BE5: Hallelujah!!!

A praise and worship workshop conducted by Emi, Audrey and David.

What is Praise and Worship?
Everybody does praise and worship differently. It could be a form of expression or a way of communication with God. It could be accompanied with music instruments or merely words.

Looking into the Bible
The best example of praise and worship is found in the heart of the Bible – Psalm. Psalm is found at the center of the Bible. It expresses the believer’s deepest feelings and loftiest thoughts about God and life. It comprises of seven types of expressions, namely:
♦ Hymns are full of praise for God – His nature, His character and His works. They are without particular reference to past miseries or to recent joyful accomplishments.
Mood: Joyous! Exuberant! Awed! Eg.:Ps 8, 19, 103.
♦ Laments (community & Individual) complain about troubles, but usually end in praise! Express difficult times & experiences that the people went through.
Mood: Stressful, Anxious and sometimes Vindictive. Eg.:Ps 3, 43, 69, 137.
♦ Thanksgiving Psalms express gratitude for God’s faithfulness, protection and deliverance from a disaster.
Mood: Thoughtful, Humble, Grateful. Eg.:Ps 32, 124.
♦ Confidence Psalms come out of deep experiences of learning to trust God in all circumstances, including times of despair.
Mood: Calm, Peaceful, Quietly joyful. Eg.:Ps 23, 27, 91.
♦ Remembrance Psalms remind the nation how good and faithful God has been to them. A reflection upon God’s saving works in the history of the Israelites.
Mood: Sobering, Awesome, Expansive, Faith-conforming. Eg.: Ps 78, 105, 106.
♦ Wisdom Psalms flow from practiced observations of human nature and God’s ways.
Mood: Reflective, Practical. Eg.: Ps 1, 37, 73.
♦ Kingship/Messianic Psalms are primarily celebration songs of a royal event but also point to the True King who is coming.
Mood: Joyous festive, “Patriotic”. Eg.: Ps 45, 110.

Do you know what are the Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry?
♥ They are Personal in nature. The poetry arose out of a believer’s deep experience and deep reflection. Even when he refers to history of the monarchy, it is an intimate experience.
♥ They use Picture language. The psalmist uses concrete realities familiar to his readers to illustrate his ideas. These may be physical objects and activities, historical items or personal experiences.
♥ Their theme Progresses by stanzas to a climax. Each paragraph focuses on a particular main thought. Together, they build up the THEME which is usually stated in the first or second line of the Psalm.
♥ They use Parallelism in thought. This is the most unique aspect of Hebrew literature. It has rhythm in thought rather than in meter (as in western poetry). Two or three lines will relate to each other rather than having the same sound at the end of the line. Examples are:

♠ Synonymous (=): Line A expresses a thought. Line B gives the same thought in a different way.
A O Lord, how many are my foes!
B How many rise up against me!

♠ Antithetic (≠): Line A expresses a thought. Line B gives the opposite idea.
A For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous
B but the way of the wicked will perish

♠ Symbolic (*): Either line gives the thought. The other line illustrates that thought.
A As the deer pants for the streams of water
B so my soul pants for you, O God.

♠ Synthetic (+): Line A expresses a thought. Line B (and Line C) adds to that thought.
A You prepare a table before me
B in the presence of my enemies

♠ Climatic (!): Line A expresses a thought. Line B/C brings it to a climax.
A Surely goodness and love will follow me
B all the days of my life.
A And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
B forever.

Here’s a general structure for Psalm:
♣ Introduction: THEME of the Psalm (first one or two verses)
♣ BODY of Psalm
♣ CONCLUSION (last one or two verses)

∴ All in all, Psalms are vital parts of God’s big story of redemption of our humanity.

A mini tryout on Psalm 32 can be done and you may explore your own way of expressing worship to the Lord.

P.s. This was our first night BE held in campus ever since we moved out to LWC. Praise the Lord for the venue!

Psalm 32: Rejoice in God’s Gracious Forgiveness! 在神的饶恕恩典里喜乐!

Amitie CG Ushering!

Group Photo!!!

By Audrey Ng

BE4: Choose Properly ah!

