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15th December 2001 (Evening)
Living A Life Of Blessing - Part I
There are three persons mentioned
in the Bible who had met God at the mountain-top;
Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Psalm
24:3 asks, 'Who
may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand
in His holy place?' Verse 4 tells us that
a person who has clean hands and pure heart and
who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear
by what is false, he will receive blessings from
the Lord and vindication from God His Savior.
Matthew 5:8, 'Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they will see God.'
What is an idol? An idol is something or someone
that is in your mind when you are in the presence
of God. For example, when you are worshipping
God, your mind is thinking s of the food that
you are going to eat later. That 'food' is an
idol. God is a jealous God!
Exodus 33:12-23, '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.'
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.'
The Lord replied, 'My presence will go with you,
and I will give you rest.' Then Moses said to
him, 'If your presence does not go with us, do
not send us up from here. How will anyone know
that you are pleased with me and with your people
unless you go with us? What else will distinguish
me and your people from all the other people on
the face of the earth?' And the Lord said to Moses,
'I will do the very thing you have asked, because
I am pleased with you and I call you by name.'
Then Moses said, 'Now show me your glory.' And
the Lord said, 'I will cause all my goodness to
pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name,
the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. But,' he said,
'you cannot see my face, for no one may see me
and live.' Then the Lord said, 'There is a place
near me where you may stand on a rock. When my
glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in
the rock and cover you with my hand until I have
passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you
will see my back; but my face must not been seen.'
Moses has such a great hunger
for the presence of God that he was not satisfied
with his current condition. There are three things
that we can learn from Moses, a person we consider
spiritually greedy and this hunger has made Moses
a friend of God! No one has ever come so close
to God like Moses! God called him to the ministry
at the age of eighty and he served God faithfully
for another forty years.
1) Teach me Your way
Ask God to teach us His way. God has different
ways to teach an individual. It is always new
and special.
2) So that I may know You
Those who know God can do great exploits. Knowing
God is not in terms of head knowledge but it is
the experience and relationship you maintain with
Him that count. When you know God, you will be
entwined with Him. You can never let Him go! Isaiah
40:29-31 tells us that those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength, they will soar like
eagles; run and not weary, walk and not faint.
3) Continue to find favor
in the Lord
We need to seek for the favor of the Lord rather
than for men's favor. Remember this, if God is
for you, who can be against you.
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16th December 2001 (Morning)
Living A Life Of Blessing - Part II
In Genesis
12:1, God called Abraham to leave his country
and promised to make him a great nation. Verse
2, 'I will make you into
a great nation and I will bless you; I will make
your name great, and you will be a blessing. I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses
you I will curse; and all the people on earth
will be blessed through you.'
There is no grandson and grand-daughter
in the kingdom of God. You will be directly blessed
as His children. You need to do something about
your life. Be doers of God's word! A sermon preached
will not be effective until the people who heard
it, practise it. Help yourself by reading God's
word, pray and you will see yourself grow. You
need to fill your mind with the word of God. There
are four things I want to highlight to you here
from Genesis 12:2.
God said that:
1) He will
make you a great nation
You will become someone great and useful in the
kingdom of God.
2) He will
bless you
He will bless you spiritually, physically and
financially.
3) He will
make your name great
You shall be famous.
4) You shall
be a blessing
Talents and gifting that God has given to you,
use them to bless others. Your family will be
blessed through you. In Galatians
3:13-14, 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of
the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is
written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a
tree. He redeemed us in order that the blessing
given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through
Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive
the promise of the Spirit.'
In Alabama, America, there is a place where every
year a season will come where the fishes will
surface to the seashore due to the chemical effect
that happen in the sea. The people there call
that time 'Jubilee' and pick up as many fishes
as they can! This is the same for the church.
The church needs to have the right chemical effect
to harvest souls. People will just come to the
church without much effort. In order to have that
right chemistry, you need to change. We need to
grow and change the spiritual environment in the
church.
Can you see yourself great in
the kingdom of God? What can you see yourself
in HCC five years down the road? Dream is a gift
from God. Acts 2:17,
'In the last day, God says, I will pour out my
spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters
will prophesy, your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.' Please
do not underestimate the power of dreams and visions.
