16 February 2014

Praise and Worship: Excellent songs! Awesome P&W!

1. We Are The Free

 

2. Freely forgiven

 

3. Believe

4. With all I am

 

Video highlights of the USA Tour in November 2013 is aired for the congregation.

If all that is in the video is called glory, how much more can we expect since this year is the year of greater glory? Let's get ready to expect more.

Two years ago due to curiosity, Pastor browsed through some websites to see what is being preached around the world. He chanced upon a man sharing on the topic of finances. God impressed on Pastor to read that sermon.

In that sermon, the foreign minister happened to talk about Pastor Prince. In that message, he taught about tithing to your perfect local church and belittled the little church. Then he went on to list down the local churches. Pastor was grieved when he heard that and he went to the Lord. God revealed to him that there are so many people watching Pastor Prince ministries that all of them are lost and do not know where to go. That happened 2 years ago, in early 2012.

God showed Pastor that he needed to plant a church overseas. So, Pastor prophesied to Pastor Keith that he will be the Pastor in Dallas. Pastor then went on to make it clear that the overseas church is not affiliated to NCC in any way and that their funds are independent.

Diving right into the Word:

The woman caught in adultery is shared in the Gospel of John. It is a representation of Israel committing adultery. We all know only the one without sin can cast the first stone. Jesus then tells the woman that He does not condemn her, go and sin no more.

Today we are preaching a gospel of no-condemnation to the people. Unfortunately, there are many who are unhappy with this message. Most of them are theologians.

Jesus gave her no condemnation to empower her to sin no more. Today, the church says to go and sin no more first, then we will not condemn you. The more guilty they feel will make them even more prone to committing the same mistake. If you believe you are not condemned, you will go and sin no more.

Pastor reads a testimony from Arizona.
This brother was addicted to alcohol for 31 years. It got so bad that his liver expanded and made his heart protrude. The book of Right Believing changed his life. God delivered him halfway throughout the book. In the letter he says, "Fear and guilt feeds addiction". Since then he threw away $400 worth of booze and never touched alcohol for 5 weeks now.

Don't think for one moment that God has went soft. He still upheld the law when he forgave the woman. Jesus did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill the law. Don't misunderstand that. Once the law has been fulfilled, we do not need to be under the law anymore.

For the woman to be under the conscious of no condemnation, Jesus would have to bear the sin for the woman. The just has to die for the unjust. Jesus came not to condemn but to save the world.

Jesus saw the multitudes like sheep without a shepherd. Today, there are leaders who see their people fainting but say they have no discipline. This is not how Jesus sees us today. Jesus only sees that the sheep do not have a shepherd.

Some things come by growth. Just keep on feeding and the dead leaves will drop.

Don't see others who are committing sins as rebellion. Just see them as a sheep without a shepherd.

Sometimes we put too much expectation on others. We forget Jesus is patient to us.

Because God is holy and so He needs to be punished on the cross.

God says every sins must be punished. Jesus says, "I will carry their sins."

You can say you can stop smoking anytime. It's not that my friend, when you try to stop, you will find that you are in bondage to that sin.

Christ came to deliver us from our self.

John 8:56-59
Verse 57: Jesus did not say he saw Abraham. The Pharisees missed the point.
Verse 58: Jesus said before Abraham, "I AM."

In the midst of the burning bush, Moses heard God to deliver the people. The Lord said, "I am that I am." In essence that is a blank cheque to what you are facing today.

Verse 59: The Jews took up stones and wanted to stone Jesus. They understood what they meant.

When you are full of self, you will miss God's blessings under your breath.

Back to Verse 59, it ended to say Jesus is in the midst.

Many years ago in 1700 there was a lady called Lady Anne. She was very adamant in telling people there was no god. Before she died in 1713, she continued to tell people that there is no afterlife. She says even at her deathbed, if Jesus is real, may tress grow out of her tomb. (Her tomb was made of marble) Many years after she died, they noticed the cover of the tomb had moved. Today, seven trees have grown out and under her tomb. This phenomenon is documented today. If you think about it, Heaven actually took up her challenge. So, it's your call to believe today.

