Combined Social with Pizzas Galore! (see background)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
BATS 3 alias Shadow
yeah! finally the BATS 3 - Shadow group is up and about! we had a funtastic first meeting playin cranium!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Are You Praying in Faith?
In John 5, the unbelieving Jews were seeking to kill Jesus because Jesus made Himself equal to God by Calling God His Father. And in verse 39 - 44 we find Jesus’ accusation of these unbelieving Jews:
39 “ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
>> these unbelieving Jews read the Bible to obtain eternal life, but they don’t realize that the Bible is all about Jesus
40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
>> even though they seek after eternal life, they won’t get it since they are unwilling to come to Jesus
41 “I do not receive glory from men;
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
>> These unbelieving Jews don’t love God at all
43 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
>> Jesus came, not seeking His own glory, but seeking the Father’s glory and yet, the Jews don’t receive Him which is not surprising since they don’t love God the Father. But, if a cult leader or a false teacher come along seeking his own glory; trying to glorify himself instead of glorifying God the Father; trying to establish his own kingdom rather than build God’s kingdom, these unbelieving Jews will gladly receive such a cult leader.
44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
>> So Jesus ask: how can faith arise in them when all they are concern about is receiving praise and affirmation and approval from each other rather than from God?
Verse 44 is a good verse to meditate on. Jesus ask:how can faith arise when the Glory of God is not on our agenda? I believe one key component of faith is having a mind that is concern for God’s glory.
This has implications on our prayer life: if we are to pray with faith, we need to be concern about God’s glory. In other words, one of the key contributing factor in praying prayers of faith is to pray, being motivated by God’s glory. We pray for things to happen for the purpose that God be glorified.
In our prayer life, there will be many things that will fill our prayer list. So let’s be mindful to be motivated by God’s glory rather than our own glory or our own ministry’s glory or our own church’s glory. We need to see beyond our little kingdom, and be focused on God’s kingdom, God’s glory. If not, our prayers will be stripped of a crucial dimension – the dimension of faith. And one key component of faith is the concern for God’s glory and God’s approval.
So I believe that the person who prays for things to happen because he is concern about God’s glory is the person who is praying prayers of faith! Think about that =D
39 “ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
>> these unbelieving Jews read the Bible to obtain eternal life, but they don’t realize that the Bible is all about Jesus
40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
>> even though they seek after eternal life, they won’t get it since they are unwilling to come to Jesus
41 “I do not receive glory from men;
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
>> These unbelieving Jews don’t love God at all
43 “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
>> Jesus came, not seeking His own glory, but seeking the Father’s glory and yet, the Jews don’t receive Him which is not surprising since they don’t love God the Father. But, if a cult leader or a false teacher come along seeking his own glory; trying to glorify himself instead of glorifying God the Father; trying to establish his own kingdom rather than build God’s kingdom, these unbelieving Jews will gladly receive such a cult leader.
44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
>> So Jesus ask: how can faith arise in them when all they are concern about is receiving praise and affirmation and approval from each other rather than from God?
Verse 44 is a good verse to meditate on. Jesus ask:how can faith arise when the Glory of God is not on our agenda? I believe one key component of faith is having a mind that is concern for God’s glory.
This has implications on our prayer life: if we are to pray with faith, we need to be concern about God’s glory. In other words, one of the key contributing factor in praying prayers of faith is to pray, being motivated by God’s glory. We pray for things to happen for the purpose that God be glorified.
In our prayer life, there will be many things that will fill our prayer list. So let’s be mindful to be motivated by God’s glory rather than our own glory or our own ministry’s glory or our own church’s glory. We need to see beyond our little kingdom, and be focused on God’s kingdom, God’s glory. If not, our prayers will be stripped of a crucial dimension – the dimension of faith. And one key component of faith is the concern for God’s glory and God’s approval.