A young secretary who was so frustrated with her
typos and the hassle of correcting her mistakes
using the eraser, thought of a way of correcting
her mistakes in a faster and easier way by making
a white liquid and there it is, the 'Liquid Paper'
was invented. Another man, Martin Lurther King,
had a great dream for the blacks to be treated
equally. His speech, "I Have a Dream"
challenged and inspired many. Now his dream is
a reality. Without vision, you can never achieve
anything! See yourself as someone great in the
kingdom of God! Great dreams always start from
small beginnings. Have faith in God and attempt
great things in your life. You are not developing
a dream but rather it is your dream that is developing
you! Your vision will shape and make you who you
are. God created the heaven and the earth and
we were born to be creative. Genesis
13:14, 'The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted
from him, 'Lift up your eyes from where you are
and look north and south, east and west. All the
land that you see I will give to you and your
offspring forever.' Look at yourself, your
condition and the situation you are in, dream
big and nothing can stop you from what you want
to become in the kingdom of God. There is power
in vision: Eve sinned because she saw the fruit
and desired to be like God. Lot's wife became
a pillar of salt because she turned back and looked
at the place she had left behind.
There are basically five types of people. Some
people have (1) no dreams, (2) low dreams, (3)
wrong dreams, (4) vague dream and (5) God's dreams.
What do you want God to do in your life? The blind
man in the Bible asked for healing as he needed
it! He wanted to 'see' and that is his dream!
Again, I want to ask you. What do you want God
to do in your life today? Do you have God's dream
in your life? Do you want to be a blessing to
the people around you?
Jesus is a goal-oriented person whom we can learn
from. At the age of twelve, Jesus told Mary that
He needed to do the work of the Father. At age
thirty, he started his ministry and worked until
His work was completed on earth.
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16th December 2001 (Evening)
Changing Your Thought Of Life
95% of the time God speaks to
His people through the mind. You need to renew
your thinking. John 1:1 says that the Word was
with God and the Word was God. Read the Bible
and fill your mind with God's word. Romans
12:2, '…be transformed by the renewing of
your mind.' How can you be great when you
think of yourself as a failure? Fill your mind
with God's word, hear from God and imagine yourself
as someone great for God. Stop thinking that you
are bad and start everything new.
I was born in a poor family and there is little
hope for me to be successful. Instead of blaming
my parents or feeling bitter, I turned to God
and He changed me. He has given me hope! Before
I became a pastor, I used to stand at the pulpit
on weekdays in an empty church to preach. I dreamt
and visualized myself being a preacher one day
and I have become one!
Change your
thinking attitude
Change your 'cannot' to 'can'. How do you think
Peter managed to walk on water? He renewed his
thought and trusted Jesus. If he were to use his
logical mind to think, then this miracle would
not have happened. Likewise, the woman suffering
from the issue of blood for twelve years. Without
her positive thinking and faith, there won't be
any healing miracle.
Think in
terms of a miracle
When I preach I always ask God to help and let
Him take over. John 6:1-10
tells us the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand
with five small barley loaves and two small fish.
One of the disciples, Philip in verse 7 commented
that even eight months of salary could not feed
the people. He failed to see that God can work
miracles! Andrew took the five loaves and two
fishes and gave them to Jesus and the miracle
of feeding the five thousand happened. Never underestimate
the power of God in you. You don't have to be
the same again. Ephesians
3:20, 'Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably
more than all we ask or imagine, according to
his power that is at work within us.'
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17th December 2001 (Morning)
Be A Line-Crosser - Part I
Discipline is the key of everything in Christianity.
We have to discipline ourselves to pray, read
God's word and serve Him. We must fill our thoughts
with the Word as God will speak to us through
our mind. How can God speak to us if our minds
are filled with nothing but only rubbish?
In II
King 6:24-33, 7:1-20, the famine in Samaria
was so severe that even a mother would kill her
son for food. Inflation has caused a donkey head
to be sold for eighty shekels of silver. Elisha,
the great man of God knew that God wanted to punish
the people because of their sins. They have worshipped
idols and not the true God. God used four men
with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate
to enter the camp of the enemy, the Arameans.
Instead of waiting at the city gates to die, they
decided to take a chance. The four of them went
to the camp and found out that the Arameans had
run for their life and left everything in the
camp intact including food, clothes and gold as
they heard the sound of chariots and horses. God
has caused them to flee. When you take the boldness
and take a step to cross the border, God is going
to change the situation for you. Many of you would
sit in the church, not doing anything for many
years, I want to challenge you this morning to
do something for your life and for God. Can you
see yourself five years down the road in HCC?
What do you want God to do in your life? The four
lepers saw the miracles when they went into the
camp! They didn't want to wait there and die!
The Israelites wandered for forty years and did
not enter into the Promised Land which was filled
with milk and honey because of their unbelief.
They saw the fruit and honey but didn't get to
taste them.
In 1974, there was a lecturer in Hungary who
wanted to restore the depression faced by the
people in his country, decided to change his situation
around him and he invented the colorful 3"
cube called Rubik Cube. He was the first person
to have made his million in a communist country.
Despite of the terrible situation he was in, he
had invented a toy that is played by millions
of people in the world.
128 years ago, in 1873 a sales person name Levi
Strauss stitched a small pin at the edge of his
jeans so that the pockets will not easily tear.
