Tuesday, September 30, 2008
2818
Greetings to all brothers and sisters in Christ,
Perhaps, most of us are very familiar with our church vision -Matthew 28:18-20-
" 81Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Perhaps, many of you have been hearing this statement for hundreds times. But right now, i would like to share my little thoughts on this statement.
Just few years back, while doing my usual routine, suddenly there's this quote sparked in my mind which i believe is strongly from the Lord. It says
"All disciples are Christians, but not all Christians are disciples". Reckoning upon the spontaneous quote again, i find it actually makes sense. Utter truth. When i re-read the greatest commission of Jesus Christ to His disciples, He commanded "...therefore, go and make
disciples...." He did not say "Go and make believers...."....
I was once again convicted by the word "disciple" by Jesus.
Disciples literally does not mean just believers, but followers of Christ. And following of His saying, He mentioned "...and teaching them to obey everything that i have commanded..."
Wow... It's aligned! A follower that obey the commandments. And after i read the Greatest Commission over and over again, I believe that we, Mad Gen should not just build believers of Christ and just stop at there, but beyond that, let us continue on and build strong and biblical people.... strong and biblical students...strong and biblical youths for this generation.
Make up our mind. Take the Great Commission into our heart. Understand every word that has stated by our Lord Jesus. For it will definitely help us in building a true Strong and Biblical disciple of Christ.
2818. "To add, one must add"
Let us not dilute the substance of His Greatest Commission.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday Service Sermon
Date: 21st September 2008
Preacher: Pastor Denis Lu
Title: Share Your Life Testimony
Passage: Acts 22:1-21
1. Life Before Conversion (v1-5)
a) Use the same heart language (v1-2)
b) Share similar life experiences (v3-4)
c) Establish openness (v4-5)
2. Our Conversion Experience (v6-16)
a) Realization of Jesus' identity
- - Matthew 16:13-16
b) Response to Jesus' claim
3. Life After Conversion (v17-21)
a) Personal encounter with Jesus (v18)
- - Acts 9:7-8
b) Understanding of your spiritual condition (v20)
c) New direction in life (v21)
Youth Service Sermon
Date: 20th September 2008
Preacher: Pastor Denis
Title: Effective Prayer
Passage: Mark 1:40-45
1. Principles of Effective Prayer
a) Pray to Christ Jesus
- - Luke 18:10-12
- - John 14:14
b) Pray humbly
- - Luke 18:13
c) Pray earnestly
- - Matthew 7:7-8
d) Pray specifically
e) Pray God's will
f) Pray believing
2. Reasons for Effective Prayer
a) God's mercy
- - Hebrews 4:15
b) God's help
- - Numbers 11:23
c) God's power
- - Hebrews 7:25
3. Warning After Effective Prayer
a) Glorify God's accordingly
- - Leviticus 14:1-4
- - Deuteronomy 24:8
b) Guard against wrong attitudes
- - John 6:26
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Holistic Church -Recap-
It was our 12th Bible Conference on last week. A quarter assembly for the Eastern Hope Churches, whereby various daughter churches will gather in one accord for one reason.
Indeed, as expected, this 12th Bible Conference brought a tremendous revival to life after life God moved. God spoke. I don't know where to start writing. Too many to write. Just let every snapshots speak of its description.
#The Ushers#
Indeed, the first thing that impacts the congregation when enters into the hall is not how great the worship leader is, nor how powerful the preacher is, but it's actually how hospitality and cheerful the ushers offer.
True true. Never underestimate the capability of being in the usher team. It's POWERFUL. I was personally encouraged so much when i stumbled upon this usher team, wearing the bright breastplates, shiny crowns and sincere smile. Everyone enjoyed. =D
#Praise & Worship#
~*Psalm 108:1*~
"[ A song. A psalm of David. ] My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing and make music with all my soul. "
Amen! Praise be to God that HE sent two blessings from Hope Brisbane to bless us in a time of
praise & worship section.
Bro Torchie
Bro Chris bee
One thing that i have learned from Torchie is that, when it comes to Praise and Worship, there is no more worship leader, musicians...vocalists...on stage leading but only worshipers...worshipers ..true worshipers. And with this, we allow the Holy Spirit to be the One leading us into God's presence.