Today if you do not accept God's blessings, Jesus will just pass by. He will go somewhere to pour it on. See the next few verses.

John 9:1-8
Verse 1: Right after Jesus passed by in the previous verse, Jesus say a man who was blind from birth. His grace is for those who need it.
Verse 2: His disciples then asked who sinned for this man to be born blind. This is not the question of who sinned. The disciples were engrossed in the topic of sin. Today many Christians are like this too. Why make big of darkness where light has come? Why talk about the devil who hates you than talk about Jesus who loves you dearly?
Verse 3: Jesus said if he is blind, I am the light of the world. Stop saying why are you in darkness. Don't ever let anyone take you to that place.
Verse 4: Jesus says as long I'm in the world, I am the light of the world. It's like as though He's saying, as long as there's sorrow, I am here.
Verse 6: Jesus spat on the ground and made clay. So why did Jesus do that? We are made from the ground. The act of spitting is humiliating. The only part in the book of Matthew tells us that Jesus was spat in the face. Spitting is an emblem of shame. Clay is an emblem of man/flesh. Jesus is demonstrating to seeing Jesus in flesh is not the answer. You must see Jesus not His humbling self but see Him dying for our sins.

John 9:14-17
Verse 17: The man who was healed says Jesus is a prophet. Then the Jews summoned his parents.
Verse 25: When your friends argue with you, you can tell them, "Once thing I know: that though I was blind, now i see."

John 9:22-41
Verse 27: The man repeats to the Jews that he does not know why and how he was healed. If you want to glorify the Lord, testify the Lord and He will back you up. There's no such thing as a secret christian.

Verse 30-32: The man started to preach to the theologians.

Verse 34: The Jews cast him out.
Verse 35: Then Jesus asked if he believe in the Son of God? Jesus seldom reveals Himself.
Verse 36: The man believed and worshiped Jesus.

Jesus saw a man in darkness and brought him to light. That's what Jesus does with us. Jesus came from the uttermost to bring us to the uttermost.

This reminds us of the woman at the well. At first she saw Jesus as a Jew. Jesus talked to her some more and revealed her past. Then she called her a Sir. Then she goes around sharing with others about a man who revealed her past. She then calls Him a Messiah.

Verse 39-41:
God can look at the blind and say it's ok, I will help you. But those who say they can see, then their sins remains.

In closing,

At the end of the day, why are we living our life? To get a million, Pastor.
But Jesus said, I came to set you free.
Pastor! I'm a free thinker!
You may think you are a free thinker, but you think sinful thoughts.
Jesus says, whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

We are against sin but for the sinner.

2 February 2014 - Pastor Mark

Praise and Worship: Adeline first led the worship today with a Hokkien song. Can't locate it online. Nice. Recently, I noticed something different with worship. Maybe it started while I was in Mongolia last few weeks. Well, I thought there was really impact and it reminded me on the similarity with Hillsong worship services. During the midst of the third song, Pastor Dan came onstage to pronounce God's blessings on us. This was what Pastor Lawrence did last week too. After that, we continued with songs and honestly I thought  it was good. Enjoyed it entirely.
Sharing with everyone some of the great songs we sang.

1) Magnificent

2) I Could Sing of Your Love Forever

Before service starts, the Visual Arts Ministry aired a video titled "家". In this awesome video, it showed a mother named Martha who worked tirelessly for the family. Martha cooks and prepares the reunion dinner for the family. Not only that, she cleans, take cares of the children and grandpa. It depicts a wonderful mother who works non-stop but at times chides her husband and children over failure in doing well over some tasks.

When relatives gathered together over dinner, one asked her husband what is he busy with at work recently. Martha answers almost immediately on her husband's behalf explaining he is in his own business but in actual fact is jobless.
Further on in the clip, it showed a broken family portrait and sent a message to everyone saying that things broken can be mended. It is not about portraying the to-look-good on ourselves to others. It highlighted the importance staying together as a family.