Now his jeans are well accepted by millions by
people whether young or old.
In 1905, a young boy named Frank Appleson, left
his carbohydrate syrup over night during winter
and the next morning he found out that the syrup
has turned to ice and it tastes good. Ice cream
was first started by a eleven year old boy.
1853 George Crump, an American Indian wanted
to teach his fussy customer a lesson by cutting
the potato into small slices. Surprisingly his
customer liked it and he became famous. That was
the first potato chips.
1983 two young boys named Kelvin and Peter decided
to draw cartoon to spend their free time and to
entertain themselves. Their first non-colored
copy of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' were published
and they were well accepted and later, you know
it well that it was even in movies. Two young
boys decided to do something new and they made
it!
All the above stories should motivate
us to cross the border and do something new. With
the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do better
things for Him. We are facing the dilemma of 'paradigm'.
Paradigm means the way we think and the way we
do things. In the older days, Swiss watches used
to nominate 65% of the market share but later,
the Japanese brand, Seiko took over the market
share. Why? Because the Swiss has failed to change
their mindset and the technology has moved so
fast that the Japanese has overtaken them. We
should not be doing the same thing the same way.
We got to change. If people come to church and
they can predict what we are going to do next
after the worship, it is going to be BORING! In
Isaiah 42:9-10, 'See,
the former things have taken place, and new things
I declare; before they spring into being I announce
them to you. Sing to the Lord a new song, his
praise from the end of the earth, you who go down
to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands,
and all who live in them.' God is moving
and we have to follow. Do not copy as God has
made us originals. God is a God of new things.
How to be a line-crosser?
1) Crossing
the line of the unknown
Hebrews 11:8, 'By faith
Abraham, when called to go to a place he would
later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went,
even though he did not know where he was going.'
There is always the first time. Doing something
new is always unknown to us. When you first dated
a girl or guy, you will not know of the outcome
until and unless you make the decision to go and
know him or her better. If you have never raised
your hands up to praise Him, do so! Dance and
sing for God. Start serving Him and as you take
the step of faith, He is going to surprise you!
2) Crossing
the line of impossible
Charles Spurgeon a famous writer once said this,
'God is delighted in impossibility.' It is at
this time of impossible that you will find God
makes things possible for you! Hebrews
11:11,12, 'By faith Abraham, even though he was
past age and Sarah herself was barren, was unable
to become a father because he considered him faithful
who had made the promise. And so from this one
man, and he as good as dead, came descendants
as numerous as the sky and as countless as the
sand on the seashore.'
An adult elephant is tied down to a tiny pole
stuck into the ground and it doesn't even know
it can easily escape. Why? Because when it was
young, such a pole had prevented him from escaping
and now that it's an adult, it has already been
conditioned to think that he can't escape once
he's tied down to that pole. This story tells
us that if we don't cross the line of the impossible,
God can never show Hs greatness and power in our
lives.
3) Crossing
the line of positive affirmation
Hebrews 11:13, 'All these
people were still living by faith when they died.
They did not receive the things promised; they
only saw and welcome them from a distance. And
they admitted that they were aliens and strangers
on earth.' We are asked to go on in faith
to achieve our vision even though we may not see
the results soon or even in our lifetime.
4) Crossing
the line of the pull of the world
When you want to start serving God, people around
you or even the church members will pull you down.
Do not listen to them or be discouraged by them.
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17th December 2001 (Evening)
Be A Line-Crosser - Part II
By crossing the lines of the unknown, the impossible,
positive affirmation and the pull of the world,
you will find yourselves motivated to move forward.
It will:
1) Motivate
you to trust God
When you make the decision to be a line-crosser,
you are no longer trusting man but God. It is
by faith that Abraham left his hometown to an
unknown place. (Hebrews
11:8) God is abundant and He will never
fail His people. When I decided to be a tent maker
for the first three years in HCC, God supplied
me with everything and even blessed me with more!
Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Faith is not about playing safe, but trusting
God for the outcome.
2) Motivate
you to sacrifice
Without sacrifice there is no power. God had to
sacrifice His only Son for all of us! Jesus is
willing to die for the sake of us. In your ministry,
you might need to sacrifice your time, money and
energy to serve God and I want to encourage you
to go on! Many great men and women of God were
killed for the Gospel and as a result, many have
come to know God. What happened in Sept 11 has
shocked the whole world. The most powerful weapon
the terrorists have is people who were willing
to die and it has brought millions of people to
their knees!
3) Motivate
you to be patient
Hebrews 11:10, 'For he
was looking forward to the city with foundations,
whose architect and builder is God.' Abraham's
eyes were fixed on the city (Promised Land) and
he waited. He saw the vision! Many of us are impatient
when it comes to the things of God. We want God
to give us patience and we want Him to give it
now! The cure of impatience will be to have visions
and dreams. Patient people are successful people.
