quantity.

When you look at the gospel of Mark, you see Jesus as a divine servant. That is why you find no background of Jesus in this gospel.

Philippians 2:5-8
Every time you humble yourself, God will promote you. When God exalts you, no one can bring you down or demote you.

There are only 16 chapters in Mark and is the shortest book among the 4 gospels. Mark was written to Gentiles, not Jews. That is why there are no Jewish laws in Mark. Also, there are 3 times more miracles in Mark than in the book of Matthew.

Mark 10:45
Religion will tell you to serve the Lord. Actually it is the Lord who serves us. Even when Jesus was resting at the well, He even blessed the woman who came to serve Him. He wants to wash your feet but do you allow and consent the Lord to do so?

The word "immediately" appears very often in Mark. In chapter 1 it came out 11 times. It is "eutheos" which means straight-away.

Mark has 16 chapters and the word "and" is used so often.

Mark 1:1-4
Verse 3: John is the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

Demons know those who serve the Lord.
In the gospel of Mark, we have 12 accounts of Jesus defeating the demons.

If you want real power of life, learn the spirit of serving and humility.

1. Announced by the forerunner.
2. Approved by the father - Mark 1:10-11
God approves you of Him before you serve.

To submit does not mean to give in to someone smarter, stronger or greater. That is not submitting, that is being threatened. To submit means to give in but yet you are smart. That is why Jesus asks women to submit to their husbands.

3. Anointed by the spirit
4. Assailed by the devil - Mark 1:13
Verse 13: Jesus was tempted for 40 days
Jesus was never tempted to sin. For Jesus, the word "tempted" means "tested" in all points but not pertaining to sin.

5. Acknowledged by the wild beasts - Mark 1:13, ".. and was with the wild beasts".
6. Attended to by angels - Mark 1:13, ".. and the angels ministered to Him".
Acknowledge that you have a myriad of angels with you. God doesn't need your service. He has angels who are never tired to work for you. Angels attend to your way.

2 Timothy 4:11
Verse 11: Mark is useful to Luke in the ministry.

7. Acclaimed by the multitude - Mark 1:32-34
 
Mark Chapter 1 ends with a sunset and the start of chapter 16:2 starts with a sun rise.
Actually He came to our darkness to give us sunrise.

Mark 16:19-20
Verse 20: The Lord works with you when you serve. ".. the Lord working with them.."

In closing,

Jesus says He did not come to be served but to serve. This message is for those who are steadfast and unmovable.