Interestingly, I've found some related videos on YouTube. Enjoy! I believe the video should be up in the next couple of days.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX6obloRP4E
Behind-the-scenes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgWsfuCjhXY

Pastor Mark comes onstage and received a very warm welcome by everyone. He was beaming with happiness and the crowd had some good laughs when he started speaking.

We are not perfect but we have God who is perfect. Today Pastor Mark has a special message to bless all of us.

On the topic of the video titled "家": A family is always about love, acceptance and security. But sometimes in life, under the fallen nature, we want to look good and impress others. We are not meant to live on our own. Because of sin, it reaches to the depth of our conscious. It gives us a sense of under qualification and a sense of shame. When we have these senses, we feel that we need to impress others. Due to the pressure, we forget the definition of all festive seasons. It is not how other people look at you but how God looks at you.

The most important part is that we do not have to sweep everything under the carpet. As you get married, we all have a similar thought of having a good family. As children come about, things may change. We face pressure at work and in families. But because of the responsibility, we have so much pressure. In fact, all of children want to study well and want to make our parents proud. We parents can never question the kid why they cannot be like us 10 years ago. There was no Internet in the past, no Instagram or Facebook. Times have changed.

When you are so under stress, we say very hurting words. We are here not to blame each other. Every biological family we come from, we cannot change these things. But we have God who can change things.

Pastor Mark shared that in the past, when his wife comes to him with all sorts of problems, he gets angry when he cannot come up with a solution. He throws his temper and gives up on those problems before him. He shared that that behaviour is what he saw from his parents when growing up and he just behaved in the same manner. We tend to follow our earthly fathers. They are not perfect. But today, we can behave like our heavenly Father, who is compassionate and full of love.

Pastor then goes on to illustrate the durian. When we finish consuming durian, we end up with the fragrance of durian. But if we were wash our hands using the husk, notice all smell is gone.

Today what is the solution to all our problems? Another family is the solution. Be in the house of God, surrounded with many families of Christ.

Jesus says when you look at Me, you will know my Father.
Jesus came to give us a connection to God. Jesus always give us the consciousness of God. We forgive as God has forgive us. We learn everything from Him.

As we receive His love, we begin to forgive others.

Without Jesus in our lives, we are in an entire mess. Jesus says to those who are weary and heavy laden, "Come onto Me." There is a place of rest because Jesus came to give us rest.

Pastor illustrates another example:
Every Singaporeans need to take a lift. All lifts come with a counter weight feature to lift the lift up. Using the same logic, Jesus came down (the weights) so that we can go up to heavenly places. He came down to give us peace. Jesus can meet your needs.

Being able to love your family is a gift from God. We all need hugs and to hug.
A family is a place of love and acceptance. Parents, please hug your sons and daughters. Especially when they are growing up, they need more hugs. Some say, if you don't hug, others will hug on your behalf. Kids are constantly looking for love and acceptance. The more we hug them, the more others have no chance to hug.

In fact, when wives come to you with tons of problems, they are not really asking you for solutions. They just want a hug from you.

God looks out for your mistakes to love you.
A future with no Jesus is no future. So what you have all the certificates in the world.
Grace is when you don't deserve it.

Pastor shared about her daughter's growing up years. During Secondary 3, her daughter asked if a Nintendo DS can be her reward when she passed her mother tongue. Being a father, he agreed to it because it is easy to give. Unfortunately, she failed and was afraid to face her parents. One day, Pastor brought her daughter to buy a Nintendo DS which caught her daughter by surprise. She said why buy her the gift when she failed. This was when Pastor told her that he still loves her even though she fail. This example was an unforgettable experience for her daughter and it is also through this experience she believed her father really love her.

In life, it is not just about education. It is the grace of God.

You may be sitting there saying "Aiya Pastor, my daughter grow up already. Now got other problems, it's too late already."

We always say "If early know, I won't do this, won't do that." We don't have to "early know". Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega and is all knowing. There's no need for us to "early know".

