Summary of Hope Project Part 2

Had the intention to write a thank you note for all of you and it seems that Sarah did it before i could.. hee... Thanks darling! You have spoken my mind once again!

Let’s also thank Sarah for putting together the Christmas Carol songbook and the door gifts.
Thank you all once again for all that you contributed! The Lord is well-pleased with the offering of your service for Him! We serve a living God who loved us and gave Himself for us! Hallelujah!

Indeed, the party was a success as I felt the presence of God was moving and working in the hearts of the people. Let's continue to have gatherings like this and take every opportunity to spread the Good News to our loved ones and friends.

I'm game for watchnight service! =)

Summary of My Hope Project

Blessed Christmas to All! =)

Last Saturday was great! I think we all had a lot of fun eating, playing games, watching the DVD testimonial and singing carols. Thank you all for your hard work in the preparation.

Thanks to Serene and Yi Xian for helping to book the function room, making the "Merry X'mas" words, ordering and picking up the food and the cake. Thanks to Kenny for preparing the games and prizes. Thanks to Sharon and Yeng Wei for coming early to set up, blowing the balloons and coming up with the idea of putting the gift exchange numbers inside the balloons and for inviting Peishi. Thanks to Jonathan for being a great host for the Win, Lose, or Draw and for inviting Gerin and Jasmine. Thanks to Susan for bringing the projector and setting it up. Thanks to Paul for inviting Norman, for setting up, and for helping me with the door gifts and playing the guitar for our carolling session. And thanks to Serene's parents for the yummy chicken curry and kueh kueh!

I think the party was a great success! Although we did not manage to bring as many friends as we would have liked to, we have created a precedent for us to work on for the future. This does not need to be a Christmas affair only, as and when we bring pre-Christians to church/cell, we can also show the video. I think the videos were very touching and a few people have asked me for copies of it.

I also believe that God will work in the hearts of those who came, whether they need to accept Jesus as their personal Saviour, or to rededicate their lives to Jesus. And He will also work in the hearts of those who did not accept our invitation and we must persevere to invite them again for future activities.

We should follow up with an outing, Serene suggested cycling at ECP. Any opinions?

Also, do invite your friends to our Christmas service on Christmas Day at 10am in church.

Lastly, anyone want to go for watchnight service?

-Sarah

On winning the lost

I read this during devotion today and felt that it is relevant for our My Hope Project...

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. "
2 Tim 4:2-5

The ideal conditions for sharing the faith or plucking the fruit will rarely be there:
"Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."
Ecclesiastes 11:4

So, just do it!
"Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well."
Ecclesiastes 11:6

God has sovereignly placed you in the midst of lost people who desperately need to hear the message of Christ's love. From you. Today.

When sharing Christ, some principles to think about:

- Be willing to suffer for the gospel, Paul stated, "This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained." (2 Tim 2:8,9)

-Be sure that yo uare a clean vessel whom God can use, "If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." (2 Tim 2:21)

- Openly acknowledge Him before others, "If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." (2 Tim 2:12)

- Make a diligent effort to accurately communicate the truth of God's word, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15)

-Avoid getting unnecessarily embroiled in foolish arguments, "Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful." (2 Tim 2:23,24)

-Recognize God's sovereign role in bringing a person to Himself, "Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." (2 Tim 2:25,26)

-Sarah

Christmas Party this Sat

Hi all, I have check out the catering and I am able to cater for 15pax. But because it is a mini buffet, there won't be table skirting, no warmers and food will come in microwavable boxes (see picture below).

Below is also the menu I have chosen. If no violent objections I will go ahead and order it k? Please sms me if you have any suggestions by 2pm today. Thanks!

I will also be asking my mom whether she is free to cook curry chicken for us or make some kueh kueh. :)

$150 for 12pax
Prawn Mixed Fruits Salad
Grilled Pepper Chicken
Lamb Stew w/ Carrots & Potatoes
Tempura Prawn w/ Tartar
Cheese Macaroni
Fried Rice w/ Chicken HAM

Things to be bought:
1) Drinks
2) Log cake
3) Disposable cups

Serene

Let's Pray

For those who have not yet heard, Pastor David Yeo has gone back to be with the Lord at about 5am this morning. Let's continue to keep his family in prayer.

