The guest speaker today was Rev Benny Ho
Who is based in Perth, as most of us know
He read the first seven verses from 2 Timothy two
Which happens to be one of his life verses too
He showed us a video about filling bottles with water
The message also applies to teaching a son or a daughter
It is more efficient to be up close one-on-one
That is how discipleship should really be done
A key word in verse two is “entrust”
For disciple making, this is a must
It starts with a strong believer
Whose faith acts as a lever
Another key trait for disciples is “reliable”
Which they must have if the plan is to be viable
Here is where Rev Ho
Told us which way to go
In teaching disciples, we should focus on quality
Reaching out to crowds may be an act of frivolity
We are not all called to be a preacher
But each of us can surely be a teacher
Creating disciples in a small group
Is more effective than a big troop
Even within his twelve, Jesus was closest to three
Just like Paul with Titus, Philemon, and Timothy
Having a quality foundation
Leads to better multiplication
Rev Ho said that “More time spent with fewer people
Equals greater lasting impact for God” and His people
He also highlighted metaphors three
About how a good soldier or athlete should be
Devotion and discipline are costs
Over which we should not gloss
But the farmer’s reward
Comes straight from the Lord
In conclusion, he said to keep our eyes
On the very worthwhile prize
The effort we put in now
Growth for the future will allow
It will be worth it
So we should not quit
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
27 September 2009 - PLMC
Today’s guest speaker was Rev Dr Daniel Koh
Whose voice was powerful but sometimes slow
He read from Matthew six, verses nineteen to thirty four
Reminding us that heaven’s treasures are worth so much more
The verses also tell us that worry we should not
As God is in control and will not let us rot
He talked about the world’s consumeristic culture
Which has taken over many people, that’s for sure
Do we take our guidance from our faith
Or from what the world sayeth?
Rev Dr Koh raised questions three
If good Christians we are to be
The first is about what we treasure
Is it worldly things that give us pleasure?
He said that possessions and savings are OK
The key is not to get carried away
As the more things we possess
The more things do us possess
The second is about our vision
And the accompanying ambition
This includes a spiritual and physical aspect
We should give up earthly views, in this respect
The third is about our life’s centre
It it God or money we yearn for?
We need to be monotheistic
And avoid being money-theistic
We need to escape from worry
Consumerism oft makes us hurry
God must be what we seek first
For His love we must thirst
It is important to fast and pray
These are Godly exercises, Koh did say
God should be our one and only king
An exclusive executive, in a manner of speaking
By following His value system
Above the world we do put Him
Linked to justice is the concept of virtue
For one’s self and the church community too
Because of greed, the world is in a big mess
The need for a Christian counter-culture he did stress
So to God we should bow down
Then upon us He will smile, not frown
Whose voice was powerful but sometimes slow
He read from Matthew six, verses nineteen to thirty four
Reminding us that heaven’s treasures are worth so much more
The verses also tell us that worry we should not
As God is in control and will not let us rot
He talked about the world’s consumeristic culture
Which has taken over many people, that’s for sure
Do we take our guidance from our faith
Or from what the world sayeth?
Rev Dr Koh raised questions three
If good Christians we are to be
The first is about what we treasure
Is it worldly things that give us pleasure?
He said that possessions and savings are OK
The key is not to get carried away
As the more things we possess
The more things do us possess
The second is about our vision
And the accompanying ambition
This includes a spiritual and physical aspect
We should give up earthly views, in this respect
The third is about our life’s centre
It it God or money we yearn for?
