Life In The Spirit

Last week's message on the 'Fullness of the Holy Spirit' brings to a fitting close the series of messages on "Blessings For Your Life ". How good God is, for "His divine power has indeed given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). The Year of Victory does not need to end on 31st December 2007. If we continue to live a life plugged into the power of the Holy Spirit, we will continue to experience new and greater victories as we enter the Year of Sabbath. These victories will come even as we focus on rest and re-creation of our bodies, our soul and spirit man, remembering and relying upon Him, the God of all Creation, who is able to meet our every need. And victories will continue to flow as we focus on rebuilding and restoring the many relationships that God has blessed us with in our lives.

The key to experiencing the true Sabbath rest of God is living life in the Spirit.

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25)

JESUS – Yesterday, Today and Forever !

Even though we were in Israel, we shared the excitement and joy of last week’s 3rd Service.

News came to us that the service was packed to capacity. A record 5,110 people came for this special service where Nick Vujicic ministered with his powerful life testimony of a life lived without limits, displaying the greatness of a God whose grace is sufficient for our every need and whose power is made perfect in our weakness. Hallelujah to His mighty name!

Indeed, Christmas came early for each of the 152 salvations, 222 rededications and 305 who indicated they wanted to know more about Jesus.

Jesus is the reason for the season and the best Christmas gift is to have Him in our hearts. Jesus, the Saviour of the world, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6 )

We’re back from the Israel Encounter. Renewed and refreshed with all that we’ve seen and heard. There’s much we need to reflect, meditate and pray through. We left Israel with a new surge of faith, hope and love and awed by God’s eternal destiny and plan for a world He loves.

What God says, He will do

Shalom from the land of Israel! We are into Day 5 of our journey in the Holy Land. Spent the last few days around the Galilee area, walking in and around the very places where Jesus walked, taught and healed. With help from our knowledgeable guide, we have gained greater understanding of places and events in Bible history. It has inspired all of us to read the Bible more diligently.

As we walked around in Nazareth – a village where nobody thought any good could come out of it (John 1:46) we were reminded again that truly, “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37) Mary, a simple Nazarene village girl, when told by the angel Gabriel that she was chosen to be the mother of the boy child Jesus, was ready to respond, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be done to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)

We are praying for the same flow of faith in our service this weekend. We believe many will be stirred and challenged by the inspiring story and life message of Nick Vujicic. His life also echoes the very same refrain, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

God never makes a mistake. He has a wonderful plan for you. What He says, He will do. This is the God we worship.

Israel Encounter

A team of 46 people, led by Ps Eugene and Ps Julie, leaves this weekend for our first YouthNet Israel Encounter. Ps Melvyn and Ps Linda will lead another team from their networks the following weekend. This trip to the holy land of Israel is an exciting and significant trip for all of us. It is a spiritual journey for believers as we touch the very places where our Lord walked, taught and spent His earthly life 2000 years ago. Tiberias, Sea of Galilee, Nazareth, Dead Sea, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Our God is the Faithful God, who keeps His covenant of love with His people (Deut 7:9). He honours His promises and keeps His Word. Israel is evidence of God's faithfulness to His people. Israel is one big prophetic act of God and the destiny of this nation is interwoven with our Christian destiny.

Please pray with us that as we walk, pray and seek God during this trip, we will develop a greater appreciation and understanding of our Christian roots and heritage. We need the Spirit of revelation so that we will not miss what God wants us to see, hear or do.

We will be praying for you too, especially for the special celebration service next week with the extraordinary Nick Vujicic. Remember to invite your friends!

God Speaks!

I was reflecting on the call of Jesus' first disciples. Jesus saw Matthew. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. (Matthew 9:9) No questions asked. No big debate. No calculations of risk and pondering over "what if".

Similar experiences with the other disciples Jesus called. Simon and Andrew left their nets at once and followed Jesus. James and John did not hesitate to respond to Jesus' call.

Ahh, we sigh... if only knowing God's direction for our lives and for our next step were that simple. But the fact of the matter is... it is that simple when it's the only thing in your life. No competing demands. No rival throne in our hearts....and we serve only Him. Did we complicate things or did things complicate us?

God is a great Communicator! He will get His message through to you, one way or another. He desires to speak to us much more than we desire to speak to Him. So, if we're not hearing Him, where's the problem?

A Time To Rest

A bad bout of stomach flu forced me into rest for two days. Two days of catching up on sleep, taking my time to slowly get out of bed, lingering over each meal and savouring the joy of just being able to eat.