A sharing by Pastor Palan Ramasamy and his wife from Reservoir Garden Baptist Church (RGBC), Penang.

Boy Girl Relationship (BGR)
We all have our own forms of principles in picking our life partner. But it is better to form our principles out of the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17

1. Separate – Being separate from the world’s way of doing relationship. As Christians, we need to have Jesus as the center of our relationship (BJGR – Boy Jesus Girl Relationship). It is Jesus that forms the thoughts and guards over our relationship. He should be the counselor over the entire relationship. Even when we seek advises, we ought to look for someone who is older and who practices the Word of God as an accountability partner towards our relationship.

2. God – Often people ask about evangelistic dating and they may even give some success stories of evangelistic dating. However, it is only a probability that your story will be a success. The chances are low and very uncertain. Why cling to something so uncertain when what God has said in His Word is certain – “do not be unequally yoked”? If we still choose to take that route, then we have to pay for whatever the consequence is and not blame God in the end. Because when your relationship with God is right, your relationship with men will be right.

3. Same understanding – The word “unbeliever” mentioned in the passage is not just referring to people that do not know God, it also refers to Christians that accept Jesus but do not have the same understanding or faith as the rest of us. This means we may be marrying another who is an unbeliever Christian. When the two does not have the same understanding, it would be hard for either to grow. Because the guy in the relationship should be leading the lady to Christ and the lady should be helping the guy grow stronger to lead them both. Hence, both must have the same faith in order for them to grow.

4. Same maturity – With understanding comes maturity. Before you want to start a relationship, you have to grow up first. In every relationship there will be arguments and mismanaged expectations. But if you are mature enough to reason with God’s given wisdom and tolerate with one another, you will be able to handle these problems in your relationship. It is when you are mature only will you be able to help each other to grow.

5. Same vision – Future plans. Both of you must have the same vision for the future. If one is called to be a pastor, the other should have the vision of being a pastor’s wife. This isn’t for everybody because to be a pastor’s wife is a big calling too. Hence, both must be on the same page with God and with each other if they want to journey together.

A relationship must always draw us closer to God.
If it draws you further, stop and evaluate.

1 Corinthians 6;18-20
Purity – Sexual sin is not just a sin to the body, but it also affects us spiritually. If you have messed up, only Jesus can make you new. Repent, never go back to the past and live your new life until marriage. Show your fruit of repentance by asking God for strength to resist and have self-control. Own up to your mistakes and let your partner know because a relationship must have transparency. When there’s transparency, trust will be built. Because if your security is in Jesus, you will forever stand strong and never go wrong because no men nor women can ever satisfy you.

A person who really loves you will wait. 

Worship team colour in sync >.^

Our speakers!

Adrian (treasurer) giving love gift to our speakers~

By Audrey Ng

BE3: Beatitudes

A sharing by Aunty Wang Lay Kim from Sg. Nibong Gospel Hall, who is also known as Pn. Wang, a lecturer in School of Communication, USM.

Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12)
(King, Kingdom and Subject)

Disciples transformation and influence (PMMHMPPP)
1. Poor in spirit
2. Mourn
3. Meek
4. Hunger and thirst for righteousness
5. Merciful
6. Pure in heart
7. Peacemakers
8. Persecuted

1. Poor in spirit.
Acknowledge that there is no goodness in us. Isaiah 64 – all that we do are like filthy racks. Hence, Jesus took away our sins by dying on the cross for us.

2. Mourn.
Do we take our sins lightly?
Psalm 51 – David mourned about his sin.
2 Cor 7:10 – Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

3. Meek.
It is a submission to God that takes humility. Like Jesus, He had a lot of humility to leave everything He had in heaven and to come down to live like us, yet he was meek, gentle and have self-control.

4. Hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Having a relationship with God, being right in your conduct and building a character that pleases God.  It is shown in the transformation of your heart and acted out in your daily actions.

Therefore, we ought to recognize that we are spiritually poor, then we will mourn over our sin and submit to God. Naturally, we will have the hunger and thirst that lead us to God.