We need to be monotheistic
And avoid being money-theistic
We need to escape from worry
Consumerism oft makes us hurry
God must be what we seek first
For His love we must thirst
It is important to fast and pray
These are Godly exercises, Koh did say
God should be our one and only king
An exclusive executive, in a manner of speaking
By following His value system
Above the world we do put Him
Linked to justice is the concept of virtue
For one’s self and the church community too
Because of greed, the world is in a big mess
The need for a Christian counter-culture he did stress
So to God we should bow down
Then upon us He will smile, not frown
20 September 2009 - PLMC
This afternoon we heard from Pastor Tay
Jesus wants the church to grow every day
In quantity and quality it must grow
To impact the world, so all will know
He focused on Mark chapter seven
Verses thirty one to thirty seven
The itinerary was far from the norm
Allowing disciples to see Jesus perform
And using the story of the deaf mute
Pastor’s three lessons are hard to refute
In order for good disciples to make
These are the steps we must take
The first is to spend lots of time
Not taking responsibility is a crime
This is doubly true with our children
Else they won’t become Christian women and men
The time must be intentional
In other words, a priority full
Also be interested in a person’s well being
About their issues we should be seeing
The second is a model to be
So all the disciples can see
For divine opportunities we should look
Our hunger for God cannot be mistook
We need to consider others’ needs
And ensure we always do good deeds
Try to be personal and considerate
Don’t embarrass them, even a wee bit
We must look to God for restoration
Feeling His heartbeat is not an aberration
Sins are for this world a blight
We must try to get them out of sight
No illness is beyond God to heal
If His power we do feel
The third is to God glory we must bring
In what we do, say, think, and sing
Knowledge and life we should impart
If God’s love is in our heart
Knowledge is of course in the head
Conviction is in the heart instead
A change of mindset is what we need
Allowing our lives a new heart to lead
Jesus is always willing to journey with us
We should journey with Him without a fuss
Jesus wants the church to grow every day
In quantity and quality it must grow
To impact the world, so all will know
He focused on Mark chapter seven
Verses thirty one to thirty seven
The itinerary was far from the norm
Allowing disciples to see Jesus perform
And using the story of the deaf mute
Pastor’s three lessons are hard to refute
In order for good disciples to make
These are the steps we must take
The first is to spend lots of time
Not taking responsibility is a crime
This is doubly true with our children
Else they won’t become Christian women and men
The time must be intentional
In other words, a priority full
Also be interested in a person’s well being
About their issues we should be seeing
The second is a model to be
So all the disciples can see
For divine opportunities we should look
Our hunger for God cannot be mistook
We need to consider others’ needs
And ensure we always do good deeds
Try to be personal and considerate
Don’t embarrass them, even a wee bit
We must look to God for restoration
Feeling His heartbeat is not an aberration
Sins are for this world a blight
We must try to get them out of sight
No illness is beyond God to heal
If His power we do feel
The third is to God glory we must bring
In what we do, say, think, and sing
Knowledge and life we should impart
If God’s love is in our heart
Knowledge is of course in the head
Conviction is in the heart instead
A change of mindset is what we need
Allowing our lives a new heart to lead
Jesus is always willing to journey with us
We should journey with Him without a fuss
13 September 2009 - PLMC
Pastor Reuben’s sermon came straight from the heart
From the beginning to the very last part
Seven years ago in service, tears rolled down his face
As he realised that without God’s love, there was no grace
And we must not forget the love
That comes from heaven above
God’s love leads Him to give
So that we can all live
The text was Mark seven from verse twenty four
Jesus had barely walked through the door
[He had come inside
Whilst trying to hide]
When the Syrophoenician lady came
Her daughter was sick, but was not lame
Jesus referred to children, dogs, and bread
And the order in which they should be fed
God’s plan had a sequence
So none should take offense
That the Gentiles would follow the Jews
Should not have come as breaking news
He loves us all the same
No matter what our name
So when she did beg for a “crumb”
Jesus could no longer stay mum
He had said “no, not yet”
Implying that we should not fret
In this promise, her faith she did anchor
And thus received what she was after
In conclusion, Pastor had this to say
“Look for a fresh revelation from God each day”
Then voices were raised at least one rung
As “Worthy Is The Lamb” was sung
Whilst “The Passion of Christ” was shown
I really should have known
That no matter how hard I might try
I was bound to break down and cry
So today in service, tears rolled down my face
As I again heard that God’s love gives us grace
We can never doubt that He does love and care
And with the world, that good news we must share
From the beginning to the very last part
Seven years ago in service, tears rolled down his face
As he realised that without God’s love, there was no grace
And we must not forget the love
That comes from heaven above
God’s love leads Him to give
So that we can all live
The text was Mark seven from verse twenty four
Jesus had barely walked through the door
[He had come inside
Whilst trying to hide]
When the Syrophoenician lady came
Her daughter was sick, but was not lame
Jesus referred to children, dogs, and bread
And the order in which they should be fed
God’s plan had a sequence
So none should take offense
That the Gentiles would follow the Jews
Should not have come as breaking news
He loves us all the same
No matter what our name
So when she did beg for a “crumb”
Jesus could no longer stay mum
He had said “no, not yet”
Implying that we should not fret
In this promise, her faith she did anchor
And thus received what she was after
In conclusion, Pastor had this to say
“Look for a fresh revelation from God each day”
Then voices were raised at least one rung
As “Worthy Is The Lamb” was sung
Whilst “The Passion of Christ” was shown
I really should have known
That no matter how hard I might try
I was bound to break down and cry
So today in service, tears rolled down my face
As I again heard that God’s love gives us grace
We can never doubt that He does love and care
And with the world, that good news we must share
6 September 2009 - PLMC
As Pastor Koh continued the series on Mark
He pointed out that criticism of the disciples was stark
In the first twenty three verses of chapter seven
The Pharisees thought they knew the way to heaven
But by following traditions of men
God’s commands were ignored again
They focused on the disciples’ hands unclean
But the real focus should be on the heart unseen
In doing so, not just a little bit
Each of them was a hypocrite
To go back to the problem at hand
Re ceremonial cleansing, we understand
The Jewish mitzvot has thirty five pages
On washing hands, in different stages
But since these laws were made by men
Around God’s law, they built a pen
Then Pastor Koh took a hard stance
That between law and grace must be a balance
And before new laws are contrived
From God’s Book, principles must be derived
The Pharisees’ legalism was so blatant
It is no surprise Jesus against them went
Too legalistic we should not be
Remember God came to set us free
Be careful of acting ‘holier than thou’
As the thought exists, even now
True spirituality come from inside
Not from the laws to which we abide
It is from our heart
That every sin does start
Only Jesus knows if our hearts are pure
Of that you can really be sure
About us, what is the view of people?
