Sunday Evening Service Sermon: Posture of a Trailblazer

From: Matt 12:34

• If the posture of our heart is not right, we amount to nothing.
  
  
• Skills and talents have their places, but posture speaks so much louder.
  
  
• Do not allow the posture for recognition and fame to overrule you. What are you driven by?

3 things about the posture of a trailblazer:

1. Posture of love:

From Romans 1:1 - Paul, a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Paul was willing to serve the Master out of his love.
  
  
• He who experiences forgiveness deep enough will love deep enough.
  
  
• If the person who does not understand the ugliness of sin, he will not know how to love God.
  
  
• Know how terrible sin and how great it is to be redeemed from hell!

From Acts 20:32 -36

• Paul has learnt to assimilate the love of God to others. He just couldn’t refuse to love others because God has given and loved him.
  
  
• Love people not with words alone, but with actions; even people who are difficult to love.
  
  
• It’s time to authenticate our calling; many are called, but few are chosen.
  
  

From Acts 20:36 – 21:1

• Love people! Paul’s life and giving has impacted so many around him.
  
  
• Do not choose to give in to fleshy dictates.
  
  
• We may have lots of talents, but is the posture right? Man look at the outward appearance, but God looks on the inside.
  
  
• Be mindful of the purpose and calling God has for us.
  
  

From 2 Cor 5:11-19

• The love of Christ compels us.
  
  
• Ask of God to give an opportunity to nurture this posture of love.
  
  

From Matt 16
2. Posture of Total Reliance:

• Paul was a born leader; leadership traits clearly shown even when he was a top Pharisee.
  
  
• When he was born again, his leadership qualities showed themselves again.
  
  
• Paul became leader of the mission team.
  
  

From 1 Cor 2: 1 – 5

• Paul totally relied on the ability of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he preached.
  
  
• He directed everyone else to the Lord.
  
  
• Do not use our abilities to serve the Lord, because when we cannot, we will give up.
  
  
• Have we compromise our convictions in our field of work?
  
  

From Isa 53:7 onwards
3. Posture of humility & brokenness:

• Yield to the will of God.
  
  
• When we stop short of doing the work of God, we are actually depending on our own strength.
  
  
• There are some things that we cannot improve by training.
  
  
• Doing is never the issue, but the intent and motive of doing.
  
  
• You must have a vision!
  
  
• Without a vision, people lose their way.

Today's P & W theme...

What we have for cell group today was the screening of the movie "Facing the Giants"...

Everything worked well for the purpose and glory of the Lord. Although there is only 1 soul. We thank God for the soul.

The movie mentioned about trusting in God at all times, stepping out of fear, and preparing the fields for the rain God would send in time. Most of all, the movie mentioned about living a life, not just concerned about winning games, being successful and at the peak of the glory of one's life. It focuses on things which are eternal. About a life that is worth living our efforts out.

The movie spoke for itself, just as much as how the Lord has led me to prepare the theme for P & W (although we did not have P & W today, nonetheless, God was leading...)

Today the P & W theme was: "If the day when we die, and leave this earth, what would be inscribed on your tombstone? What would your epitaph be like?"

According to John 19:19 - 21, Jesus's epitaph when he was crucified on the cross was: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." The Pharisees were offended, seeing it as a mockery. True followers of Christ saw that as the truth and fact, the best epitaph ever for the servant King who would be indeed the King of the Jews, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings.

But for us, what would be our epitaph? What are we investing in our present moment of life that would contribute to the things people will remember us in loving memory of? What kind of legacy, testimony or impact do we have on people?


But I said, "I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand, and my reward is with my God.“
-Isaiah49:4

Are we laboring for nothing? Have we spend our entire lives chasing after the wind? In vanity of vanities? Or are we investing in the eternal?

The movie coincides with what the Lord has burdened upon my heart... I have not been investing in eternal... At least not good enough according to what the Lord has convicted me of...

What about you?

Let's take time to pray for ourselves... Father, truly let us prepare the fields for the rain You will send... Let our lives be not just living for our own glory, but to Yours, to the things You call Eternal. Through this manner, our lives will be worth living for You, that we will leave legacies and impact in people's lives for Your namesake. We ask of You in Jesus's name. Amen.

A voice of proclamation

"And Pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should" - Colossians 4:3-4

Here in this passage the apostle Paul was asking that the church in Colosse pray for him, first for open doors and then for clarity. Note however the word that is repeated twice, once each in each verse: proclaim.

Why was the word "proclaim" used? Why not another word, such as "spread" or "share" or maybe "speak"? A quick search on Dictionary.com gives us definitions of the word proclaim as "to indicate or make known openly or publicly", "to declare" and "to extol or praise publicly". Now looking at such definitions, we can understand a little better why is it "proclaim" instead of simply "speak" or "share".