Thomas Edison experimented 14,000 times before
he perfected the light bulb.
4) Motivate
you to bless others
Queen Esther crossed the line of her own comfort
zone and she saved her nations, the Jews. Without
her taking the risk of being killed by the King,
the Jews would all have been killed. She was motivated
to save and bless others. Esther
4:16, '…if I perish, I perish.'
5) Motivate
you to make eternal choices
In Genesis 18:23-33,
Abraham pleaded with God to spare the people in
Sodom and Gomorrah, starting with fifty righteous
men to ten righteous men. God promised Abraham
that He will not destroy the city if there are
ten righteous people in the cities. We know the
story well that the city was destroyed in Genesis
19. What if Abraham continues to plead with God
to save the cities for five righteous people or
less? Will God spare that nation? Hebrews
11:13, 'All these people were still living by
faith when they died. They did not receive the
things promised; they only saw and welcomed them
from a distance. And they admitted that they were
aliens and strangers on earth.' Verse 16, 'Instead,
they were longing for a better country, a heavenly
one.' Crossing the lines will motivate
you to make choices that affect you for eternity.
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23rd December
2001
The Meaning Of Christmas
This morning I would like to ask
you this question. What is the meaning of Christmas
to you? Personally, Christmas means a lot to me.
I accepted the Lord on the Christmas Eve twenty
one years ago and was married on Christmas day
sixteen years ago. Christmas is always associated
with giving gifts and partying. It is a time of
sharing and caring. I believe Christmas means
a lot to many of you. Every year carols are sung
in shopping malls, restaurants and the songs had
touched many lives. This morning I want to tell
you that Christmas is all about Jesus, the savior
and hope of the world and you! There are three
things that I want to tell you about Christmas.
Luke
2:8-20, 'And there were shepherds living out in
the field nearby, keeping watch over their flocks
at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and
they were terrified. But the angel said to them,
'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great
joy that will be for all the people. Today in
the town of David a savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to
you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and
lying in a manger.' Suddenly a great company of
the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising
God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another, 'Let's go to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.' So they hurried
off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who
was lying in the manger. When they had seen him,
they spread the word concerning what had been
told them about this child, and all who heard
it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered
them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying
and praising God for all the things they had heard
and seen, which were just as they had been told.'
1. You are
important to God
Have you wondered why Jesus appeared to the shepherds
first and not the educated Pharisees? If you were
to look at the job scope of a shepherd, it is
very boring. What else they can do except tending
the sheep everyday and finding new pastures?!
But then God has chosen the angels to appear to
them first! God thinks that you are important
to him regardless of your status or talent. In
I Corinthians 1:27, 'But
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame
the wise; God chose the weak things of the world
to shame the strong.' Joseph, a slave was
asked to interpret Pharaoh's dream and was later
promoted to become the Prime Minister of Egypt.
Mary, a simple peasant girl was chosen out of
millions of people to bear the Savior of the world.
Joseph the carpenter was the earthly father of
Jesus. Samuel, a little boy heard God's voice
in his early age. God used Rahab the prostitute
of Jericho to save the lives of the two Israelite
spies.
2. God loves
you and you matter to Him
Life is worth living! There was a time when I
asked myself is my life worth living as a preacher?
The answer is Yes! Life is a gift from God. It
is not boring and Christian life should be exciting.
When we say 'Good News' and 'good will', it has
nothing to do with the condition of the place.
It is our life! We might live in places that have
wars and social problems, but then God has given
us the meaning to live. He came to give us life
and life more abundantly.
It is very shocking to me to know
that suicide rate during this festive season is
very high in western countries. It is because
the people feel that there is no one to celebrate
this meaningful season with and life to them has
become meaningless and boring. You need not live
such a life! How you live matter to God because
He loves you!
3. Your
faith matters to God
It was written in Isaiah
9:6, 'For to us a child is born, to us a son is
given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'
The shepherds have the faith to believe the prophecy
on Jesus given many years ago.
There was once a ruler in Persia.
He was a very kind king and concerned over the
welfare of his subjects, he would often dressed
up as a commoner to mingle with them. One day,
he decided to visit and stay with a poor old man
in the village. He stayed with that man for several
months without revealing his true identity. Before
he left for his palace, he revealed to the old
man that he was the king and asked what the old
man wanted from him The old man answered, 'What
else can I ask? You are a king but you came and
stayed with me. You ate and slept with me without
any complains. I am honored to have you.' Jesus
is like that king who left heaven to come to earth,
suffered and died for us, without any complains.
Decide in your heart to make this Christmas a
special one for you to remember. You are very
important to God and your life and your faith
matter to Him!
Blessed Christmas!
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