When we are away from the church’s steeple?
Are we Christian, do they know?
In other words, does our faith show?
The main part of the passage we do surmise
That in our hearts, the problem of man lies
But ‘outwardly holy, inwardly empty’ do not be
For our true self God doth see
Our hearts must reflect God’s face
Then all else can fall into place
He pointed out that criticism of the disciples was stark
In the first twenty three verses of chapter seven
The Pharisees thought they knew the way to heaven
But by following traditions of men
God’s commands were ignored again
They focused on the disciples’ hands unclean
But the real focus should be on the heart unseen
In doing so, not just a little bit
Each of them was a hypocrite
To go back to the problem at hand
Re ceremonial cleansing, we understand
The Jewish mitzvot has thirty five pages
On washing hands, in different stages
But since these laws were made by men
Around God’s law, they built a pen
Then Pastor Koh took a hard stance
That between law and grace must be a balance
And before new laws are contrived
From God’s Book, principles must be derived
The Pharisees’ legalism was so blatant
It is no surprise Jesus against them went
Too legalistic we should not be
Remember God came to set us free
Be careful of acting ‘holier than thou’
As the thought exists, even now
True spirituality come from inside
Not from the laws to which we abide
It is from our heart
That every sin does start
Only Jesus knows if our hearts are pure
Of that you can really be sure
About us, what is the view of people?
When we are away from the church’s steeple?
Are we Christian, do they know?
In other words, does our faith show?
The main part of the passage we do surmise
That in our hearts, the problem of man lies
But ‘outwardly holy, inwardly empty’ do not be
For our true self God doth see
Our hearts must reflect God’s face
Then all else can fall into place
30 August 2009 - PLMC
The guest speaker Dr Francis Tsui
Had a little trouble with a noisy AV
But then from Mark six he began to read
Following on from the five thousand Jesus did feed
A tired Jesus went up to pray
Even leaders need to get away
The disciples did what He said
But into a storm they did head
Remember that storms happen in our lives
They seem major until His help arrives
The disciples didn’t really need to call
For Jesus had seen it all
On the water He did walk
The disciples they did gawk
Do we recognise Him in times of trouble
When our foundations are turning to rubble?
In many ways God does appear
Whatever the form, we should not fear
Matthew fourteen provides more detail
About Peter’s role in this tale
Peter quickly left his comfort zone
And starting water-walking on his own
We need to do the same
If we are to glorify His name
Taking such risky steps of faith
Is very important, Dr Tsui sayeth
But then Peter started to think
With a sense of reality, he began to sink
Yet Jesus still reached out to him
Even when Peter’s faith was dim
Into His hands our lives we must put
Our whole body, not just one foot
Then about a minister in Bhutan we heard
Under arrest, yet “the winner is the Lord”
We know Christ so we are blessed
He lives with us, he’s not just a guest
So don’t stick with the status quo
Step out of the boat and go
Experience Christ in a personal way
React to Him each and every day
So remember to be bold
Before you get to be too old
Had a little trouble with a noisy AV
But then from Mark six he began to read
Following on from the five thousand Jesus did feed
A tired Jesus went up to pray
Even leaders need to get away
The disciples did what He said
But into a storm they did head
Remember that storms happen in our lives
They seem major until His help arrives
The disciples didn’t really need to call
For Jesus had seen it all
On the water He did walk
The disciples they did gawk
Do we recognise Him in times of trouble
When our foundations are turning to rubble?
