We Are Strong As An Army. W372.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

*Upcoming Birthday in March!!!

OK. Just added a new section on the side content which arrange everyone in their birthday order. It is just underneath the members section. :)

So for the upcoming month of March, our birthday babies are... (drum roll...)

DESMOND!!!

Born on the 16th March 1982.
This Man of God is the person whom you can depend on.
Bold, daring yet caring. Open to people, easy to approach.
That's right! He's the MAN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

P.S. I did not have the birthday of members on January and Feburary. Anyone who knows, please tag it on the "FELLOWSHIP BOARD" and I will update as soon as possible. Thanks!

Benjamin @ 9:27 AM

GOD IS GOOD!!!

Monday, February 20, 2006

*The Ten Rules of Getting Along With People.

Service Sermon 18-19 Feb '06
Preacher: Pastor Kong Hee
(It may be a little different from your own notes because this post is typed in my (Benjamin) perspective)

***

Prov 11:30 says that "winning souls" is wise but what does it truly means?

"Winning souls" is not just trying to shaft the Gospel down people's throat or to keep preaching the Gospel like a cold, heartless recorder.

"Winning soul" is in fact to first winning people to yourself and in the process win them to Jesus! We Christian are to be the lamp that shines the light of Christ and point the way for people.

Know this, that you can either attract or repel people away from Jesus. Therefore, we must always win friends by building meaningful yet fun-filled relationships.

Studies shows that:
People who are successful in life are people who have reasonably good relationship with others.
On the contrary, 90% of the people who failed in their career cannot get along with people.

So indeed, getting along with others is a very important key that would determine your success in life.

Let's look at TEN general rules that you can find in the bible that teaches how to get along with people.

***

The TEN RULES of getting along with people.

1. COMMUNICATE: The key of life!

You are born with one mouth and two ears so better be sure that you listen more then you speak!

The mistake many people make when communicating is to keep speaking and not allow others to talk. They blabber off like a machine gun and peppered a lot of information at one time. This makes it hard for the other party to catch what you wanna say. And talking non stop isn't communication, it is just one party having "Verbal Diarrhea" ~~and the other party acting as a "Toilet Bowl"~~. (No wonder we avoid such people.)

So, learn to say ONE THING AT A TIME.

2. Be INTERESTED in other people's world.

Phil 2:3-4

Start a conversation by finding out how the other person is doing. Be interested in what is happening in the other party's life!

God showed His love by always listening to us no matter how many time we came to seek him when we are down or complained when we are angry. God never shove us aside or close His ears to our words because He is really interested in the life of each and everyone of us.

Therefore, in case you haven't quite get it, to LOVE someone is to be INTERESTED in someone.

3. Make others feel IMPORTANT!

God feels everyone is important because He always have great plans for each and everyone of us. Always make someone feel that his work is more important than it really is, make them feel important!

One good way is also to ask the other party to TEACH you something that he is really good in. It helps someone feels important and at the same time, you are also learning new things.

4. SMILE when you meet people.

Never put on a frown as it would put people off and attract no one else but the devil himself while a SMILE signifies that you are enjoying the company of the other party.

5. ENCOURAGE people.

To encourage means to "empower" someone with courage, confidence and faith! Help people to believe in themselves. If you can movtivates others, you will have win them over.

6. Be LONGSUFFERING. (suffering for a long time.)

Be patient with people. Don't jump into judgmental conclusion about people just because of their appearance or mannerism. Be positive to assume the best instead of assuming the worst.

Remember that God believes in everyone of us so learn to take a long time to be angry and allow people room to make mistakes.

No one likes to be around a SHORT-TEMPERED person.

7. RESPECT people!

Respect people's title; address them according to the title given to them. E.g. Pastor Kong, Doctor Bernard, Brother Ming Jin etc. (Imagine going up to Pastor Kong and you greet him, "YO KONG!" Don't you feel like slapping yourself?)

Respect people's boundaries and space too. Don't try to be too familiar or become too close with a person and disturb his privacy.

Very important. Always respect people's father (parents)! No matter how the other party may be complaining about his father, NEVER JOIN IN! Ultimately that person's dad isn't your dad. Worsening a conflict isn't going to be good for your own reputation.

8. ESTEEM others better than yourself.

Humble yourself and lift up others. A great way to make people feel good to be around you.

9. Use PEOPLE'S NAME more than usual.

One of the sweetest thing is to hear someone mentioning your name for a good cause. It is good to remember people's name as it is more personal.

Remember to help others remember your name too. Always introduce yourself so that people don't feel awkward.