PTL!
Wow... I am so privileged to be able to serve together with both of them in one team. I have captured some good points throughout the section of rehearsal and the actual day. Will share with you guys when i'm free. LOL...
Not to forget also, our very own locally made brother, Jimbun.
Our first-timer, Bro. Joesph!! Wow....!!!
Woot. Seems like our Bro. Joseph was trying to be Kobe Bryant?...Huh..?? ...Cool! The Brother with green sleeves, tried to be Superman instead. LOL...
That's how we, young people should express our thanksgiving and praise offering unto God. It's biblical to clap, sing, and even jump in praising God. For our God deserve the very best from His worshipers, you and I.
Bro Wayne
#A time of pure worship#
~*John 4:23*~
"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks."
o.O Looks familiar? o.O
#Preaching#*~Romans 10:17*~"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."The theme for this time round of Bible Conference was "A Holistic Church". In order for us to be effective and efficient, we must ensure that we are healthy holistically as well use a holistic approach to preaching the gospel and making disciples.
The Congregation. 
Here are some of the things that i have jotted down:
-Many time, we tend to function as a member of "Para-Olympic", and we do not function properly. Our spiritual life is half paralyzed.
-If you want to be emotional-healthy person, you need to be healthy first in public relationship with the people around you.
-When people are not healthy spiritually, they tend to hide away from you, the church and even from God.
-Christian community should be the less concern community, because Matt 6:33.
-
Selection [Select God-fearing men with good quality],
Instruction [follow the way of the Lord],
Delegation [assign the tasks to people and know the gifting of our people],
Execution [do it excellently].
ssshh.....concentrate during preaching. No talking...
These pictures are just a small portion of the entire event. Many great things happened!
Praise the Lord. God moves in some areas in my life. And convicted me. I pray that all of you who have attended will spend some quality time and reflect upon the things/sharing that you have captured and start applying into your growth.
It's a great 12th Bible conference, but what makes it even greater is when each and everyone of us take the steps to walk the talk. Amen?
Opps..Guess that Lena is warning me now with a sign board. "Time Up" K k, may the Lord speak to you through this post. =)
See you guys!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Baptized Babies
Baptism. What is it? The word
"baptism" is in Greek
"baptisma" while "to baptise" is in Greek
"baptizo".
In Greek "baptizo" means "to immerse, cause to be dipped, to submerge, to overwhelm". To baptise something in water means to put it under the water.
Therefore in the Biblical sense, to baptise a person in water literally means to put that person wholly under the water.
Water Baptism - What does it symbolize?
According to the Bible, the symbolism of baptism declares that three things happen to believers who are baptized:
(1) they die with Christ to their old self;.
(2) they rise with Christ to become a new creature;
(3) they are incorporated in their new life with a living community which looks for the coming of the Lord (Romans 6:1-11).~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Praise God. We have from Secondary, Xin ming and College, Chuo Kai, Vivian and Qian Jie baptized on last Sunday at Matang Family Park.
Xin Ming
Qian Jie
Chuo Kai
Vivian. Woot. It's great to see new babies get baptized. "The old has gone and the new has come". May four of them continue to grow in the spiritual walk with our Heavenly Father. Plus, with the partnership with every brother and sister in Christ. =)
And everyone say cheese! BIG family!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Stay Tuned
hey there!
I assume that most of you are waiting patiently and zealously for the updates in relates to both bible conference and water baptism. I just saved down loads of snapshots taken by Jerrick and yes, i will update soon. I mean, soon. LOL...
Meanwhile, allow the picture below to entertain you while i pen down the others. I find this picture rather amusing. *grin*
0.O
Hmm.... anyone wanna guess what does Aunty Ann tell PP until she gives such "wide-opened" mouth reaction?
Thursday, September 11, 2008
"The Heart of Desperation"
I just reached home not long ago. And i sense the zeal to quickly post this writing now before i call it a night. *not going to yawn now* =P
Indeed it is a great night. Great as in not just the fellowship among the brothers and sisters, but great because of the impartation of the seasonal Words from our brother, Torchie from Hope Brisbane.