Jesus knows all your fears and He still loves you. Despite all your shortcoming, He still blesses you this coming year.

God finds every way to bless us. For every new failings, He gives you more abounding grace. God used all the He has to bless us through His son.

In the first message of the year, Pastor Prince shared about the oil. Jacob failed God and He appeared to him at Bethel. God is for you and forgives you.

Genesis 28:17

Verse 17: Jacob saw the gates of heavens.

We can tell everything to our kids but if they don't believe them, it is pointless. We need our kids to believe is us. Similarly, we should put all our trust in Him.

John 1:51
Verse 51: Jesus is the Son of man. Jesus come down to bless everyone of us. The church is the gate of heavens.

Acts 3 talks about a lame man. When Peter appeared at the beautiful (美) gate, he asked the man to arise in the name of Jesus. The man rose up. Just like this man, we are lame, poor and we can't walk properly. We are all dysfunctional. But we have Jesus today.

The word "smelly" (臭) in Chinese, is made up of the words "自" + "大" and '.

We need to hear more about Jesus. We are always thinking of how to be blessed.
Even Abraham thought so. God told Abraham that He is his protector. Then Abraham asked how does he know he will inherit His blessings? God asked him to take a turtle dove and cut them apart. God is telling him that His blood has been paid for you.

Romans 3:25-26
Because you believe in His finished work, he has no choice but to bless you.

The people in Israel knows how the year will be. When the people hear the bells on the high priest's legs, they know it is a good year. Though the year haven't passed yet, they know it is a great year.

The anointing and the blood of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of all good things this year.

Isaiah 60:1-2
The glory of the Lord is upon us. The Lord will rise and shine upon us. His glory will be seen upon us. Today the news tell us all sorts of bad news. But this verse is for us in these times.

In closing,

福星高照 - Pastor says God is shining on you right now.

19 January 2014

Praise and Worship: Today we sang this old song titled "I Will Follow After You". As we sang along, I noticed there was an addition of bridge to the song. Nice. Even without it, it's still nice. I recall posting the song (down-loadable) in one of my blog entries.

Topic: Grace and Truth is One

The bible tells us there was an offering in the old testament called the flower. On the bronze alter, there are four corners, a representation of the cross. Your hands has to be laid on the lamb for your sins to go into the lamb. The lamb's righteousness are transferred to you and the lamb is killed. As you walk away, you become righteous. The smoke that goes up becomes a sweet smelling fragrance to the Lord. This reminds God of Christ' death. Now, you walk away like the best thing on earth. Because Jesus died on the cross as if He was you. You become righteous because Jesus received our sins. God's blessings rest on us.

Pastor shared about a conversation with a brother from overseas. They talked about Christians not understanding the good news we have today.

The fullness of grace wasn't preached by Jesus when he was on earth. He was born under law to redeem us from the law. Jesus, the original law giver on the sermon on the mount, was talking to people under the law. He was clarifying His intentions of the law. Jesus brought the law back to its purity. Jesus told them the law was designed to bring out our guiltiness.

Law means what you are to be before God. Grace means what He will do for you.

Jesus came to bring grace because the law existed already. People sometimes say it's good to bring back grace but we need to tell them the truth. The thing is, a bread is not a bread when it has butter on it. It is butter bread.

God never separates grace and truth.

In John 1:17
Verse 17: The law was given by Moses. Moses is a servant. The servant does not abide in the house forever but the son does. Your son inherits but the servant doesn't. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The separation is between law and grace and truth on the other side. God joins grace and truth. What God has joined, let no man separate them.

The law says "I will not forget your sins, I will visit your sins to your children's children." The curse exist. But we as believers are no under the curse. Jesus wore the crown of thorns. Thorns symbolises us redeemed from the curse.

God says under grace very clearly, "I remember your sins no more." That means there once He remembered but now not anymore. A sin can never be judged twice. So what has happened? The death of Jesus Christ. We have been saved once and for all and now we are learning this fact.

The law is, "You shall you shall you shall". Grace is, "I will I will I will".