Pray for:
- God's strength for his wife, son and family
- His wife's and son's faith to grow stronger after this episode
- Support and help for the family from all sources
- An eternal hope
- God's will be done and that ultimate good will emerge from their suffering

At the same time, let's continue to pray for our My Hope Christmas Party this Saturday at Serene's place. I hope everyone remembers to bring what they're supposed to bring, because I didn't keep a list. Is anyone bringing hot chocolate and log cake?

Pray for:
- Our friends that have confirmed, that God will continue to prepare their hearts and minds
- Our friends who are still pending, that God will move their hearts to come and join us
- Good weather, so that everything will go smoothly
- Paul & Sarah, that we would choose the most suitable testimonial for the group (sorry that we received the DVDs late so the entire cell group can't watch them all together. But we will watch through all and choose the most suitable one)

Reminder: We will be meeting at 4.30pm at Serene's place (The Mayfair, 3 Jurong East St. 32, S(609478)) near the swimming pool and go up to her place to bring down the tree and deco to the function room. Try to come as early as possible and we can have a prayer before the party starts.

Thanks!

-Paul & Sarah

My Hope Singapore

Updates on My Hope:

Date: 13 Dec 2008, Saturday
Time: 6pm onwards (dinner included)
Venue: Serene's place function room (tentatively)

Activities:
-Dinner
-Games (eg. Win, lose or draw)
-DVD showing
-Testimonial sharing

Action plan:
1. Each person to start inviting friends, hopefully we will get about 2 friends per person, but invite as the Holy Spirit leads you
2. Each person to prepare a short testimonial of about 3 min briefly sharing why you believed, and how being a Christian has changed you (in case your friend asks you on that day or for future use)
3. Ask Ps. Kieren about budget for catering, settle catering and venue booking - Serene
4. Choose some songs for Christmas caroling - Paul
5. Plan some games (including backup)
6. Prepare/buy prizes for the games
7. Prepare door gifts - Sarah

There will be no bible study next week, but we will meet and practise the Christmas carols for the party and discuss more on the party.

Jesus Redeems Our Failures

In our Christian walk, there will be times that we will fail God or done things that disappoints Him in some ways. Apart from that we might also failed people around us by doing something that disappoints them at some point of our life. What situation in your life you would consider as failure? What about failing God? What is the connection between the two?

After discussion we realised that both perspectives share same/ similar cause factors which is the attitude involved. We learned that God can work in these small yet important factors attribute to our own failure as well as in the walk with Christ. He will turn things around for His glory, shaping us into the image of Christ

The bible reading last week was about how Jesus responds to Judas betrayal and Peter denial; the two disciples that failed him.

Judas Betrayal:
Mark 14: 44-52 and Mark 14: 66-72

When we are betrayed we tend to feel angry, disappointed and uncompensated, harbouring resentment and bitterness eventually might even lead to revengeful. However we learned from the bible study how Jesus responded to Judas betrayal. He faced the soldiers calmly and spoke with authority. He argued with them that had seized him and showed them the absurdity of their proceedings against him.

1. That they came out against him as against a thief whereas he was innocent of any crime: he taught in the temple daily, a public place where many has heard his doctrine. There was no perverse word but righteousness came out of it so why would they come against him as a thief.
2. That they came to take him privately, whereas he was neither ashamed nor afraid to appear publicly in the temple. He was none of those evil-doers that hate the light, neither come to the light, John 3:20
3. They also came with swords and staves while he is unarmed and have no plans against government.

Peter denial:
Mark 14:29-31

Peter was confident that he should not do so ill as the rest of Jesus disciples (Mark 14:29) He thought well of himself and trust in his own hearts even when Jesus prophesised about Peter’s denial. When Peter failed Christ, his repentance was speedy and he wept for his own act.

We then compare and contrast the scenario of Judas betrayal and Peter denial, both of them failed God but what is the difference?