Proclaiming something means to declare it. It comes with gusto, it comes with voice and strength. One does not proclaim something with a small voice, neither does he do so with a bowed head. When a person proclaims something, he does so with a firm look, his posture is stable, he does not show sign of wavering. A proclamation is an active, effort-requiring act. This is how Jesus wants us to speak about Him. For when we speak of the King of kings, we should do so with pride and honour as is befitting of the Mighty One.

Note also that Paul says "as I should" (Col 4:4). This is to say, not just should we take note of the way we speak the Gospel, but also the fact that we should speak it. Just as Jonah was tasked to proclaim the Word of the LORD to the 120,000 people of Nineveh, we also are tasked to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Christ to the people around us. Let us then "be bold and courageous" (Joshua 1:9) and carry out this task. Tarry no longer, and stutter no further. Declare the Gospel publicly with love and action, with boldness and firmness, praise and extolling. And surely the Lord is with us when we do this. Amen.

It's SEMESTER BREAK!

Hey.

It's semester break and for this week's cell group, we're having something different!

We'll have a movie screening of Facing the Giants.

Do take this chance to invite your friends to come. Snacks and drinks will be provided too!

Here are some of the details to note.
Date: 27 February 2008, Wednesday
Venue: NTU (exact room that we'll be using will be confirmed)
Time: 6 pm (for a short time of interaction); 6.30 pm (movie screening starts)

Please confirm with me who's coming by Wednesday morning. Thanks.

* Please note that cell group will be as per normal if we do not have friends coming.

Don't give up this Faith

People, this was the same skit that Adrian's Cell Group had presented on the Youth Thanksgiving Svc. Personally, I am being ministered by the skit. Many a times, we are lured by the worldly things around us or at times just compromise and take the second best that the world offers us. Like the girl in the skit, she found herself trapped and confused.

People, trust God and put your faith in Him.

Abundance and Joy in God

This is one of the visions that God gave me during altar call some time back.

An African girl said to me : Sister, with God, there is abundance.Love God. There is joy in God.She smiled at me . It was a smile radiating the pureness and joy of having Christ in her life.She drew a heart and in the heart, was God written on it.

One heart all filled up with God to experience abundance and joy.

A certain hunger

The Lord spoke to me during my devotion time this evening:

"The labourer's appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on" - Proverbs 16:26

A short verse, but let us see what it tells us:

1. We are labourers as God's people. We work for His godly and spiritual things. We also are labourers in this world. We work for worldly things such as money and material possesions.

2. What makes a labourer work? As a labourer works to earn his food and a living, so our appetite fuels our desire to work. The larger our appetites, the harder we want to work to fill it.

3. "His hunger drives him on" - Hunger - it is not just a whim, or a passing desire that the labourer works. He is hungry. He needs food, he wants food. He is driven by the hunger. An appetite means nothing without the desire to fill it. This desire is the hunger. How hungry the labourer is will determine how hard he works. A starving person would grab and gobble food that is offered, compared to a person who just eats for leisure, at his own time.

So...

Shall we then as labourers, examine our appetites and hunger? If we fill our spiritual appetites and hunger, we build up our spiritual body, which lasts forever but if we fill our worldly appetites and hunger, we build up a store of wrath for ourselves. Therefore in things of God, let us have huge appetites and great hunger; better yet, let it be an insatiable appetite and an unending hunger. But for things of the world, let us fast. Take what you need, no more and no less, as the LORD our God instructed the people of Israel in gathering manna in the desert. Be careful not to take more what than you need, or it might turn to dust just as it did in the hands of the Isrealites, and you would have gathered it for nothing. And the Lord is good, for he will not let us starve in the flesh, and he will satisfy our godly hunger with an abundant flow.

May the LORD our God fill us with this godly hunger, and may we find fulfilment in the Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Call on the Name of the Lord

Call on the Name of the Lord people! A song to encourage you all. Luv ya!!!!!

What God says about Obedience

God prompted me to post this entry about obedience. I pray that as you read it, you will rethink your relationship with God, and allow Him to partner with you as you walk in obedience to Him. He's always for us, not against us.

Why do we obey God?

God can do exceedingly great things through one man or woman who is willing to be obedient to God's voice. God calls us to be obedient to that small voice inside that can direct us to sometimes do strange things. Jesus was obedient in ALL things.

"For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Rom 5:19).

Obedience frees us to experience the joy of life.

Obedience to God sets us free from the chains of sin. Free to be all that we can be. Free to love to fullest.

If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, "You call this Christianity?" We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.
When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, "I will never accept anything from anyone." But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationships we have with others should be any different from those the Lord Himself had.

A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, "I will not cause other people to suffer"? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.

Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.--My Utmost For His Highest

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

One of my fav songs