Since you are a subject in the Kingdom of God, you have to reflect the characteristics of the King.
5. Merciful.
Have to be merciful towards the sin of others. Help rather than judging them.

6. Pure in heart.
Psalm 24:4 – clean hands, pure heart.
David also asked God to create in him a clean heart.
James 1:8 mentioned that a person that has a impure heart is double-minded, which is not focus on one thing. Whereas a pure heart’s focus is on God, no hypocrisy.

7. Peacemakers.
Making peace between people and God, like sharing the Gospel and reconciling us with God.

8. Persecuted.
People will reject you and even get a backlash. But we are doing for the sake of the Lord. Therefore, rejoice and be glad for God is there for you.

In a nutshell, the Beatitudes describe a disciple’s life (us) when we are transformed by the Holy Spirit. But it does not stop there. We need to allow more and more parts of our lives to be transformed by Jesus. And this progressive form of holiness is called sanctification. It happens through faithful use of prayer, bible study and having fellowships with one another in the body of Christ.

You and I influence the world as Christ transforms us to exhibit His character. Let’s persevere in obedience and reflect the glory of God.

Adrian (treasurer) presenting a love gift to Aunty Lay Kim.

By Audrey Ng

BE2: Eh…Quiet la!

A quiet time workshop conducted by Audrey, Yee Qian and Adrian.

Quiet Time with God

According to Google, quiet time is an individual session of Christian spiritual activities, such as prayer, private meditation, worship of God or study of the Bible. As Christians, we look to the bible to find answers. And Jesus Himself set many examples for us. Here are a few of them:
Matthew 14:22-23 “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.”
Also in Matthew 26: 36 “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

Overall , Quiet Time is a time that you set aside in a certain place where a person can be alone, and draw near to the Lord.

So why is it important to have quiet time?

It is the value in Quiet Time that we sought after. During quiet time, we get to have a close intimacy with this good friend of ours, Jesus. In John 15:14-15, God calls us His friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. Isn’t it amazing that we have a God that isn’t just a master to us but also a friend? 

Let’s put it this way, if we were to spend time with our boyfriend or girlfriend, we will definitely want to call and text each other daily to know one another better. Same goes to spending time with our personal friend, Jesus. We can call Him daily through a wireless phone – Prayer, and be connected to Him. And this constant connection need not be long, but it must be frequent and out from the heart. Because what matters most is our heart for Christ.

Through quiet time, we’ll learn to be more like Christ. As we spend time with Him, we’ll adopt His great values and manifest them in ourselves. A simple example can be clearly seen in our parents, a.k.a. married couples. As they had lived together for many years, the couple will start to behave like each other. They’ll learn to like what each other likes and dislike whatever that they dislike. The same implies to us as Christian becoming more like Christ when we spend more time with Him. We’ll love what He loves and hate what He hates, which is sin. This is very significant as we are all called to be the Salt and Light to the people around us and to reflect Christ because we are all Christ ambassadors.

How to do quiet time?

You and I are different. All of us have different ways of spending time with God, some might be playing guitar or piano before they start; others may be reading a passage and then meditate it on their way to work. All in all, quiet time is not something forceful, but it is a tool to help you grow in Christ. As Christians, we must always remember to not be stagnant, but to grow to maturity, to yearn for spiritual food, so that we will not stay like infants as mentioned in Hebrews 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” 

If you want to know investigate the bible further, you may visit sites like Blue Letter Bible or Answer in Genesis. Disclaimer: We are not funded by them, this is just our opinion.

Is Christ a deep and personal friend to you?

By Audrey Ng

 

BE1: Be Grabbed to Grab

An evangelism workshop conducted by Kai Wen, Emi and Ruben.

G : Gospel
R : Relationship
A : A priority to love
B : Be ready 

Part 1: Do you understand the GOSPEL?

If you can share the Gospel in three sentences, what would they be?
1. We are all sinners
2. God sent Jesus as our personal savior
3. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins

John 16:9 – about sin, because people do not believe in me
John 17:3 – Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Romans 10:9-10 – ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 

Hence, Good News is about:
(i) Gracious acceptance
(ii) Changed lives
(iii) New Life (yet to come)
(iv) Restored Community

It is important to understand the Gospel because we have to Be Grabbed to Grab.
If the gospel hasn’t grabbed me, then there is no reason why I should expect it will grab others. However, if it is changing my daily life, it will give us great confidence that the same gospel will change the lives of those whom I tell of it.