Jesus restores:
John 21:1-25

Jesus forgave Peter despite of what he has done, He restored him with full strength and entrusted him with care of His sheep. He asked Peter: “Do you love me?” for three times, the love mentioned here is agape love, an unconditional love – this is Christ love for us.

This shows that Jesus is a loving and gracious God. He is a God of second chance. Despite we may fail him in our walk with Him, he will pick us up and redeemed our failure.

Conclusion:
Failures are not fatal. God is working in redeeming failures. Let failures produced humility in us. It will become the soil in which Jesus plants redemptive seeds of growth. On our side we need to encourage each other to:

1) Be aware of our walk with God
2) Not to be over-confident and prideful.
3) Repent when we realised we have failed him and respond rightly
4) Pray and rely on God to point out things that causes us to fail Him and for His restoration.
5) Reconcile and restore those who had failed us

-by Rachel-

Power of Prayer... Let's pray!!!

Hi all, below is a passage I came across while doing my devotion. I was once again reminded of the power of prayer which alot of us tend to neglect. I was thinking as we are preparing our party for our pre-believer friends, let's not just focus on preparing for the party but also be reminded to pray daily. Remember, it's not just a normal battle we are facing but it's a spiritual battle and only God has the power to mould and change hearts. As we spend time with God daily, let's not forget to pray and below are some prayer pointers:
1) God was prepare the ground for the event.
2) God will help create opportunities for us to invite our friends.
3) God will make time available for our friends to come for the event.
4) God will cause them to be open to the sharing and testimonies.
5) God will be in charge and the focus of the event.

"Sucessful evangelism is taking the initiative to share the gospel depending on the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the result to God"

Colossians 4:12-13 (New International Version)
"Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis."

Epraphras is not a name you hear much of. He was a member of the church in Colosse, and obviously a dear saint in the Lord. We know that he suffered imprisonment with Paul at one time. But the thing that really impresses me about this saint is what Paul wrote about him– he always labored fervently in prayer!

The intercessory work of the saint through prayer is the work behind the scenes, the silent ministry that the world knows little of, yet more powerful than any weapon on earth unleashing power from above that makes demons tremble!

This was a man with whom Paul must have been accustomed to praying, and clearly the apostle knew of his zeal from personal experience. But notice what Epaphras prayed for – that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God! That’s my prayer for each one of our readers!
In this day and age, when you can feel the winds of spiritual warfare swirling all around – when faith will be tested to the extreme – my prayer is that you will stand perfect and complete in the will of God! With so much work to be done, and so many of us under severe attack, never neglect the power of prayer – for this silent ministry counts so much more than you may realize, not only here on earth– but also, where it really counts…in heaven!

Posted by: Serene

H.O.M.E.

Honor the Lord

Obey His Word

Minister to one another

Establish walls of truth

When looked at it in this light, the word "home" means so much more than just a place to live. Isn't that what we want all of our homes to be? More than a place to sleep and eat and occasionally clean, we want our homes to be a place where lives are shaped into God's design. This little acronym zeroes in on four important goals we should have for our home. The exciting thing is, no matter who lives there, or what problems we are facing, or what limits we feel like we have, with effort and intention our homes can be places where these four things happen.

Honor the Lord: We can honor God with our lips, but yet our hearts can be far from Him (Mt. 15:8) -- and the people who live with us will be the first to know when we do this! Let's seek to honor Him behind the closed doors of our homes, living out our devotion to Him in a visible, gentle way as we realize that our families are watching.

Obey His Word: Obeying His Word at home is not always easy. The Bible tells us to be submissive to our husbands, to love our wives, to love others more than we love ourselves, and to pick up our cross (as we pick up after our children, or care for our elderly parents). When we do these things with humility, those we most want to impact will notice. More than that, they will file it away in their hearts, and our lives will echo in theirs in ways we can't possibly foresee.

Minister to one another: Ministry requires us to love others, to reach others, and to lay down our lives for the sake of those God has placed in our sphere of influence. This must happen at home first. And yet, if we're honest, it's usually the last place it happens. We go out and give the best of what we have to offer to others, then give our leftovers to the people we profess to love the most. Let's minister to those in our own homes first.