I breathed more deeply, thankful to regain health and life. Simple chores I do everyday take on a new meaning when I do them with appreciation. Opening up the windows to the sky and the fresh air and watching my two resident mynahs pecking away in the garden was a joy to behold. Whether sparrows or mynahs, they remind me of Matthew 6:26-27, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "

In the busyness of life, where stopping to rest has become a luxury, I'm glad for the daily reminder to place my priorities right as a citizen of the Kingdom of God where Jesus our Lord reigns as King !

I'm looking forward to 2008, the Year of Sabbath. It may take us some adjustment to enter into the spirit of the Sabbath. But we are going to enjoy the year with many opportunities to stop and thank God for creating the world as well as providing for His people, so that we can find freedom to enjoy the rest that He prescribes for us.

New Beginnings

We celebrate many new beginnings this past week.

Chew Hiap Iuh ( from Ps Jeffery Lee's tribe ) testified at his baptism on 26th Oct as to how God has changed him from a self-centred young man struggling to find meaning and purpose in life beyond excelling in Tae Kwon Do, to one committed to pursue God. Woken up by a life threatening experience in a whitewater paddling trip, Hiap Iuh found his way to FCBC. He has since experienced the reality of God in restoring his relationship with his mum and in a new walk with God which gives him a future and a hope.

We had our first YouthNet Marriage Encounter Weekend which gave 30 couples a new beginning in their marriage. Some have been married for more than 10 years; a few just barely a year into their marriage. Nonetheless, all were refreshed by the time out for each other and the teachings as well as many practical lessons of how to make a good marriage better.

We congratulate Ps Lawrence Tan and Ps Fei Fei on the arrival of the 3rd child, Jonas on 23rd October.

It was also a new beginning for Ps Roland & Ps Laifun as they celebrated the birth of their first born, Reuel on 30th October. Many more new births to come!

What wonderful new beginnings in this Year of Victory!

Where Are You?

This was the first question God asked. (Genesis 3:9).

Did God not know where Adam was? It was a searching question for Adam who was faced with the first impact of sin and disobedience. Adam was hiding from the Lord and was soon to be expelled from the place of paradise.

In the Old Testament, much of God's blessings for His people are tied to the place they were to be in or to go to. Three blessings follow us when we are in the place where God has called us to be.

Firstly, it will be a place of Faith. You will find faith and you will be able to exercise your faith. Faith is what helps us to activate the promises of God for our life.

Secondly, It will be a place of Freedom. You will be able to grow with God's purposes for your life and be released to use your talents and your giftings to be a blessing to others. You will enjoy the anointing, authority and the resources to do your work well.

Thirdly, it will be a place of Fruitfulness. You will be like a "tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:3)

So... Where are you ?

IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU JESUS

"When the music fades, all is stripped away, and You simply come
Longing just to bring, something that's of worth, that will bless your heart
I'll bring You more than a song, for a song in itself it's not what You have required
You search much deeper within, through the way things appear,
You're looking into my heart
I'm coming back to the heart of worship when it's all about You
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it, when it's all about You
All about You, Jesus"

This song was penned by accomplished song writer and worship leader, Matt Redman, after a season of deep reflection about his heart and attitude each time he leads worship. He was convicted that because of his musicianship and competency in "doing" a good worship, his heart and spirit were sometimes not in the right place and he did not experience his worship as a true encounter with the presence of Almighty God.

I sensed the Lord also wants to hit the pause button with us in our worship here at The MAX Pavilion. We need to take a moment to reflect on, where our heart and spirit is as we come into our time of celebration and worship. I pray that our #1 concern each Sunday is not just that we got the sound right, or the lights synchronised, or that the songs were good and the beat was cool; but really, what kind of heart are we presenting to the Lord?

Worship is not just another experience. We must come with a sacrifice, "something that's of worth". I believe this is a key attitude that will keep our hearts and spirit at the right place.

It's all about you JESUS.

What is your boast?

It's that time of year when budgets, plans, reviews and appraisals fill my thoughts.

I certainly need wisdom and strength to go through this yearly exercise. And I also need riches... (actual and projected ) to try and balance my income and expense budget!

I was glad the Lord brought me to this passage of Scripture in Jeremiah 9:23-24,

"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches, but
let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,
declares the Lord."

I don't want to wait till the Year of Sabbath to find my joy and delight in the Lord.

Let's take a little pause right now to focus our thoughts on what we must finally account for and to pray that we may grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord our God.