10. Be COMPLIMENTARY of people.

Tell someone that he is doing a good job! Tell another that he is making great progress! Be extravagant in your praise to others. Measured praise is not true praise.

Children are the gems of every parents .Compliment children in front of their parents.

Always compliment a male for their work as most man measure their worth to their jobs!

If you are a leader or in an authorative position, never ever crush the spirit and ego of your workers. Learn to be very positive and encouraging.

Always look for the positive things instead of the negative things.

***

Now let's look at how we can fit in the ten rules at home.

Eph 6:1-3
As a SON/DAUGHTER, always honor your parents. To "honor" in Greek means to give lavishly to them! That's right! Don't just tell them you love them. Respect them! Praise them! Spend on them!

Eph 6:4
As a PARENT, never ever put unreasonable expectations on your children. Don't impose petty rules and worse still, show favoritism. The key to parenting is to know that every time spend with your children is indispensable.

Col 13:19
As a HUSBAND, love your wife! Know that a woman will always speak differently so seek to understand them. Learn to speak their lingo.
A side note: Man! Remember that where your treasure is there your heart will be. If you want to love your wife more, then don't be stingy, spend lavishly on them!

Eph 5:33
As a WIFE, always respect your husband! Encourage him and praise him. Make him feel important. (And please don't ever compare him with another man.)

***

The fact of life is that, we can never choose who is going to be our dad or our mum. However, it is really up to us to choose our friends. So who should our friends be? Who are truly our friends?

1. Friends STRENGTHENS your hands in God.

1 Sam 23:16
True friends will strengthen you in spiritual things and make you love Jesus more and more.

2. Friends make FAITH, not fear.

True friends will always give you confidence and not make you feel insecure. They will encourage you and not make you feel inferior.

3. Friends CELEBRATE each other's victory.

A true friend will never try to compete with you all the time. They will never get jealous with your success.
A true friend is what the bible says, "will rejoice when you rejoice and mourn when you mourn."

4. Friends EQUIP you for the future.

1 Sam 18:4
Love is a willingness to sacrifice my best to allow others to go further. A true friend will never try to hold you back or worse, try to make you backslide.

Remember that God will never short-change you when you learn to give and bless. God also have great plans for you so never worry that you will not have enough. Our God is a God of MORE THAN ENOUGH!!! Go out there and be a blessing to the whole world!

Benjamin @ 12:47 PM

GOD IS GOOD!!!

*What Does Your Name Means?

Pastor used to said that in the Old Testament, a name is like a prophetic word for the baby and it may even shaped the person's future.

Of course by the blood of Christ, you need not have to suffer the consequences if your name have a bad meaning behind it (for example "Jabez", which means pain)

However, there are certain point of time where we are still curious and wanna know what exactly our name means.

So for my cell group, these are the meaning of the names of people with a "Christian" name.

Note: Unisex means the name is suitable for both male and females.

Alex (Greek-Unisex)
Form of ALEXANDRA. Means "Helper and defender of mankind".

Benjamin (Hebrew-Male)
Means "Son of the right hand" or "Favourite son".

Chloe (Greek-Female)
Means "Blooming".

Desmond (Celtic-Male)
Means "Man of the world".

Elton (English-Male)
Means "From the old estate".

Eunice (Greek-Female)
Means "Happy".

Joey (Unknown origin-Male)
Form of JOSEPH. Means "God adds".

Kay (Greek-Unisex)
Form of KATHERINE. Means "Pure".

Yvonne (French-Female)
Means "Archer".

Interesting? Anyway, for people who wanna get baptised and is wondering what name you wanna give yourself, you can check out the names and their meanings in the link below.

http://pregnancy.parenthood.com/babynames.html

God Bless Ya! :)

Benjamin @ 12:20 AM

GOD IS GOOD!!!

Monday, February 13, 2006

*The Church is a Fishing Boat!

Service Sermon 11-12 Feb '06
Preacher: Pastor Kong Hee

***

Lk 10:1-2, 5, 7, 9
Jesus is sending us out to do 4 things in the following order.

1. Bless the lost
2. Fellowship with the lost
3. Meet their practical needs
4. Share the Gospel

However, many Christian didn't follow the order and jump to share the Gospel first or they simply ignored the first 3 steps. It is no wonder many people out there feel that Christians are cold and irritating.

Remember, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Jn 4:39-42
Jesus demonstrated to us by first fellowshipping with the Samaritans; half-blood Jews and Assyrians, who were greatly despised by the Jews. The seed of kindness that Jesus sowed in the Samaritans opened the window of opportunity for Jesus to share the Gospel and many believed.

