Sermon 29jul: The Servant Girl - Winning when your Efforts seem Insignificant

(To hear/view sermon online, please go to FCBC Sermons Online. )

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29 July 2007
Running with the Winners
The Servant Girl - Winning When Your Efforts Seem Insignificant

Key Verses: 2 Kings 5:1-3 (click)

+ One small act can make a Big Difference!

+ The result of the insignificant servant girl's one statement -> 2 Kings 5:15 'Let me (the great Commander of the army) be your (Elisha, a prophet) servant'

+ She brought about change in the life of Naaman. If she never dared to suggest him going to Elisha, he would just be crippled by leprosy forever.

1. She acted even though she was small

- Be Confident

+ The only thing recorded in the Bible of this servant girl was her one sentence in v.3.
+ She had no name.
+ She came from a shamed Northern Kingdom, Israel to become a slave, while Naaman was a top man in Syria.

+ Any fool can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed. - Bob Schuller

+ God just needs a seed which is willing to die, and that seed will sprout forth life in many others.

2. She acted even though what she could do was small
- Be Credible

+ All she could do was to connect Naaman to the God she knows, the God who hears.

+ All of us cannot save souls or redeem lives. All we can do, when we are willing, is to be conduits to link the lost to Jesus. Small deeds, but the effects are big.

3. She acted even though the risk was high
- Be Committed to Meet Needs

+ The stakes were high. Naaman was the General Commander of the strongest army at that time. If Naaman was not healed in the end, she would surely lose her life. The king of Israel (whom Naaman approached to look for Elisha) even 'tore his robes' (2 Kings 5:7), knowing how high the risks were.

+ Zechariah 4:6,10a "Who despises the day of small things?"

+ God specialises in using the small things
> Who would look upon a small baby born in a manger in a stable in a little town? Yet this baby grew to have His purpose fulfiled as the Savior of the World. Jesus.

Do not look down on every little effort that you are putting into the lives of others through the 100K Blessings. It can possibly lead someone to the road to life.

Sermon 1jul: Rebekah - Winning when Others Ask for Help

(To hear/view sermon online, please go to FCBC Sermons Online. )

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1 July 2007
Running with the Winners
REBEKAH - Winning When Others Ask for Help

Key Verses: Genesis 24:10-27 (click)

+ The winners in life are Givers!

+ Rebekah would say this to us: "Little did I know that my little (mundane) act of kindness could bless so many people, including my family!"

+ Yes, it determined Rebekah's destiny. She became the great (X many times) grandmother of Jesus.

1. Start Giving

- (it helps us to) Respond to the Purpose of God

+ Giving is the fundamental call of the Christian faith

+ Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

+ Jesus Himself gave so unconditionally.

+ Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

+ One who receives, receives and receives without giving out is like:

> A Tadpole -> Big head, small body

> The Dead Sea -> No output of its salt, only input

+ When we give, we grow, gain and our hearts enlarge.

+ 100k Blessings -> You think you are going to bless strangers? God says you are going to bless Angels (who will bless us back)! God's program is US.

+ ***Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

2. Second Mile Giving
- Releases the Power of God

+ Rebekah willingly offered to water the servant's camels

> 1 camel needs 20 gallons of water

> His 20 camels then need 400 gallons

> This will require Rebekah to carry water to and fro, between the source and the camels, for 2 hours!

+ Rebekah did something way beyond expectation.

+ Matthew 5:38-41 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

+ 'Second Mile Forgiveness':

Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

+ 1st mile -> Out of Duty

2nd mile -> Out of Own Willingness

3rd mile -> Out of Love

3. Sacrificial Giving
- Reveals the Person of God

+ Not easy for Rebekah to go (she had never seen Isaac before, to think about marrying him? How is his family really like? etc). But she said 'I'll go'.

+ (In book of Hosea) Hosea was asked to marry Gomer, a prostitute. Even when Gomer sinned against Hosea and committed adultery again and again, Hosea sought his wife to forgive and reconcile with her.

Hosea -> Reveals the Person of God to her (and God's heart)

Gomer -> Represents the condition of the Israelites who had been unfaithful to God repeatedly

Some of us cannot give, because we have not received the love of God to the fullest extent.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God has already given, would you receive today?

