Monday, August 4, 2008
Enjoy!!! This is friday's sermon from mojojojo's pt of view. heeeee........

FOP- FRIDAY(1/8/2008) enjoy..... hehehe

Acts 9:31 - 4 things that Luke wrote about the churches in the book of Acts.

1. Peace (Unity)
i. With God
ii. Of God
Phil4: 6-7 -> The peace of God dwells within us even in the midst of a stormy season. It
guards our heart n mind and help us to go through any weather. Having the peace of God
make us 24/7 christians. We're not called to be a weather christian who praise God only
when things are going well. We're called to be reflective of the nature of Christ in all c
circumstances :)
iii. With each other (highlight of his sermon)
Roms12:8 ---- If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
When 2 brothers were caught in a quarrel, which side does the dad take? When churches
are caught in disagreements n hence quarrelled, which side does Father God take? Would
God not want peace to come into place first? That's why the festival of praise is held
annually, to celebrate in the midst of diversity, the one common Lord that we serve as a
body of Christ. Traditional or contemporary, we all are called to serve Him in the different
parts of society.

2. Encouragement (Edification & Strengthening)

• Always praise the good of one another. Praise means to make a joyful sound. It means, you gotta actually tell him/her what u thought is positive about him/her. They cant read your mind!
• encouragement is also like oxygen to the soul!!!!
• Affirmation is good. But we need to go further than that. We need to see each others' potential and speak a future into it. Dont judge others based on their past or how they are right now in the present. Just like God saw who Gideon could become - Gideon was called a great warrior by God even when he went into hiding in the midst of battle. God saw the potential in him. Let's began to see the potential in one another n help each other to release it!
• If you see an area(s) that needs to be adjusted or improved on in your bro/sis-in christ, help him/her to correct it. But speak the truth in LOVE! (Ephesians)
• Feedbacks may be hard to swallow, but they'll make u a better person :) (mojo can vouch for that)

3. Comfort

• Life's not always fair BUT God is good.
• Holy Spirit has all the solutions to your problem. But u would have to call on Him. For eg. say u need to fix your computer but u have no idea how to do it. You call ur friend who's a computer expert and he comes over n help to fix it. Problem solved. Hurray! BUT note what was done, u CALLED. This may seem nth spectacular to you but how many times have we called on the Holy Spirit when we encounter problems in our lives? In the computer case, the Holy Spirit had sent a friend to help u. But you have got to call on him first. Similarly, we may have alot of Godly friends who can bring encouragement to our soul but we have to tell them wat's going on first before they could do anything at all! They cant READ YOUR MIND. :)
• Sometimes, our need can be a gift to someone elses' need. For eg, as we began to share our problems with a friend, the friend could just start to share a similar problem of his/her to you. Alot of us christians always keep a calm surface but we're actually struggling on the inside. Sometimes,it just take one person to initiate an honest conversation to bring comfort to another :)

4. Fear of the Lord

• Pro9:10 ---“ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
• The fear of God helps us to make wise decisions. Eg. Drivers tend to drive carefully in the presence of a police car even when the policemen are not looking at you. Drivers will check if they had put on their seatbelts n if they're on the mobile, they'll surely put it down. When u noe that God is arnd, and that He is watching, who wouldnt obey His commandments? :) We all know that God's commandments exist to bless us. And if we keep them, we'll surely be blessed for all our lives.
• Obedience is the ultimate act of worship.
• God wants to see application of the Word in our lives. A mother cant be bothered if her son has written down her instruction to him to clean up his room or not. She just wants him to do it! Jesus says, if u love Me, KEEP my Commandments. Not read, or write or memorise!
• People are looking for integrity. For someone who would KEEP to his/her promise.

Well, that's all for fri's sermon :) definitely open up my heart to see what God wants in me. the one point that touched me the most is the forth point :) Obedience is the key. When we go to heaven, all we wanna hear is God saying, 'well done GOOD & FAITHFUL servant'. Wat it takes to be both good n faithful, is ur obedience toward Father God....