The Church that Made a World of Difference

The Church that Made a World of Difference

By Ps Ooi Chin Aik of MAP 29th Oct 2006

Key Text: Phil 1:1-8
The Church in Philippi is a church that occupied a special place in Paul’s heart.
In Verse 1, the customary salutation, Paul addressed himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus rather than using the term “An Apostle” such as in Galatians and Corinthians etc. Because he did not have to defend his apostleship here.

The church in Philippi was solid in their support to the apostolic mission and church planting of Paul.
Examples
1. In 1: 5, Paul spoke of the “partnership” in the gospel and in verse 6, he expressed a deep confidence that “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

2. Phil 1:19 – through “your prayer and help” – the Philippians prayed and provided practical aid.

3. Phil 2:25-30 Paul recounted how they sent help in person - 25But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. 26For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. 29Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, 30because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.

4. They partnered in planting churches – Phil 4:14-16 14Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

The work in China is growing and there are great opportunities – In REAP, we started with 30 evangelists and have now committed to support 47. Our aim is to have 200-300. In the last 6 months, the 30 evangelists have had 531 decisions for Christ and have baptised 300 new believers in frontier region such as Xinjiang, Jilin and Inner Mongolia etc. We are doing the same program of Rural Evangelist Adoption in India as well.

So in summary, the church that made a World of difference will do the following
1.Partnership – with other churches and mission organisation
2. Prayer – They prayed for Paul’s work. – see exodus 17:8-15 Victory and advances comes primary through earnest prayers. In warfare with the Amalekite, Leaders must lead through prayers. Moses prayed and was supported by Aaron and Hur. After the victory, Moses was asked to record the prayer and to tell Joshua about it. The place is called Jehovah Nissi – The Lord is my banner.
3. Provided for the materials needs – Thessalonians church was planted as a result of Philippians church’s involvement.
4. Pastoral care- They cared for Paul, send help and pastoral care.

Conclusion:
What do we model our life and our church after?
Where do we need to improve?

Serving the Covenant Keeping God - Report Sunday

Commit to serve a Covenant Keeping God
- by Ps Jeremy 22/10/06

1. Let us commit to serve a Covenant Keeping God
一 同 来 服 侍 “与 人 立 约” 的 神

2. God always initiates
•We Serve a Covenant making God
•上 帝 主 动 与 人 立 约
•He promised to keep His promises
•他 更 是 守 约 的 神

Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David – Total of 6

plus Christ is the Last New Covenant

3. Examples from Noah & Abraham
•Noah : Genesis 6
挪亚

•Abraham : Genesis 15 – the very God who would walk through the carcasses!! Only the weaker vassal party would do that.
亚伯拉罕

4. God is always faithful to His Covenant……..
•Israel’s repeated failings (Hosea 11:1-4)
以色列百姓重复的背叛救他们的主
(何西亚书11:1- 4)
•Peter’s boast of faithfulness – followed by denial (彼得三次不认主)

5. …..Even when we are unfaithful !我 们 纵 然 失 信 ， 他 仍 是 可 信 的 ， 因 为 他 不 能 背 乎 自 己 。
•2 Timothy 2: 11 Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
12 if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
13if we are faithless, he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

6. The Peril of Church Hopping
Is our insistence on choices leading us astray? - exerpts of an article by Skye Jethani
"I don't drink coffee but that hasn't stopped me from using the Starbucks across the street from my church as a second office. I sip my overpriced beverage in the armchair near the window. On this afternoon I was meeting Greg and Margaret*—members of our church I'd worked with closely for the last few years.
"We've decided to leave Blanchard," Greg started. "For two months we've been church shopping." Church shopping—where did that dastardly term come from? I thought while gazing out the window at the swarm of suburbanites fluttering between The Gap, Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, and David Jones, Myers, Deana Ferrari, country Road.
"We really love Blanchard," Margaret added to soften the blow. "It's been a great church for our family, with a wonderful children's program. Greg and I really like it, but our boys are teenagers now and they prefer the music at Faith Community*." I took a sip of my preferred drink—a tall, no whip, Tazo chai latte. Maybe I should have gotten the low cal, non-fat, grande Earl Grey, with Splenda.
Margaret continued, "Faith Community has so much to offer our family, and I think it's really important to go someplace the boys like. When your kids are teenagers, you'll understand." Having played the evangelical trump card (the kids), Margaret sat back in her chair believing no further discussion was necessary.