So I believe that the person who prays for things to happen because he is concern about God’s glory is the person who is praying prayers of faith! Think about that =D
Friday, March 27, 2009
"Does God EXIST?" Outreach 14 Mar 2009
Yup, here's Dr John Massey delivering the message :)
Shu Shu leading "whose line izzit anyway?" Hilarious game... we hadda awesome time =)
1 March BCBA Bulletin - Pastoral Desk - C L
Hearing God’s Voice, Knowing God’s Will
Time and again, this topic of God’s voice/ God’s will have been surfacing in my life. Last year, at the IDMC conference, Rev Edmund Chan talks about doing what’s most ‘efficacious’. But what’s most efficacious actually begins with knowing what exactly God’s will is. So in other words, doing what’s efficacious means doing God’s will no matter how silly that is in the natural. Problem is, discerning God’s will might well be one of the hardest things to determine depending on the complexity of the circumstance.
Also last year, Gordon T. Smith, former dean of Regent College, (His published works include Listening to God in Times of Choice (IVP, 1997), Courage and Calling (IVP, 1999), The Voice of Jesus (IVP, 2003) ) was invited to Singapore Bible College to deliver a series of lectures. He believes that every Christian should be able to answer two questions. First, what do you think Jesus is saying to you at this point in your life, in the context of the challenges and opportunities you are facing? Second, what indicators give you some measure of confidence that it is indeed Jesus speaking to you rather than someone or something else? So I had the privilege of discussing Gordon Smith’s lecture notes with our two STEP intern, Leroy and Wei-long just two weeks ago. And going through the various pointers and guidelines that Gordon Smith gave in discerning God’s will was really helpful at least for myself in thinking through my own process of decision making. But alas, at the end of the day, we recognised that there are really no fixed formulas or foolproof methods in determining God’s will. I guess discerning God’s will is more of an art as oppose to an exact science.
Just last week, in one of our BATS CCG meeting, we were going through Nehemiah Unit 2 and we were discussing about how Nehemiah “prayed in line with God’s word”; requesting for God to grant him favour with the Persian king to grant him permission to embark on a wall-building project. One question that was raised was how does Nehemiah know that God had indeed called him for the job? Or that the timing for the job is now? Did God spoke to him audibly or did God impressed thoughts into his hearts during his time of fasting and prayer? Or did he act in faith (not knowing whether it is really God’s will) due to the burden that he had for the safety of his people? Since Nehemiah didn’t really specify, we won’t really know HOW he came to know God’s will (yet we do know that what he did was indeed in line with God’s word and will). Contrast this with the experience Paul had in Acts 16:6-10.
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
At this point, for Paul to preach the gospel to Asia or Bithynia would be in line with God’s word but not in line with God’s will. Here, we know very clearly HOW Paul knew God’s will (as to where he should preach the gospel) which is through a combination of “the Holy Spirit/ the Spirit of Jesus” and a vision of “a man of Macedonia”. Do you see it now? This is precisely why knowing God’s will is so super tough. Most of the time, the average Christian is not cracking his brains figuring out whether he should choose between what’s good and what’s evil; what’s moral and what’s immoral. But our battle in times of choice is between what’s good and what’s best. As Gordon Smith aptly puts it: “good is the enemy of best” which is why at times, in discerning God’s specific will, looking to the word is (let me say this very reverently) not very helpful. The word would have us know that we ought to give to the poor but doesn’t say which charity to give to. The word would have us know that we ought to preach the gospel but doesn’t say to which people group to preach to first (as in Paul’s case). So what then shall we say to all these? Again, as I have stated, earlier, no fixed formulas, no foolproof method. Discerning God’s will is an art that is founded upon our relationship with God and just as with any relationship, it may take some time, some trials, some errors (on our part of course) before we can confidently recognise that still small voice.
Time and again, this topic of God’s voice/ God’s will have been surfacing in my life. Last year, at the IDMC conference, Rev Edmund Chan talks about doing what’s most ‘efficacious’. But what’s most efficacious actually begins with knowing what exactly God’s will is. So in other words, doing what’s efficacious means doing God’s will no matter how silly that is in the natural. Problem is, discerning God’s will might well be one of the hardest things to determine depending on the complexity of the circumstance.
