Last night there was no usual CG meeting session.
Instead, we fellowshipped over dinner.
Hmm, sometimes during the usual CG session we do not manage to find each other’s well being.
So, outing is one solution to it

  

 

Unfortunately, my HP battery was running low so I could not take more photos.
Reminder to self: please check HP battery always!

1 Cor 3:9-11, Heb 6:1-2
A Christian life is often likened to building a building.
The church of God is built upon Lord Jesus.
On top of this solid Foundation, there are 7 other truths essential to build a strong Christian life:

1.) Repentance from dead works.
It is defined as inward change of mind resulting in outward change of works.
Repentance is always the starting point, the door which leads to other aspects in God’s kingdom.
Dead work is defined as anything sinful which displeases God.
It is not only realizing how bad we were, but also how good God is.
We should repent from our own righteousness then put on God’s righteousness.
Conviction leads to contrition which leads to consecration.

2.) Faith toward God.
The just shall live by faith. “To live” = to be sustained by.
Faith requires us to think God’s thought, to visualize God’s vision and dream, to believe God’s promise and to speak God’s word.
Faith is not always for something corporate and humongous. It can be for small and individual thing.
We should just trust God, stand still, wait, endure, persevere and see His salvation.
Just take that step, then another step, then another step, trusting in God.

3.) Doctrine of baptism.
Water immersion symbolizes our death burial with Christ.
Emerging from water symbolizes our resurrection with Him.
As we are baptized, God bestows upon us special grace to break the bond of sin.
We may still fall into sin once in a while. However, sin no longer has dominion over us.

4.) Laying on of hands
Baptism in the Holy Spirit makes us powerful Christians.
Speaking in tongue opens the door to spiritual realm.
Christian walk is experiential, not just ritual and code of conduct.

5.) Resurrection of the dead.
With resurrected body, we will never age. All the talents we have we will use for God’s glory.
The first resurrection happens when Lord Jesus returns.
However, there is one requirement: to suffer with Christ.
Suffering develops our character and develops our resolve.

6.) Eternal judgment.
For Christians, it will be a judgment to determine the reward of our work.
What is the test then? Simply, to obey His commandment.

7.) Going on to perfection.
Perfection here is synonymous with “maturity”.
We need to become more and more like Lord Jesus.
Perfection also means “finishing”.
Hence, we are here to finish our life purpose.

Didn’t manage to catch the sermon last weekend?
No worries! You can download Pastor Kong’s sermon here: http://theinkroom.com.sg/index.php/fresh-word-foundation-truths.html?___SID=U

Pastor Kong’s video sermon on The Power of Spiritual Atmosphere.

Mark 6:5-6, Luke 5:17
Two very different accounts.
In the first account, Lord Jesus did not heal many sick people.
In the second account, He healed the sick.
The spiritual atmosphere was different in both occasions.

Spiritual environment is important.
Is there a tangible presence of God in each gathering of Christians?
This is what distinguishes Christians gathering from other normal gathering.
Every church service and cell group meeting should be an encounter, not just a ritual.

There are 5 blessings of spiritual atmosphere:
1.) It sustains our life in Christ.
2.) It presses us closer to God.
3.) It protects us from the evil attacks.
4.) It imparts revelation from God.
5.) It reflects the beauty of Christ.

How do we then usher in the spiritual atmosphere of God?
1.) By desiring Him.
2.) By living in love and unity.
3.) By praying and singing the spirit.

Let’s do our best to draw close and enjoy the encounter with Him, shall we?

Fellowship session over dinner with team B people.
At the same time, we celebrated Audrey jie’s birthday.

  

Cooking by Mommy. I really ate a lot! In fact, the following day I did not have breakfast and lunch

 

The beautiful people.

  

The birthday lady with the present and birthday cake.
Happy birthday, jie!
May the LORD grant your wishes soon!

Another news on bookstore duty.
Somehow, it is no longer a duty to me. It is more like a delight.
Team A rocks and team B rules.
But this time, the spotlight falls on team A

The refreshment by team A. Hmm, this luxury may not last long when the church moves to Expo.
It’s kinda difficult to arrange the refreshment as the church hall is pretty far from food center.

  

New T-shirt products. They really have cool design there!

  

New arrival. Hmm, one day I should get hold on these titles too.

  

Then, dinner at Olive Vine!! Yummy!

All of sudden, I was so attached to this little girl. Her name is Amanda and team A gave her a nickname “little princess”.
Hmm, she shall be my daughter then. Hohohoho.

Remember Popular voucher which my school passed to me some time back?
I decided to put a good use of it.
After all, if I don’t use it soon, I am afraid I might lose it or I somehow will damage it.
Yesterday was the day I went there and really did retail-therapy.

  

  

It turns out that games like the above are quite cheap.
I showed them off to friends last night
Well, some of them wanted to borrow (or copy) the games  too.
Hmm, maybe I should advise them to just buy the games from Popular.
Let’s try our best to respect copyright, shall we?

