This is probably old sermon notes, for those who are from my church. However, I decided to just share for those who wanna recap or just want to know new things. =)
It was the time when our senior pastor came back from a major mission trip from Indonesia and Taiwan. He was at Taiwan to start the new youth camps over there and it was an amazing time for him. Pastor Kong, however, was investing more of his time in indonesia.
He started to speak of a particular church in Indonesia who has an average attendence of 175,000 people! It may not match up to Korea's yoido full gospel church, but this church is one of our benchmarks to growth in terms of marketplace ministries as well as a blessing to the country.
This indonesian church, started out small, like City Harvest. Their hearts are full but their pockets were very empty. Pastor Kong shared the senior pastor of that church in indonesia. i've forgotten the name of the church so if any of you guys, you know yourself, who knows the church please tell me.
The pastor of that church was indeed a man of miracles. He was a prayer warrior. His faith did not slide from him even when challenges like being jobless, financially scarcity and even health matters, hit on him. He had a powerful miracle in such that his son with multiple sclerosis at birth, after persistant prayer and fasting, his son is now a healthy 30 year old man, had a wife and even have kids! Multiple sclerosis my friends, its like having multiple disabilities, and the doctors thought he was going to be a vegetable for life. But no! As a pastor he asked God for a miracle, he prayed for it and it wasn't instant mind you, it was persistant.
When I heard that I was amazed. If I was the parent, I may have given up hope of my child being healed. But his faith outlasts his disbelief and even disappointement. Truly, a man we should look up to.
Thats not all! His blessings were incredible and why? All due to prayer! His church so big he had to find a land. And a businessman who owns 9 hectres of land which is about 24 footballfields. gave the pastor a plot of land, at 12 football field size, listen, at a price of only $1 Singapore dollar!
"I wouldn't mind having a land at that size for just one singapore dollar!" My pastor exclaimed! Haha...
Thats not all, this church was built into a stadium sized building and there they hold their church services! Furthermore, this church was a blessing to Indonesia itself! The pastor build hospitals, built schools and even built a RESORT! WHOA! Its a resort that christians can use because, there's even a chapel at the centre of the resort for all to praise and worship. Even have services inside there! What an idea!
Now that pastor is onto a new project that will indeed bless Indonesia. He undertook a project, which was thrown away by the government due to its impossiblity to build. The tallest tower in asia that will overtake Petronas towers in KL. It was a word from God that the pastor of that church had. That was to build a tower so that it will show that God has been blessing this country and all will see the Glory of God. The pastor himself, went up to the government and told them he will take this project in his hands! WOW!
Then Pastor Kong made an observation. It was for our church to see, but I would like to share it with you.
Yoido Full Gospel Church: Prays LOUD and LONG and have made it to the guiness book of records as the biggest congregation in the WHOLE WORLD.
The Indonesian Church I talked about: This church prays LONG but not really loud. Yet they still have a high attendence of 175,000 people and yet become a blessing to the nation.
Then he came to our church, CHC: We pray LOUD but not long. No stamina, and we have 30,000 people in average. Thats when we open our eyes. He even put a note that during our 21 days of prayer in June, after that, the church grew to a thousand more added in membership! So lets say, we keep on praying, we have stamina, in no time, we can be like Yoido Full Gospel Church! But that's our problem, we are somehow lazy. I am lazy too... I need to break out of my habit of laziness.
However thats not the main point of this story. This is how, God do not use systems but use man to do the work. That pastor in indonesia, do not really have a great sound system, great lighting. But he had one thing, he loves God wholeheartedly. So much so he was praying, he was fasting, he was hungry for the word, always seeking after God.
I'm not saying that systems are bad. We do need systems to guide as well as to have an excellent spirit, we need systems. However, the most important thing is that God is working through you.
It is YOU who will make the difference, not the system.
But if you do not like yourself, you feel lousy all the time. Then how are is God going to use you for his glory? How are you able to do things for God, when you are just not secure within your heart?
There are 4 areas we need to be secure in:
1. Self-Image
This is HOW WE SEE OURSELVES
You are humbly serving God, yet not losing the Image we have. What is that image? That indonesian church has an example. There are CEO's and businessman over there. On weekdays they work as CEO's they do things CEO's do. Yet they will serve the church as well! How? By washing the church toilets!