Your Truest Self

It was not just inspirational to hear Ps Khong on Sunday. I heard the lion roar, awakening the souls in many of us who may have forgotten or felt weak to claim the victories God has for us this year!

i truly believe that THE BEST IS YET TO COME -for the church, for my ministry, for the lives of each of you dears, and for my personal life.

Moses - WINNING WHEN YOU ARE FEARFUL OR RELUCTANT
A. Overcome Past Experiences - Be Set Free!
B. Overcome Present Comfort - Begin to Grow!
C. Overcome Future Insecurities - Become the Best!

True, we have heard or known this for long. But most crucially are we practising these in our lives? Every step, every stage?

Today i thought i heard God tell me in follow-up from Sunday's sermon, in order to do A, B and C, i have to remember who i am.

Been reading and reflecting through John Eldredge's 'Waking the Dead', and this poem caught my heart

Then from on high - somewhere in the distance

There's a voice that calls - remember who you are

If you lose yourself - your courage soon will follow

So be strong tonight - remember who you are

(Gavin Greenaway and Trevor Horn, Sound the Bugle)

True enough, everytime i am distracted, feel dry or down for a moment, once i grab myself to remember who i am - i am God's daughter, i am God's, my heart is strengthened.

Then i know the past does NOT have to bind my feet, i have even the divine resources to push myself beyond my limits, and i can rest my already-decided future in the hands of God who gives the best!

Who are you? You are God's.
Remember who you are.

Listen Up, Everybody! :)

Hi everybody. I'm having tummy ache now so i'm going to type this post very fast and this would be a short one. :)

I'm feeling so fidgety lately. ARGH can be used too. I'm ill today and i didn't make it to school. wonder what's happening in school today... Ugh, my parents so strongly against me not attending school even though i'm sick and i don't want to be sick too! :/

I'm going to talk about yesterday's sermon because i did not attend processing due to the malaysia trip. I think i'm going to die or something like that. 'If you want to grow, you have to go.' Alrights, the definition of this sentence to me is that if i want to become stronger and more experienced, i have to get out of the safety zone and take the risk. It's like don't be afarid to take up any challenge because in the end, there's something beneficial awaiting for you. I think this is very inspirational as it motivates one to get on the go. If one keeps telling herself that she's tired or not good for anything, she won't be able to make it big or even dare to take up any challenge because she thinks that she can't do anything well and is a loser. Don't look at the past or brood over any past bondages as all these will demoralise you. Look at the future, visualise it as a bright bright one. This would help you to motivate your spirit and yearn for more. If one keeps living in the past, the person would only have the past in all her life. In conclusion, this parallels to our willingness to take risks for God and how much do we yearn for him. Are we able to really trust all our inheritance unto God's hands? If you do, you're on the road of blessings. If not, push yourself! A broken and contrite heart, I will not despise. :)

Thank you Lord, in Jesus' name we pray,
AMEN! :)

Bye folks, i need to go to the toilet now. :)

Sermon 22apr: Know God's Plan - Living in HOPE with the HELMET of Salvation

I thought that these Key Points from Sunday's sermon were important. Please look through, reflect, and remember them in your heart.

1. Put on EVERY piece of the Armor, not what we choose to put on.


2. The MIND is one of the greatest battlefields that the devil wants to attack - he fills it with LIES.


3. When there is Hope (in the right God), there is Life!


4. Jesus did not die for us just for us to be squashed and thrown into the dustbin like tissue paper! Each of has a wonderful Destiny!


5. We are God's workmanship - Don't live sloppily!


6. The greatest enemy of Faith is not fear, but memory - memory of the past failures etc. "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14)

Put on the Helmet of Salvation! Guard our minds!

+You have Hope! - Overcome Hopelessness
+You have a Destiny! - Overcome Aimlessness
+You are an Overcomer! - Overcoming Helplessness

Processing Qns from previous post/sermon

1. Have we completely let go of our old selves? Let the old man loose!
- Ephesians 4:25-5:17 specially mentioned
a. Anger (Eph 4:26-27,31)
b. Unwholesome talk (Eph 4:29, 5:4)
c. etc.