The word "grace and truth" is a beautiful word that means pure grace.

When Jesus turned water into wine, He was demonstrating that He can compress time. The law is so perfect but it cannot make you holy. Grace is even higher than the law. What grace demands, grace supplies.

"Grace and truth" are two items. Two items mean plural. For e.g. We say Jack and Jill play to win. We don't say Jack and Jill plays to win. Correct?
But for this verse in Greek, it is "grace and truth comes". It literally means grace and truth is one item.

In Genesis 22, the verse says that Abraham brought his son to be sacrificed. All the while, God is showing us His son, not Abraham's son. Just as he was about to plunge the knife down, God stopped him and said. "I know that you fear me and love me. You did not withheld your son." So today we can look to God and say, "I know you loved me because you did not withheld your Son."

The mother's blood does not touch the baby. Studies have confirmed this. The umbilical cord brings food to the baby while the baby's waste goes to the mother. The blood of Jesus comes from heaven and is pure and not stained by Mary's sinful blood. Jesus' blood is to be shed for all mankind.

This year is the year of greater glory. He wore a crown of thorns to crown you with glory. That's the love of God.

Anything that you experience in life is to let you know the great God. God made good food to be enjoyed. If God didn't want us to enjoy, then why did He give us taste buds? He wants us to remember the source is Him. God made Adam named the animals before We came. This was because he would appreciate Eve more when she came. When Adam saw his need, God brought Eve from Adam's side. That's where all DNA comes from.

Every marriage needs a third party - Jesus. You quarrel and quarrel, Jesus holds your marriage together.

God created Adam and Eve to let us know the existence of Christ and the Church.

Ephesians 5:25
Verse 25: Christ loved the church and gave himself for the church. He didn't just give up His Kingdom, He gave up Himself. If the word "Himself" is not there, it still sounds ok. But by putting in "Himself" makes it even more heartwarming to hear.

When you partake of the holy communion, don't just parrot your Pastors. Know who you are talking to.

What you say carry weight (glory). Whatever the world says about you does not carry weight.

The church is the most powerful thing on earth. There will be new viruses this year, but His hope is in the church. Make practical use of the church. That is why there are seven church in the book of Revelation.

Ephesians 1:19-23
Verse 19: The cancer disappears because of this mighty power in this verse.
Verse 20: Right hand is the place of power. He sat down because He did a complete work in removing all your sins. He sat down because His work is finished.
Verse 21: This right hand in heavenly places is a place far above all principalities.

Flesh can never overcome flesh. Pastor shared an incident where he witnessed a male about to beat up his other half. Naturally, he wanted to step up to confront the man. But he felt the Holy Spirit in him telling him to say a prayer. He did so and made said a pryaer to break the power of darkness. Right before his eyes, everything ceased and both of them just hugged each other.

Verse 22: He put all things under His feet and He is head of all things in the church - for the benefit of the church. You are the church. It's for your benefit. Use your authority. Don't just watch from a distance.

It is not about who you are, it is about whose you are.

Ephesians 5:28-33
Verse 28: Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.
Verse 29: Cherishes is a word "keep warm". Just like Jesus just holds us.
Verse 30: We are members of His flesh and bones. Is His bones sick?

Acts 9:1-7
Verse 4: God said "Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" In essence, Saul was persecuting the church. But God said "Me". That's the full truth. He did not say "Why are you persecuting us?" The weakest member in the body of Christ is Himself. Just like the vine and the branches. All of you branches, make up Christ. The same health, wisdom, glory that flows in that vine, flows in you. Your part is not to produce. Your part is to rest then God flows in us to produce a beautiful fruit.

In closing,

There was a time in Israel history where people asked why are their salaries put in a bags of holes. The message is for us today. God is saying to us to get involved in the church if you want to meet your needs today. Christianity is not about being solo. We are all the body of Christ. Get involved in service. Get involved in the church. We have care groups for you to have bodily life. All good things are found in the house. There's also accountability in the house. Time given to the church will never be lost. You try to save your life, you lose it. That's the mystery God has placed in the church.