Establish walls of truth: How is it Biblical to establish walls? We usually think of walls as a means to keep people out. When in actuality, we need to be building walls of truth--God's truth, designed not to keep others out but to guard our hearts and give us a safe place to retreat and to rest. These walls of truth make our homes into fortresses--a place to run to when our daily battles wear us out.

Finally, these are not things we can just do once and move on. They are daily requirements, regular sacrifices, and even personal struggles. We won't ever do it perfectly and there will be days we feel we are taking one step up and two steps back. But with God's help, we can keep working to make H.O.M.E. mean so much more.

My Hope Singapore

Hi all,

I thought I would post a summary for the discussion that we had after cell last week on My Hope Singapore, both for the benefit of those who attended as well as those who were not able to make it for cell.

My Hope Singapore is an evangelistic initiative of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association which uses culturally sensitive video and printed media and the relationships between people to present a simple Gospel message to the nation of Singapore during Christmas 2008. It plans to work through local churches and seeks to mobilize and equip every believer to be a witness to their pre-believing friends. It is an outreach where pre-believers are invited into the homes of individual/group/family of believers.

Not everyone can be a pastor, evangelist or teacher. But everyone can be a witness.

Background:
My Hope has been implemented in more than 28 countries worldwide since 2002, including countries in Latin America, Europe, South Asia and South East Asia.

The biblical basis of My Hope Singapore is derived from Matthew 9:9-13 and Luke 5:27-32. When Matthew (also known as Levi) the tax collector had and encounter with Jesus, he invited all his friends to his home to have them personally meet Jesus.

You can read more here: http://www.bmc.org.sg/mhs2008.htm and http://www.myhope.com.sg/myhopesg/index.html as well as other links to participating church websites.

At this point more than 200 churches in Singapore are participating (our church is one of them), and about 19,000 homes will be open this Christmas for partying over the weekend of 12-14 Dec 2008. Although you are not forced to have the parties on these dates, they are highly encouraged as it is a nationwide collaboration and we will be able to see the effect of everyone praying and opening homes over the same weekend. Also, we will be able to invite those who accept Christ to our church's Christmas programmes.

How ROR is being involved and how you can be involved:
Our cell has decided to take up this project. This Christmas, let us pray and wait together on the Lord for our pre-believing friends. Each of us will invite at least one person to our Christmas party, we can do it at Serene's function room or another home. We can have makan and even Christmas present exchange.

We will make it clear to our friends that it is a Christmas party, that there will be some Christian sharing (up to you to decide whether you want to mention that a DVD regarding some testimony will be shown) so they can decide if they are comfortable to join us.

During the party we will show the DVD (provided by the organizing church) and then one or two persons will share their testimonies (about 3 min each) of what the Gospel is about, how they accepted Christ and how God has changed their lives. Then we will invite our friends to accept Christ and follow up with them.

Paul and myself have signed up to indicate that we are interested, we have 3 extra packages with us should you like to hold a party on your own. Maybe you have more friends to invite as a group on its own or want to do one for your family, etc. Please obtain this from us (I'll bring it on Sunday), and you will have to fill up the form at the back and return to the church by this Sunday 16 nov, so they can prepare the DVDs for us to collect by the end of the month.

Please list down friends whom you want to invite and pray for them daily. We can pray as a cell group too. Thanks! Any questions, please ask!

Personally, I was very fearful when I heard of this, because I'm very afraid of evangelizing. I've always been afraid of speaking to people and sharing Jesus because I'm afraid of rejection and people asking me difficult questions or questionning my faith. But I do believe that Jesus has put so many pre-believing friends around me for a reason. Somehow I have to reach out to them. And sometimes it is not enough just living a life that is right, sometimes there needs to be active sharing of Jesus with them. So I do believe this Christmas God wants to use all of us to touch our friends, and also to build our faith in Him and to leave things to Him. Because He wants to work through us, and use our weaknesses for His glory. So, I submit my fears to Him. How about you?

-Sarah

Refiner and Purifier of Silver

Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.'