- Eph 5:11-14 'Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible.

- Live as children of light! Don't waste Christ's fragrance on us!

2. What are some attitudes of our minds that need to be changed? Do we want to change them?
- Think not like the world does, but like Christ thinks!

3. About new self: Are we becoming more and more like Jesus?
Do we tolerate sin in our lives and others'?

The Light before me, the shadows behind me

Sermon 11mar: Living Right with the Breastplate of Righteousness

To hear/view sermon online, please go to FCBC Sermons Online.

10 Mar 2007
'Know God's Standard! - Living Right with the Breastplate of Righteousness'
Key Verses: Ephesians 6:14

Ephesians 5:8-9 'For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).'

How to live as Children of Light -> ***Ephesians 4:17-5:17

Ephesians 4:21-24 'You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.'

1. Put off the Old Man/Self!
a. Ephesians 4:17-19 'So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.'

b. After Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, Jesus said (John 11:44) "Take off the grave clothes (symbolises old life) and let him (the old self) go!"

Colossians 3:8 and James 1:21 use the words "Rid yourself of..." & "Get rid of"!

2. Be Renewed in the Mind
- God does not just want to change our ways, but the attitude of our minds.

- It is a Passive Process, meaning it requires us to be willing.

Romans 12:2 'Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.'

3. Put on the New Self
- Live like the Lord will live.

- Romans 13:12-14 'Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.'

- Living a holy life is more than not sinning. Being righteous means

>stopping the sin

>and working with our all to do what God wants us to do for others.

Sermon 25feb: Know Your Enemy & SIT-WALK-STAND!

For those of you who missed it, please go to FCBC Sermons Online to hear/view it. I forked out time yesterday for it, and was thankful that Ps Khong painted a clearer picture of our enemy for me, and prepared me to put on every piece of my Armor in the coming weeks.

Some of my key learning points (which i think it's important for you to know & be prepared, soldiers!) from
'Know Your Enemy - Living Bold in Spiritual Battle'
Key Verses: Ephesians 6:10-13

1. Three Truths about satan
a. Satan is Alive.
Our greatest problems are in the Supernatural. But the devil tries to deceive us that our problem is in the natural, while he deals with us in the supernatural. Really crafty.

b. Satan is Active.
He is actively looking for opportunities to attack/destroy us and rob us of God's blessing for our lives. Sometimes he does this by giving us the GOOD things to distract us from the BEST. Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us that our days are filled with the evil plots of the devil.

c. Satan is Able and Powerful. (He is no pussycat)
1 Peter 5:8 he 'prowls around like a roaring lion'.
If the devil cannot lead us to destruction, the Bible will not warn us.

How powerful?
> he is not omnipotent (all-powerful); only God is.
BUT he is more powerful than us because he moves in the spiritual realm.

> he is not omniscient (knows everything); only God is.
BUT he knows more than us; he's been around since Adam was created!
We cannot rely on our understanding and wisdom to fight him.

> he is not omnipresent (exists everywhere concurrently); only God is.
BUT he has many different little demons to be all over the place, reporting to him about us.
And he still has more freedom than us, because he moves in the spiritual realm.

2. Thus, in order to overcome the devil, we need the spiritual means
- Actively put on EVERY piece of the Armor of God.
-Not one piece can be missing!

Firstly we must
a. SIT tight - Rest in Christ's victory, know our position in Christ (We are seated with Christ in heaven - Ephesians 2:1-6)

b. WALK Right
Ephesians 4:25-32 When we walk right, the devil has no opportunity.
- Every sin is an open invitation to the devil. And he will come.
- Whereas A righteous man/woman is a powerful weapon.

We can Sit tight and Walk right, but the devil will still attack us. That's his calling. Heh. Therefore,

c. STAND and Fight him. RESIST the devil and he will flee from us.
We are covered by the blood of Jesus.
If we do not walk in devious ways, we can resist him and stand against every accusation and opposition from him, and tell him to go.

[Full sermon online]