Also last year, Gordon T. Smith, former dean of Regent College, (His published works include Listening to God in Times of Choice (IVP, 1997), Courage and Calling (IVP, 1999), The Voice of Jesus (IVP, 2003) ) was invited to Singapore Bible College to deliver a series of lectures. He believes that every Christian should be able to answer two questions. First, what do you think Jesus is saying to you at this point in your life, in the context of the challenges and opportunities you are facing? Second, what indicators give you some measure of confidence that it is indeed Jesus speaking to you rather than someone or something else? So I had the privilege of discussing Gordon Smith’s lecture notes with our two STEP intern, Leroy and Wei-long just two weeks ago. And going through the various pointers and guidelines that Gordon Smith gave in discerning God’s will was really helpful at least for myself in thinking through my own process of decision making. But alas, at the end of the day, we recognised that there are really no fixed formulas or foolproof methods in determining God’s will. I guess discerning God’s will is more of an art as oppose to an exact science.
Just last week, in one of our BATS CCG meeting, we were going through Nehemiah Unit 2 and we were discussing about how Nehemiah “prayed in line with God’s word”; requesting for God to grant him favour with the Persian king to grant him permission to embark on a wall-building project. One question that was raised was how does Nehemiah know that God had indeed called him for the job? Or that the timing for the job is now? Did God spoke to him audibly or did God impressed thoughts into his hearts during his time of fasting and prayer? Or did he act in faith (not knowing whether it is really God’s will) due to the burden that he had for the safety of his people? Since Nehemiah didn’t really specify, we won’t really know HOW he came to know God’s will (yet we do know that what he did was indeed in line with God’s word and will). Contrast this with the experience Paul had in Acts 16:6-10.
6 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; 7 and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
At this point, for Paul to preach the gospel to Asia or Bithynia would be in line with God’s word but not in line with God’s will. Here, we know very clearly HOW Paul knew God’s will (as to where he should preach the gospel) which is through a combination of “the Holy Spirit/ the Spirit of Jesus” and a vision of “a man of Macedonia”. Do you see it now? This is precisely why knowing God’s will is so super tough. Most of the time, the average Christian is not cracking his brains figuring out whether he should choose between what’s good and what’s evil; what’s moral and what’s immoral. But our battle in times of choice is between what’s good and what’s best. As Gordon Smith aptly puts it: “good is the enemy of best” which is why at times, in discerning God’s specific will, looking to the word is (let me say this very reverently) not very helpful. The word would have us know that we ought to give to the poor but doesn’t say which charity to give to. The word would have us know that we ought to preach the gospel but doesn’t say to which people group to preach to first (as in Paul’s case). So what then shall we say to all these? Again, as I have stated, earlier, no fixed formulas, no foolproof method. Discerning God’s will is an art that is founded upon our relationship with God and just as with any relationship, it may take some time, some trials, some errors (on our part of course) before we can confidently recognise that still small voice.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Young Adult Ministry Significant Dates for 2009
14 Mar sat YA Outreach #1 (evening) – N5
21 Mar sat YA Combine Social
06 Jun sat YA Retreat/Outreach #2 (daytime retreat with outreach in evening) – N5
13 Jun sat YA Combine Social
10 Oct sat Youth & Young Adults Night O Worship & Prayer (evening) – N5
19 Dec sat YA Christmas Outreach #3 (late afternoon) – Outside Church
21 Mar sat YA Combine Social
06 Jun sat YA Retreat/Outreach #2 (daytime retreat with outreach in evening) – N5
13 Jun sat YA Combine Social
10 Oct sat Youth & Young Adults Night O Worship & Prayer (evening) – N5
19 Dec sat YA Christmas Outreach #3 (late afternoon) – Outside Church
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