"What are you going to do when your boys leave home in a few years?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," said Greg. "Maybe we'll come back to Blanchard."

"I hope you don't," I replied, meaning no malice. I did, however, relish the stunned look on their faces, if just for a moment. "I hope that you commit yourselves so fully to Faith Community—building strong relationships, serving with your gifts, participating in its mission—that you could never see yourselves leaving that church. I really believe God grows us most when we are committed to a community."
===========================================

Listen:God is not just saving us, he is building a people who honours their covenant. Have you wondered why the Bible is called the Old and New Covenant.?

7. Commit to the covenant – means to love God and God’s people
Covenant needs to be reiterated – eg. Joshua made the Israelites restate their covenant. Joshua 24:15
How to show that you love God?
Don’t tell me you love God when you do not even want to put up with a bit of inconvenience.
Don’t tell me you love God when you do not even bother to choose a spouse or potential spouse that will identify and synergize with your faith and encourage you in your ministry?
Don’t tell me you love God when you don’t even bother to talk to a new person who comes into the church. What you do to the little ones is doing it for Christ.
Don’t tell me you love God when One day, in the judgment seat of Christ – they cannot find enough evidence to prove that you are a Christian.

Understand and walk in the Purposes of God – Go and read Eph 1
- David is known as a person who fulfills the purposes of God. Acts 13:22
God intend to restore what you have lost – the joy, the meaning and sense of purpose.
God intend to make us a voice not an echo.
You are creature of eternity - You have royal blood in you. The king of King has adopted you – you will triumph!!! You will be honourable!!God intend to make the head and not the tail – in all fields and all sphere - including the latest amd most cutting edge bio-ethics, environmental issues etc.

The Way, The Truth and The Life by Ps Jeremy Wong 8/10/06

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father but by me." - John 14:6.

The divine Disclosure- I AM saying in the Bible
OT- Yahweh – Exodus 3:14 “I AM who I am” or “I AM He”
Jesus used the same formulae or exalted term for self address – “ergo eimi” – at least 8 times (Look it up in John) eg
I Am the light of the world (John 8:12)
I Am the bread of life (John 6:35)
I Am the True Vine
I Am the Door
I Am the Good Shepherd
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
I Am the way the truth and the life

I. Christ is the Way - Not “a” way but “the way”!
This is impressively taught to Adam and the patriarchs (Gen 3:24)
Greed and self will can make us go the wrong Way! – Eg Balaam and his donkey. (Number 22:21-31)
Mankind by nature has NO WAY to the Father – look at the Tabernacle and Temple, a veil separates (Exodus)
Jesus opens the way back to the Father "It is finished! The veil was torn!

II. Christ is the Truth
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)
Christ may be called the key-stone of the arch of truth.
Take away the sun out of our solar system.

Tell the truth regardless – (Ezekiel 3:16-20)

III. Christ is the Life - He is the Zoe and not just the Bio
1. The whole Bible bears witness that by nature we are dead in trespasses and sins
We are like Dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision
Try living our lives own way is the sure way to dryness and death!
Let us Come the Christ !!!
Come to Him, my unbelieving friends – for he is the Only Way back to God
Come to Him, for he is the truth, the key, the centre of the universe, source of wisdom and truth
Come to Him if your are weary and dry for He is the source of life!

What is the Church? by Ps Tong 1/10/06

In its theological sense, the best word to use for Church or Ekklesia is ‘community’. We are a community of people, whether it alludes to the whole Christian community, or to a particular location, or to a group of Christian who meets together.

Christians are a community of people called out because we responded to the call of Jesus; as children of God we must endeavour to emulate Christ and do according to the will and purpose of God.

Therefore, it is the purpose of God which defines the church and not human organization. In Colossians 2:19 Christ is called “…….Head, from who the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grown.” Jesus is the Head and chief corner stone of the Church, and we are His body and the living stones.

The Church takes its identity from Christ Himself and we are an extension of Christ, just as Christ was the fullness of God’s nature to the world.