Later in Acts 8, Philip once again reached out to the Samaritans and they were very open because they remembered the kind man, Jesus, who came to stayed with them a few years back.

***

Jn 4:35
Jesus mentioned that we need to lift up our eyes before we reach out. 3 reasons we need to lift up our eyes.

1. Lift up your eyes from your own needs

Eph 6:8
Learn to see to the needs of others instead of being self-absorbed in your own needs. God will see to your needs when you see to other's needs.

2. Lift your eyes to God

We are not trying to sell a product here. As much as it is our duty to reach out, it is still God who brings in the harvest. So look to God and not rely on your natural talents.

3. Lift up your eyes in the way you see other people

You can never win anyone over if you see them with a jaundiced eyes. Jesus died for every sinner because He looks at every unbeliever with great potential.

***

Lk 5:1-2
As Jesus preached and performed miracles among the crowd at the Lake of Galilee, Simon and his company went on with their own business and showed no interest at whatsoever in spiritual things, like any typical non-believer.

Lk 5:3
Instead of waiting for Simon to come to Him, Jesus stepped into Simon's boat and entered his life.

Lk 5:4-7
The story goes on where Jesus asked Simon to cast NETS in the deep to fish. However the reluctant Simon who had caught nothing the whole morning cast out only one NET with disbelief and had a net-breaking, boat-sinking harvest!

So we learn that:

Fact: We can work hard and end up getting nothing.
Truth: If we allow God to be in control, we can trust Him for success!

***

What is the significance of Jesus asking Simon to fish in the "deep"?

It is another world out there in the deep. There are mountain ranges, caves, volcanoes and even hot springs in the deep waters just like in the land. Also, the deeper you go, the more strange, weird and dangerous marine creatures you will come across.

This illustrates the existence of two worlds, The Church and The World. The "deep" represents The World where it is dark and there are many kinds of people out there; back-stabbers, violent people, deceivers, workaholics etc.

Jesus wants us to reach out to these people so that His blood may cleanse them and they will become part of the body of Christ and serve the Kingdom of God!

***

Many churches functions like different boats out there.

The Love Boat
A church that talks about "love" all the time and the members does not need to commit to anything. Members are ill-disciplined and the elders are easy push-overs.

The Submarine
A church that focus a lot on Theologies and teachings and detach themselves from the unchurched. Members of such churches want nothing to do with the unbelivers, much less reach out to them.

The Floating Hong Kong Restaurant
A church where members just keep getting spoon fed with doctrines and revelations but does nothing to minister to God. To the believers of such church, attending church is just a good way to hear good teaching to improve oneself and nothing else.

The Aircraft Carrier
A church that goes to the extreme of spiritual warfare and can be very legalistic. Members can be very critical to the unchurched.

The Speed Boat
A church that is only busy with catching up with other churches that are doing well. Their main motive is to try to outdo other churches and not really reaching out to the unchurch or to serve God, as if in a competition.

However, like Jesus said, the true church is a FISHING BOAT! We are called to fish for the lost and bring them in into the body of Christ!

***

In Conclusion:
Always reach out to the lost the way Jesus do. See a need, meet the need. See a hurt, heal the hurt. Listening to others gives you the right for others to listen to you.

Remember, people don't care how much you know until they kow how much you care.

Benjamin @ 10:06 PM

GOD IS GOOD!!!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

*Welcome to W372 Blog

Alright! W372 blog is up! Remember to come back every week for the lastest updates on our cell group.

Check this blog for the latest CG timing and meeting place.

Check this blog for the latest prayer requests.

Check this blog for an update of the latest CG and SVC sermons every week!

And more to come! Feel free to give any suggestions!

Benjamin @ 10:21 AM

GOD IS GOOD!!!

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

*Instructions for W372 Testimony Competition!

All entries to be written in this format

Part 1 - How was I like before I recieved Jesus?
Part 2 - How was I saved?
Part 3 - How have Jesus changed me?

Word limit: Strictly NOT MORE THAN 500 words.
(Write what is really important. Be precise, be direct, be easy to understand. BE A MAN, DO THE RIGHT THING.)

Marking Citeria: Language (grammer, vocabulary) 30% + Content (Easy to understand, precise) 70%

Judges: Benjamin and Desmond

Last Day of Entry: 1st April 2006

Release of results: Easter Day 2006.

Judges decisions are final.

All entries will be posted on Easter Day as a testimony to share of God's goodness in our lives. Don't miss this chance to testify for Jesus and tell your story to the world!
Prizes will also be given for the best 2 entries!
Hurry! Send in your testimonies to medi_jamin@yahoo.co.uk !

Benjamin @ 12:00 AM

GOD IS GOOD!!!