"The Heart of Desperation"
Exodus 33:12-14
Moses and the Glory of the LORD
12 Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
14 The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
God is omni present. He's everywhere. Everywhere that we go, He's always there. Always and never fail. When we close our eyes, we are seeing just a black piece of picture. Yet, deep down in us, we know that there's a God who cares for us, who loves us, who is there watching us. And God is not done with us yet, therefore our aim is always to know and love the Lord more and more and more each day of our lives.
Desperation is the key to God's presence. We need to be desperate enough to reach out to the Lord's hand. The important key is not the maturity of our level in serving, but it lies in the basic foundation, which is the
love relationship with our Savior -Jesus-
Such relationship that will be solid and always stand firm regardless of any hit and strike from the devils. No one, no other things can break the relationship between we, and the Almighty.
Let's also seek the Solver, not the solution. Many times, when we are too focus on the solutions and we neglected the Solver. Same goes to, we often tend to ignore the Giver, and focus on the gift itself. Therefore, people, let's truly come back the the very very First Love where you and I know the Lord personally for the first time.
"No bible, no breakfast"... Yea, we better start applying this biblical quote in our daily life eh. No play play. Don't laugh. No bible, no lunch. lol..
Nonetheless, what our brother, Torchie has mentioned is very true:
Unity. Regardless of our age, race and occupation, our calling is to be united as one. Always.Unity brings blessing and it pleases the Lord. No conflict. No misunderstanding. No scolding. No hatred. But only unity in us.
I'm truly inspired. See you on Bible Conference. Torchie will be leading P&W on Friday night.
My eyes are getting heavier and heavier now.... Night people!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
12th Bible Conference
The date is approaching nearer and nearer. With only 3 days to countdown and we, together with the East Malaysia's Hope churches will gather in MBKS to kick off our 12th Bible Conference. All in one purpose, that is to learn and grow together in this Bible Conference.
A Holistic Church
Yes. That's our theme. I am so convicted that this will not going to be just another section or session of teaching, but these three days will surely be filled with life transformation. Whereby the members in the House of the Lord will fathom in regards of the biblical aspects of the word "holistic".
Excited and exciting!
We will have two special invited leaders, Torchie and Chris Bee from Hope Brisbane joining us for this conference. Torchie will lead Praise & Worship for the Friday section and conduct a worship workshop on this coming Thursday night.
Everything will be so in tune, i believe. Therefore, people of MAD GEN: Let's pray. Prepare our spiritual mind properly and get ourself in tune with God's leading.
Prayer Points: 1) Pray for every programme, teaching, praise & worship, testimony, presentation and lots more, to run smoothly and in order.
2) Pray for every person on duty, whether from the stage or at the back that God will grant them wisdom, knowledge and skills in order to lead and co ordinate for the entire conference.
3) Pray for the hearts of the people. Yea, that's right. You and I. We need to make sure our hearts are always ever ready and sensitive when God speaks to us through the various programme ahead. Our hearts to be humble, soften, opened and teachable.
4) And lastly, let's not forget to uphold all of our members in our care group and unit into the Lord's hand. We pray that every youth will be touched and stirred deeply by the messages shared by pastors. And how true it is that "Faith comes from hearing the Word of God."
Therefore, young people of the GREAT God, have you registered yet? It will surely going to be a great conference and life transformation ambiance.
See you there!
A Holistic Church
Friday, September 5, 2008
Patch Adams
short-talk:
Drink more water, people.
---------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, allow me to broadcast to you all, a superb and inspiring movie. Yes, a-must-watch-movie indeed!
Seriously, it's really infrequent nowadays to seize on
good movie on cinema and in the market. And what i mean by "good", is not those cool or action-driven storyline. People kill, people die. Nope nope. Of course, every movie is permissible to watch, still, not all are actually beneficial to us. Hence, we need to be wise enough to view beneficial movie.
On Wednesday night, College Care Group has its quarterly Movie Night!!! Woot..!!
Praise God that we have new friends visiting us for the very first time. Jack, Johnny and so on... Perhaps, it might be owing to the fact of watching movie, they quickly joined. Hmm... means that next time we should more and more movie nights.... LOL
We watched:
Patch Adams.