Well, let’s see if I have time to play all these.
I am not done with Warcraft, after all, not when they keep making Custom Campaign.

I purchased this book during 23% promotion weekend in church bookstore.
Well, I wanted to learn more about relationship, so I really grabbed several titles including this book.
With This Ring I’m Confused is a novel which presents possible hiccup as one is about to get married.

Summary
Ashley and Kevin are planning to tie the knot.
However, Kevin is too occupied with work, leaving Ashley to plan to wedding matrimony. That’s when the problems arise.
Emily (Kevin’s younger sister) and Elaine (Kevin’s mother) try to hijack the wedding plan, much to Ashley’s dismay.
As if it is not enough, Ashley spends so much money on the wedding preparation and even helping her brother to the point that she is broke.
The work pressure escalates as she is promoted to a position she hardly likes.
Not to mention, her ex-boyfriend returns and haunts her.
When she nearly gives up on her dream wedding, Kevin all of sudden takes charge and solves almost all her problems.
Finally, they really get married!!

This book taught me plenty things:

1.) There is boundary when it comes to relationship with family in-laws.
Indeed, in the future I should definitely build a good understanding and communication with family in-laws.
However, when they step beyond the boundary, I should really be honest and communicate things out with cool head.
The principle is clear for the couple: to leave and to cleave.

2.) Money management is very important.
Wedding definitely costs a lot of money. Hence, I should start saving from now.
Indeed, I may receive gift (i.e. hong bao) from the guests.
However, I should not assume that I will get any “profit”.

3.) Past means past.
Ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend is past story.
Even though he/she may return to present time, he/she should start as a normal friend.

4.) Family is more important than career.
This goes without question. Yes, I might be busy with work.
However, I must always set aside quality time with family.
If necessary, I will sacrifice my career for my family.

A very good book.
I am not sure if The Ink Room still has it.
But if it does, do grab a copy of it, ok?

A wonderful CG Meeting with wonderful people.
We watched video sermon by Pastor Kong and then we prayed for a number of items.
Hmm, I was a bit lethargic during the meeting. No good.
I should be more energetic and enthusiastic next time.

 

Celebrated Andrea’s birthday. Happy birthday, Andrea!
May the Lord prosper you in your career!

  

The birthday cake and some refreshment Vincent had brought from Taiwan.
Yummy!
Do look forward to the post on CG Sermon, ok?

Psalm 77.
Asaph came to the point of desperation. He was so overwhelmed, covered in darkness.
He had no strength to speak or to sleep. He started questioning God’s goodness.
His faith was about to ship-wreck. He had prayed and had many questions.
He even thought that God had changed.

Asaph was not a young believer.
He was a mature believer, yet he experienced doubt and disappointment with God.
Why doesn’t God stop bad things?
Abraham, Sarah, David, Job and Elijah experienced doubt toward God.

Doubt is normal to a Christian life.
We need to persevere when in doubt so God can bring us into a place of unshakable faith.
One possible issue is that we rely too much on prayer as a technique.
Prayer should be a mean of emotional bonding between God and us.
There are are other things we can do beside praying:

1.) We meditate on God’s greatness.
We focus on Lord Jesus and put Him at the center of our prayer.

2.) Know that God’s plan is redemptive.
Redeem = to restore something that is broken down back to usefulness.
God can turn the worst situation into new life.
God turns my heartache to bless others.

3.) What I fear fears the Lord.
The disciples were afraid of storm. They asked Lord Jesus to wake up.
Lord Jesus then rebuked the storm. Even storm fears Him.
Similarly, no matter what stormy situation we are in, we should not be afraid.
Our stormy situation actually fears the Lord.
As long as He is with us, there is nothing we should fear.

A very good sermon. You can listen to it here
http://theinkroom.com.sg/index.php/sermons/fresh-word/fresh-word-psalm-77-from-despair-to-triumph.html?___SID=U

Chosen through Christ.

1 Pet 2:3-4
We should “taste” God ourselves.
Other people can’t tell us what God “tastes” like.
We should “taste” or experience Him for ourselves.

1.) Taste Lord Jesus:                     We taste His goodness.
2.) Taste the word of God:         His word is sweet. We read, meditate and walk in it.
3.) Taste the Holy Spirit:             We need to experience His leading daily.
4.) Taste the power of the world to come.
5.) Taste the grace of God:          It is undeserving favor we receive from God when He makes us His children.

Three things we should do after we experience God:

1.) Spurning: We lay aside things which are in conflict with God’s nature.
2.) Yearning: We crave for His presence times and again. If we ignore this yearning long enough, we will lose it.
3.) Learning: We learn His word, hence we know our authority, right and inheritance in Him.

God has chosen us to be royal priesthood.
Hence, we have both priestly and kingly lineage.
We then can lead with authority and at the same time serve with humility.
Let’s discover our gifts so we can serve others, shall we?