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'

He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.' If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Jesus Demands Our Devotion (Discipleship)

Bible verse: Luke 14: 25 – 35
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—such a person cannot be my disciple.
27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,
30 saying, 'This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.'
31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."


1. Discussing 'Demand'

Distinction is made between an attitude (being
demanding) and an action (making a demand or challenging
someone to a higher level of performance or character).

2. Purpose and demands of discipleship

3. Conclusion

A disciple, by definition, is a convinced adherent of a school or individual. Christian discipleship is more than being a believer - it's about being a follower. We have to:

(i) Believe

(ii) Follow: By reading His word, understand and yield to His will, allowing Him to transform us, be accountable to each other, to bear fruits, to be Christ-like; it is a journey!

(iii) Spread the teaching - by making more disciples

.................

Discipleship - intentionally following the ways of Jesus - is not intended to be done alone. Group accountability is cruicial to support our discipleship journey.

Read Hebrew 10: 19-25

Meaning of Coal in Bible

Coal — It is by no means certain that the Hebrews were acquainted with mineral coal, although it is found in Syria. Their common fuel was dried dung of animals and wood charcoal. Two different words are found in Hebrew to denote coal, both occurring in Prov. 26:21, “As coal [Heb. peham; i.e., “black coal""] is to burning coal [Heb. gehalim].” The latter of these words is used in Job 41:21; Prov. 6:28; Isa. 44:19. The words “live coal” in Isa. 6:6 are more correctly “glowing stone.” In Lam. 4:8 the expression “blacker than a coal” is literally rendered in the margin of the Revised Version “darker than blackness.” “Coals of fire” (2 Sam. 22:9, 13; Ps. 18:8, 12, 13, etc.) is an expression used metaphorically for lightnings proceeding from God. A false tongue is compared to “coals of juniper” (Ps. 120:4; James 3:6). “Heaping coals of fire on the head” symbolizes overcoming evil with good. The words of Paul (Rom. 12:20) are equivalent to saying, “By charity and kindness thou shalt soften down his enmity as surely as heaping coals on the fire fuses the metal in the crucible.”

Verses with reference to Coal.

Leviticus Chapter 16 Verse 12 — And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:

2 Samuel Chapter 14 Verse 7 — And, behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth.

2 Samuel Chapter 22 Verse 13 — Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.

2 Samuel Chapter 22 Verse 9 — There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

1 Kings Chapter 19 Verse 6 — And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

Job Chapter 41 Verse 21 — His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.

Psalms Chapter 18 Verse 13 — The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

Psalms Chapter 18 Verse 12 — At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

Psalms Chapter 18 Verse 8 — There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

Psalms Chapter 120 Verse 4 — Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper

Psalms Chapter 140 Verse 10 — Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

Proverbs Chapter 6 Verse 28 — Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?

Proverbs Chapter 25 Verse 22 — For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

Proverbs Chapter 26 Verse 21 — As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.

Song of Solomon Chapter 8 Verse 6 — Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Isaiah Chapter 6 Verse 6 — Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

Isaiah Chapter 44 Verse 19 — And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

Isaiah Chapter 44 Verse 12 — The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.

Isaiah Chapter 47 Verse 14 — Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

Lamentations Chapter 4 Verse 8 — Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

Ezekiel Chapter 1 Verse 13 — As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

Ezekiel Chapter 10 Verse 2 — And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.

Ezekiel Chapter 24 Verse 11 — Then set it empty upon the coals thereof, that the brass of it may be hot, and may burn, and that the filthiness of it may be molten in it, that the scum of it may be consumed.

Habakkuk Chapter 3 Verse 5 — Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.

John Chapter 18 Verse 18 — And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.

John Chapter 21 Verse 9 — As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.

Romans Chapter 12 Verse 20 — Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Credits : 101Bible

Posted: Kenny

Coal Basket

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible.

His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said,”Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again. At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all.

The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.”

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean.

“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out. That is the work of God in our lives. To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son.”

Credits : Bits of Daily Bread

Posted: Kenny

Temptations

Hi guys,

I just read something interesting related to what we discussed on temptations last week. So I thought I'll share it with you all here.

