18 July 2010 - ENCS

A special sermon today was delivered by Jim Laffoon
Some prophetic words for the church that come none too soon
"Turning the Corner" from bad times to good
Can be frightening, that is understood
The pastor felt that our nation Singapore is in this state now
There is a fight for moral leadership, he said with curled brow
As only the church is adequately armed
Church leaders are being attacked and harmed
Remember that there is always a battle before a blessing
So a bigger battle should not lead to stressing
For ENCS, Pastor envisioned 500 more people
As well as another site, perhaps even a steeple

He highlighted four words to describe God's actions
That can bless the church and all its interactions
The first is increasing grace and power - effluence
The second is increasing ethnic mix - confluence
The third is increasing prosperity and spirituality - affluence
The fourth is increasing impact through quality leaders - influence

But while everything is from Christ a gift
Sometimes we have to fight for the blessing to lift
The enemy will try to ambush us in an L-shape
Using accusations to break our unity, making it hard to escape
He deceives us into some serious and deadly sin
As Achan did at Jericho, from Joshua 6-7 we read in
A leader can be lured into a pattern of sin or strife
That serve to destroy and break his life

The level of spiritual warfare has been on the increase
For the enemy will not allow us to grow in peace
Think of the three levels of warfare Jesus did face
Per Luke 4, early in his life in the desert place
Later he went to Judea for safety per John 7:1-10
Then after saving Lazarus, he was targeted by all the Pharisee men
The lesson is that as there is an increase in our spirituality
We are a bigger target for the enemy's brutality
Pastor said that to put these attacks in the proper light
They are paradoxically the result of us doing more things right

He then told us how to handle the enemy's attack
Per Ephesians 6, the armor of God we must not lack
We can expect to fight the enemy alone
Even Jesus took disciples into the danger zone
We must use God's word and have good friends
Who will tell us we are straying or at loose ends
That also means that all the time we should pray
To help others and ourselves, Pastor did say

In conclusion, Pastor said we are turning the corner into greater days
"A big problem leads to a bigger promise" was his phrase
He then encouraged us and did implore
Saying "this is what we were born for"