This is an old movie. Inspired by a true story. Probably some of you might have seen this movie already. But it's always good to re-watch it again yea?
2 hours of worth watching indeed! It's basically a man, Patch Adams who is always desired to help people, care for people and love people. And Patch believes that by becoming a doctor, he will be able to help many other patients. Yet, he believes that theoretical medic facts by just memorizing will not help the patients, know the patients personally, therefore he believes that through laughter, hospitality and humble oneself down to the patient's level are the actual way to help those needy.
Of course, those descriptions are just a small portion of the entire scripts. Watch it!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sure enough, i have captured heaps of lessons from this movie. It teaches us
not to concentrate on the pain in front of us. We should not let our temporary problems or obstacles to cover us from seeing the even bigger pictures in front of us. Those are just short-term in our life journey. Therefore, we should focus, focus on the BIGGER vision/goal ahead of us.
Patch Adams does not allow his temporary lost and his rivals' despise to stop him from achieving his goal that is to help the needy. He focuses on the bigger and greater goal of his. Secondly, what do you think you will look like if you wear a moody facial on your face? Likewise, if we wear a smile on your face, how will we look like?
It's a subjective answer, i believe. Yet, Patch Adams has demonstrated the outcome when he chooses to cheer and offer laughter to the needy. It brings positive effects not to him only, but to the needy.
"Laughter is contagious", that's the theme of the story.
Lastly, this movie teaches us that doctors, or to be more specific, we cannot just delaying one's death because death is actually part of God's purpose; but, we, everyone of us can actually improve the quality of each other's lives. We are inspired by Patch Adams' life example to humble ourselves to the same level of every needy and offer
help,
hospitality and
humility. Amen.
Watch it if you haven't.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Y-Hope Mission Trip to Kuching
Proud to declare that Hope movement is undoubtedly an international family. A world wide church. With the masses mustard seeds saturated throughout the land, not only in Kuching, Malaysia; but also to the many parts of the world. Amazing!
Just few days ago, 8 youths from Hope Singapore had a mission trip to Hope Kuching. Two years back, there’s a team from Singapore landed in Kuching, led by Gwen. And for this time round, it’s different, completely different. Why?
Simply because we have more boys compared to the previous trip. LOL
Same as the previous arrangement, the Secondary was to host them, Daniel, Xanthe, Yenli, Sathya, David, Matthew, Ming Quan and Jared.
Welcome to Hope Kuching!!!
From the left: David, Daniel, Xanthe, Yen Li, Sathya, Matthew, Jared and Ming Quan
Throughout the few days, we talked and laugh and it was a great time knowing them. The privilege to host the Y-Hope youth was so great and exciting. Y-Hope is well known for their great hospitality, we also wanted to do likewise. We want to introduce all the wonderful food and place in Kuching to them and of course we want to correct their mindset of Kuching people still live in the tree if they do have this thinking. And most of all we want to make all of them felt at home.
On the first day they arrived, after having Laksa breakfast and unloading their belonging, the mission trip had begun. We went to Lodge International School to join their international Christian fellowship. It was a great time knowing so many people from different part of the world.
Preparation for Mission
Cool!!! Presentation for games
Let the journey begin!!!
Getting to know one another
After hard and heart work, it's time to enjoy!
Y-Hope youth leading the secondary care group on Saturday night. It’s was an opportunity to learn from them. The sharing of Word of God by Bro Daniel was great, he shared about evangelism. Evangelism can just start with our daily action and behavior. It started with our heart and our spirit, the desire to bring people into the kingdom of God. Y-Hope had a project called ‘Project Salvation’. All the youth went to the street and just shared and draw the Bridge diagram. As the results of that courageous step, 19 souls being added into the kingdom of God. Praise the Lord!
Game led by Matthew and Ming Quan. "What If"
Wonderful time with the Lord
Practice on sharing the Good news. Everyone learned something new and no shy shy after practice!
Together for the Lord!
Indeed it’s a great opportunity to know every of the young missionary from Hope Singapore. We learned a lot from them, the spirit of humility, love God, family spirit…
They are young, but they believe they can do great thing. So do we!!! Always dream big for God.
