Today we celebrated Paya Lebar Methodist Church's 75th Anniversary. It was a highly anticipated event, as the church comes together to attest to God's goodness and faithfulness in leading us through these 75 years. It is wonderful to see missionaires from the field returning to base and getting tuned to the heartbeat of PLMC throughout this period. Even Rangsit Methodist Church (our outreach project in Thailand) send a delegation to join in the celebrations.
In his message, the TRAC president, Rev Wee Boon Hup spoke on "Being filled with the Spirit", taking his text from Ephesians 5:15-21.
What did I take away from it? Well, I felt the connection I had earlier when we sang in unison to praise and glorify Him, together with the message in verse 19 : "as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, ". It is not so much of how well or bad you sing....it is whether they are from your heart. Next time you enter into a service or gathering, check your heart condition. Getting tuned into God's heartbeat set yourself up for God to fill you with the fullness of His Spirit.
I was glad to have a colleague joined us for the service with her boyfriend. Having moved so near to church (Kovan Melody) was indeed an opportunity for me to extent the invitation. I am sure that they enjoyed the service and I look forward to do some follow up activities with them.
Jo Lau and her 2 kids (a former cell member, who migrated to Canada) made a surprised visit to church today. It was wonderful to hear how God has work in their lives as they settle down in their new home. Praise God indeed!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Monday, July 2, 2007
Facing the Giants
Facing the Giants! - the message came across to me - loud and clear - in church today. How relevant! We faced giants everyday in our lives. Some big, some small. All have a potential to get you down and render you ineffective to do God's will for your life. It could be a disappointment, fear, failure, etc. Are we wallowing in any of these? It seems to consume us and we don't seem to be able to get out of it.
Take heart. The answer lies in Philippians 4:10-13 "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"(NKJV). Paul found that the key to fighting our giants is "To be contented" because "I can do all things through Christ who give me strength"(Philippians 4:13)
Don't take it upon yourself to fight your battle alone. Draw strength from Him who says "The battle belongs to the Lord".
Incidentally, there is a book from Max Lucado of the same title where he explore the fight between David and Goliath (Hence the title). A short narration is reproduced :
Giants. We must face them. Yet, we need not face them alone.
This profound look at the life of David digs deeply into the defeats he suffered, and the victories he won, as he faced the giants in his life. When David focused on God, giants tumbled. But when David focused on giants...he stumbled.
Goliaths still roam in our world. Debt. Disaster. Dialysis. Divorce. Deceit. Disease. Depression. These super-sized challenges swagger and strut into our lives, pilfering our sleep, embezzling our peace and robbing us of our joy. And while these giants try to dominate our lives, we know what to do! We've learned what David learned, and we do what David did. We become God focused. We pick up five stones. We make five decisions. And we take a swing.
Also, out of the book came a movie of the same title. A short clip was shown in the service.
You can be sure both of these are on my shopping list the next time I visit the christian book store.
Take heart. The answer lies in Philippians 4:10-13 "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"(NKJV). Paul found that the key to fighting our giants is "To be contented" because "I can do all things through Christ who give me strength"(Philippians 4:13)
Don't take it upon yourself to fight your battle alone. Draw strength from Him who says "The battle belongs to the Lord".
Incidentally, there is a book from Max Lucado of the same title where he explore the fight between David and Goliath (Hence the title). A short narration is reproduced :
Giants. We must face them. Yet, we need not face them alone.
This profound look at the life of David digs deeply into the defeats he suffered, and the victories he won, as he faced the giants in his life. When David focused on God, giants tumbled. But when David focused on giants...he stumbled.
Goliaths still roam in our world. Debt. Disaster. Dialysis. Divorce. Deceit. Disease. Depression. These super-sized challenges swagger and strut into our lives, pilfering our sleep, embezzling our peace and robbing us of our joy. And while these giants try to dominate our lives, we know what to do! We've learned what David learned, and we do what David did. We become God focused. We pick up five stones. We make five decisions. And we take a swing.
Also, out of the book came a movie of the same title. A short clip was shown in the service.
You can be sure both of these are on my shopping list the next time I visit the christian book store.
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