"Satan has always been a tempter, but where he catches us off guard is by thinking he tempts us to do bad things. Our flesh mostly takes care of that job. The fact is Satan tempts us in order to lose what God has given us. If Satan can rob our joy and steal our witness, then he makes us useless in the kingdom of God."

I think that temptation has a wider scope that I understood it. Surely Satan can tempt us to give up on God and lose faith and tempt us to believe in his lies that we are not righteous in God's sight.

Sarah

First Summary! Bible Study: Conquering Temptations - Matthew 4:1-11 - 27 Oct 2008

Objectives:

• Understand the background of temptations


• Understand where/who temptations come from


• Understand why we have temptations


• Understand what is God’s purpose of temptations


• Learn how to conquer temptations (practical tips)

What are Temptations?
Definition: the desire to have or do something that God has told us to avoid; the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire

What we can learn from Matthew 4:1-11?
1. It is important to have the Word written in our hearts (to have a close relationship with the Father) so that we can defeat Satan’s lies with the Truth

2. Satan will tempt us when we are the weakest, just like he tempted Jesus after Jesus had fasted for 40d and 40n. So beware and be prepared.

3. God allows temptation to take place, even though He does not directly tempt us (read James 1:13-15). In Jesus’ case, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted.

4. Satan will come back and tempt you again even if you have conquered temptation once. (Read Luke 4:13)

5. All of Jesus’ answers to Satan showed His obedience to God and to His perfect will. Similarly, we should always remain obedient to His Word and His will, and not fall to idolatry (which leads to temptation).

6. Satan’s purpose for tempting Jesus and for tempting us is to shake our identity as Children of God, and also to draw us away from God.

7. Satan knows the bible too! Although he would often quote literally and take a passage out of context to stumble us. He doesn’t know the heart of the Word or the revelations behind it which is revealed to us.

Why does God allow temptations?

1. Man was created to be weak, and Adam and Eve first fell to temptation because of their weakness which they did not submit to God. Since then, man has a sinful nature which causes us to have sinful desires that cause us to be tempted by Satan.

2. But God wants us to learn that we were created weak and that we need God, so that we will learn, through temptations, to rely on Him, to learn to deny ourselves and learn how to really live our lives for God.

3. God wants His glory to be manifest in us, and help us to grow in maturity in Christ!

Practical ways to conquer temptation!

1. Have a personal relationship with God

2. Acknowledge that we are weak and sinful and that we are not above temptation (Read 1 Cor 10:12-14)

3. Identify our areas of weakness that Satan would use

4. Surrender our temptations to God (Read Matthew 26:41, Matthew 6:9-15), Flee from temptations (Read 1 Cor 6:18)

5. Keep God’s Word in our hearts and apply it, Learn and live by Jesus’ example, Have an eternal viewpoint (Jesus understood His purpose in His coming and reinstated His wholehearted devotion to God)

6. God provides a way out, By His mercy and grace, we have a hope in God, that He will save us. Jesus is our High Priest! (Read Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:14-16, 1 Cor 10:12-14)

• - Be accountable to someone(s)
• - Pastoral counseling
• - Books/Seminars
• - Allow for a healing and strength building process after Satan leaves (like how Jesus allowed the angels to attend to Him)

First Entry!

Welcome to our ROR blog!!!

I guess I have the honor to post the post entry of this blog since I created it! Mwahaha... Anyway, I have given all of you the username and the password in the email. So please post entries as and when you feel like sharing. I really hope that this will be a place where we can share our daily experiences, our walk with God, our struggles in our faith, encouragements, jokes and many more! :) (But notes-taker please remember to always post your notes after cell for the particular week okay?)

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Oh also, since I created the blog, naturally and inevitably the blog has been created skewing towards my preference ( I really tried to be as neutral as possible when creating it but you know... human nature to choose what they like! hehe). SO.... please email me your suggestions on how to improve the funtionality and the outlook of the blog (not sure whether it's too girly for some of you).

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Let's take a cell photo soon so that we can post it in the blog too! So exciting!