In John 13:34-35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Therefore, as Christian we must show love for another before it can be expressed outside to the world. Or else Jesus gives the right for the world to judge us that we do not behave like a Christian. Loving carries the expression of caring for one another, praying for one another, bearing the pains and burdens for one another, encouraging one another, serving one another and all other gestures of love. It also means praying and saving for the loss souls of this world, for they too are created in the image of God.

As Christians we need to unite our hearts, unite our minds and to unite our lives with God and our Lord Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Every Christian is called to serve; there is no Christian Guru in the Church. We are all God’s workmen, waiting to be used by Him. All Glory belongs to the Lord.

Ps. Tong

The Power of Prayer - by Ps Tong 17/9/06

The Lord Jesus Christ has cautioned us to pray in the name of the Lord always, giving thanks and singing in spiritual songs, for there is great power in prayer. In fact, it is the only weapon that Satan fears. Prayer is like a silent and invisible missile, which hits the target every time, especially when we pray according to the Scriptures. Prayer gives God the legal rights to intervene with the earthy affairs and God will not interfere unless we ask Him to.

Jesus in Matthew 18:18 says: “Whatever, you bind on earth will be bond in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” When we pray, God is secretly working out his will and purpose in heaven and imperceptibly his purpose and plan will be established on earth.

Ephesians chapter 6 tells us that “our struggles are not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against cosmic powers of the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.” And we are to put on the armour of God, praying in the spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. As Christians we are asked to be alert and to stand firm: to pray for ourselves, pray for one another, pray for kings and leaders of our country, pray for the sick and to pray for the lost.

As the Scriptures say, ‘the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, and unless we pray and pray unceasingly, I am afraid we will be facing a great deal of temptations and difficulties.

Martin Luther once said, “When I have a lot to do a day, I spend more time in prayer than by work itself.” Please, make prayer your priority and make your life, a life of prayer for it is the greatest power on earth and in heaven.

Psalm 23 - God our Provider by C.G Teh 24/9/06

In Psalm 23, David, the psalmist started off with this well–known verse “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”, because the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing, David said. Why is David so confident and so passionate when he penned this psalm? This morning let’s journey down this beautiful psalm one more time and recall what the Lord had provided us in the past and will continue to faithfully provide us in the future.

In the fast and busy lifestyle of today we struggle to find time to rest and to refresh our spiritual being. Our souls need to “lie down” and enjoy the refreshment from the “still waters”. Jesus says in Matt. 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” This is the provision of REST and REFRESHMENT (R&R) which the Lord wants us to take regularly. When our souls are too noisy, we cannot find rest in our souls and when that happens we fall into sin.
“He restores my soul.” The Lord in his grace, mercy and love provides us an avenue for RESTORATION. We need to come to the Lord with a broken and a contrite heart and seek restoration to our soul. True repentance comes from the heart not the lip. The Lord will lead us to the paths of righteousness; He wants to restore us so that He can use us to carry out His redeeming work for His glory.

Before the Lord can use us to carry out His redeeming work He will put us to the test and will send us down the valley. When we are down the valley, the Lord will provide us PROTECTION and COMFORT as our circumstances can be dangerous and uncomfortable. Dangerous because if we focus on ourselves we will be defeated, if we focus on our circumstances we will be depressed but if we focus on our Sovereign Lord we will be delivered. Jesus says in Hebrew 13:5 “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. There are some things about God we will never learn until we go down the valley. Sometimes there are difficult questions about life that are left unanswered and can only be answered when we meet God. Why does God limit us and not tell us the answers to some difficult questions, like why did God takes home the dad of a three years old child when the child needed the dad most? I believe God wants us to learn about eternity and dependency.

God created us to last forever and not for only 70 or 80 years and have“put eternity in our hearts” (Eccl. 3:11) so that we will depend on and trust Him that He knows best. When we meet God one day we will understand the pain and sufferings He allowed us to go through in our valley days. Roman 8:28 says” And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Jesus says in 2 Cor.12:9”My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”, hold on to these two verses if you are in the valley today. We are to “walk through” the valley, we are not meant to stay in the valley, when we stay put in the valley, God cannot be glorified. God wants us to live a victorious life.

God so loved the world that he sent his Son to the cross so that we can be reconciled to him, and we will “dwell in the house of the Lord. Forever”. The Lord has given us everything, even his only Son. Is there anything else you want?