Some of you may go. What? A Ceo washing toilets for a church? So dispising, lose our company's face. But these man see themselves as a servant, a person who serves when he has to. When he is the CEO he will live up and serve like a CEO, in church, he wants to serve in everyway possible. These people see themselves as servant for God. Its just how you see yourself.
However, if you do not have a self-image, people will start to put what THEY see in you, and tell you thats who are. Which you are actually NOT! I mean, imagine your friends come to you and say, "Hey you are useless." Then you start to think, "yea i am useless" and for the rest of the time, you label yourself as useless! STOP IT! WAKE UP!
YOU CONFORM THE IMAGE YOU SEE YOURSELVES!!! So what do you see? I do not know about you. But I can see that I am a child of God. I am a servant of God. I do things only for God to see and for his Glory.
2. Self Worth
this is HOW WE VALUE OURSELVES
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Rom 8: 21
To God, you are everything to him. He created the heavens and the Earth. He made animals, he made birds. He created all living creature and he created man. But he created man in his LIKENESS and IMAGE! He made us special then the rest of his creation, that is human beings.
How do you value yourself? God values you high, as he blessed humans to have the cultural mandate, to have dominion over all the Earth. You are valuble in his sight, the apple of his eye.
3. Self-Esteem
this is HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OURSELVES
"For as he THINKS in his HEART, so is he..."
Pro 23:7
I believe, personally, this is the part which most Singaporeans face. This is due to our culture for being Kiasu, everything has to be based on intelligence.
Primary school: If you are in EM1 and 2 you're ok, you EM3? You are considered lousy. Non-intelligent.
Secondary School: You go into Express Stream or even better, you in Special stream, you are VERY GOOD and veryintelligent. You kena Normal Stream? You are stupid and lousy. This two phases are very hard on children growing up. Their self-esteem got hurt by parents, especially chuinese parents with traditional chinese background. Whatever their child did was never enough.
If their son got a B for his grades, he happily shows his parents his results, only to find the mother disappointed. Worse she says something like this: "Why you never get straight As' like Ah Hock next door? B means you are second, you are worthless."
I have met kids whose parents gave so much pressure. They did not make their kid feel good. Even if the achievement was a big one, they just could not show it. Usually chinese families find it hard to show love, through physical touch. And the child could not feel the love. Thus he did not love himself. Because always the parents made them feel lousy all the time.
"For a man thinks in his HEART" how does a man think with his heart? This implies to your feelings. So what ever you feel, you will become! If you feel lousy, you will in the end feel lousy about yourself. But if you start to think that you can do all things through christ who strengthens me, then you will feel that you can conquer anything! Because you have FAITH that you can do it because Christ is with you.
Faith itself is a Feeling. "Faith is the substance of things hope for the evidence of things not seen." Heb 10:1
Faith is the SUBSTANCE. You can feel it. And faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the WORD of God. So recite the scriptures if you feel your self-esteem level is becoming low. Began to declare faith scripture!
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that i will fear no evil! For you are with me, your rod and stave they comfort me." Just to recite a few.
4.Self-Respect
this is HOW I HONOUR MY DIGNITY
SERVANTHOOD IS NOT SERVILE!!!
Being a servant does not mean you have to be pushed around. One example of a servant who has self-respect is non-other than Jesus Christ. Look at how he carried himself. He was always the cool one. When ever something bad happens, he wasn't the one that panicked. It was his disciples and the people around him. Yet he showed class even while casting out demons or performing healing miracles. He was classy.
There is this Hokkien saying: Zuo lang ai ZAI! (be steady, collected in yourself)
We have to be ZAI in our works. We can be a servant but we also have to show 'class'. Have a little self-respect for yourself. Do not be over confident, just have 'class' in what you do. After all we are Christians, we should be the most ZAI people on the planet. We need to be, or else how do we serve when we ourselves panick over a situation.
This four areas will provide security in your hearts. To make you do more things for God.
Just a note to make you guys feel better. Now you know our God is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. What does that make us? We are his children right? What are the king's children called? Prince and princesses right? So aren't we the Prince and Princesses of God? Yes Jesus is the Prince of Peace. We are also called God's Children. So be of good cheer, Prince. Be of good cheer Princess, you guys are of 'Royalty'! Being a royalthy, you should not demean yourself. So act with class. Royal brothers and sisters!
Zuo Lang Ai Zai
That will be your motto from now on folks! XD
Thanks for reading such a long post. I hope you get to learn somthing.
No comments:
Post a Comment