In many ways God does appear
Whatever the form, we should not fear
Matthew fourteen provides more detail
About Peter’s role in this tale
Peter quickly left his comfort zone
And starting water-walking on his own
We need to do the same
If we are to glorify His name
Taking such risky steps of faith
Is very important, Dr Tsui sayeth
But then Peter started to think
With a sense of reality, he began to sink
Yet Jesus still reached out to him
Even when Peter’s faith was dim
Into His hands our lives we must put
Our whole body, not just one foot
Then about a minister in Bhutan we heard
Under arrest, yet “the winner is the Lord”
We know Christ so we are blessed
He lives with us, he’s not just a guest
So don’t stick with the status quo
Step out of the boat and go
Experience Christ in a personal way
React to Him each and every day
So remember to be bold
Before you get to be too old
23 August 2009 - PLMC
Pastor Tay started by talking of the 5 Cs
His Chinese phrase I of course could not seize
But understanding his message was not very tough
In his sermon entitled “Money Not Enough”
Many people chase money all of their lives
Even at the expense of their kids and wives
Using Mark 6, versus thirty to forty four
Pastor highlighted what we should really live for
To digest four lessons is what we need
As from this passage we do read
The first is to go and discover
Be amazed at what you uncover
Treasure the power of God’s Son working in us
As we are commissioned in the name of Jesus
Before going on missions we must prepare
Of our physical, emotional, and spiritual sides we must take care
The second is in Jesus to rest
So we can be recharged and at our best
There is a balanced cycle of rest and work
Doing too much of either is being a jerk
And remember Ephesians five, the twenty fifth verse
Honor family and then serve church, not the reverse
Another cycle in the Christian life to do if we can
Is balance between the presence of God and that of man
Too much of either is actually bad
Even if it may make us glad
We must take our devotion
And translate into action
The same goes for our prayer
Translate into work, we must dare
To put this another way
According to Pastor Tay
In a secret place God we should meet
But we must serve Him in the market and the street
To run after Jesus was the third
Of today’s lessons that we heard
If our eagerness Jesus does see
Then action there will be
With compassion He will feed
And provide all that we need
Jesus is more than enough
We don’t need all the other stuff
Instead of resources that we chase
On His word our lives we should base
The absence of problems is not really the key
On the presence of God our focus should be
[That was the message very plain
In the story of the gathering and the rain]
This is why many prayers go unanswered
It is not because they are not heard
By chasing Him, our hearts will be filled
Only then can our fears be stilled
The fourth lesson is to participate
Overcoming two obstacles we often state
We must take responsibility and we must give
It a true Christian life we are to live
Our gifts He will take and they will be multiplied
By action in giving, we can be satisfied
So go discover and rest with God’s Son
Chase after and participate with the Holy One
And as the last hymn said of Jehovah Jireh
We are better off with Him as our Provider
His Chinese phrase I of course could not seize
But understanding his message was not very tough
In his sermon entitled “Money Not Enough”
Many people chase money all of their lives
Even at the expense of their kids and wives
Using Mark 6, versus thirty to forty four
Pastor highlighted what we should really live for
To digest four lessons is what we need
As from this passage we do read
The first is to go and discover
Be amazed at what you uncover
Treasure the power of God’s Son working in us
As we are commissioned in the name of Jesus
Before going on missions we must prepare
Of our physical, emotional, and spiritual sides we must take care
The second is in Jesus to rest
So we can be recharged and at our best
There is a balanced cycle of rest and work
Doing too much of either is being a jerk
And remember Ephesians five, the twenty fifth verse
Honor family and then serve church, not the reverse
Another cycle in the Christian life to do if we can
Is balance between the presence of God and that of man
Too much of either is actually bad
Even if it may make us glad
We must take our devotion
And translate into action
The same goes for our prayer
Translate into work, we must dare
To put this another way
According to Pastor Tay
In a secret place God we should meet
But we must serve Him in the market and the street
To run after Jesus was the third
Of today’s lessons that we heard
If our eagerness Jesus does see
Then action there will be
With compassion He will feed
And provide all that we need
Jesus is more than enough
We don’t need all the other stuff
Instead of resources that we chase
On His word our lives we should base
The absence of problems is not really the key
On the presence of God our focus should be
[That was the message very plain
In the story of the gathering and the rain]
This is why many prayers go unanswered
It is not because they are not heard
By chasing Him, our hearts will be filled
Only then can our fears be stilled
The fourth lesson is to participate
Overcoming two obstacles we often state
We must take responsibility and we must give
It a true Christian life we are to live
Our gifts He will take and they will be multiplied
By action in giving, we can be satisfied
So go discover and rest with God’s Son
Chase after and participate with the Holy One
And as the last hymn said of Jehovah Jireh
We are better off with Him as our Provider
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)