Part 2: RELATIONSHIP with others and relating through your personal testimonies. 

What is your personal testimony? 
Simply because we believe that God is in control of everything in our lives, we ought to also believe that truly there is no such thing as coincidence. everything is in God’s plans and they are all Valuable Opportunities.

The greatest opportunity is your friends around you. Evangelism requires you to know your friends and know their needs. Building a relationship requires time.  It also requires us to learn to listen, go the extra mile and to make ourselves available.

Part 3: A priority to Love

The two greatest Commandments
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:36-40

Just like how much God loves us even though we are broken, we must love our friends with the baggage they bring with them as well. Always remember that God views us as His children, His dearest, His beloved. Because of the blood of Jesus that put us back together, that we now have our identity in Christ. We were once lost but now we are found. Only God can make us whole again. And it is this love that we have received from God that we should be motivated to share the Gospel.

Part 4: BE READY in practicality.

It is normal for all of us to have fears in sharing the Gospel.
But always remember that God’s perfect love surpasses all fear because God says there is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

Our job is not to change them. Only the Holy Spirit contains the power to compel them to receive Jesus as their personal Saviour. Thus, we are not judged by our success but by our faithfulness and obedience. And being God’s children is to learn to be like Christ.
1. To love the person wholeheartedly like Christ
2. Putting Christ as our Role Model – Reaching out to be a safe place for your friends
3. Meditate the presence of God to them
4. Being attentive, listening to your friends
5. Stories of LIFE
– Inviting them to your story
– Telling them your story
– Telling them Jesus’ story
– Building tolerance or comfort level for uncomfortable questions

2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power,love and self-discipline.

Conclusion: Just like a GRAB Car

Data/Wifi = connection with God
Destination = Eternal Life
Driver = Us
Passenger = Those yet to receive the Good News

Evangelism is never a matter of simply learning the right techniques, because it is part of the Christian life. If godliness is not the aim of our life, we will only be engaging in evangelistic methods which do not reflect the character of God. Instead it should flow from the life given over to God and in service to Him.

Send me, and I will go

By Audrey Ng

BE 6: The God Pursuit

So we’ve come to the last B.E of the semester. Emi was our emcee for this week and as usual, we had our 5+1 session where each member is encouraged to give a high-five and greet 6 other people but they have to connect with the 6^th person they greet. After that, we had a worship session led by David.

After worship, Emi handed the time over to Pastor Palan for our sharing session. Pastor Palan is the senior pastor of Reservoir Garden Baptist Church (RGBC) and he shared on the topic GOD CHASER.

Watch the full sermon below!

Pastor Palan started off with an introduction about biblical examples of God chasers.

• Moses & Joshua: Joshua will wait outside the tent when Moses goes in and even after Moses comes out, Joshua still stands at the entrance. Why is this? Because Joshua wants to get a glimpse or an anointing from God, even though he knows he cannot go in the tent. Joshua was waiting on God
• Back to this modern world, many of us don’t know how to wait. Now, everything needs to be fast an instant for us thanks to the how quickly technology advances. The danger of this is that we might miss things.

Characteristics of a God Chaser:

• The person’s hunger for God
  • Psalm 42:1-3 : Deer was chosen as it needs water and water is crucial to prevent overheating so it cannot survive without water. ‘As the deer pants for water..’ shows the desperate need of the deer for water. The Psalmist was trying to say that no matter what happens, I’ll chase after You (God).
  • Is God the first thing that comes to our mind when we wake up or is it other things?
  • God is attracted to hunger
• God chaser is a glory seeker and glory carrier
  • Psalm 63:2
  • We can chase God any time at our own choice. It’s not all about the environment. It does not matter where we are.
  • Truth does not transform. Truth sets you free. But, the truth applied transforms.
  • Many of us want to go to a place that is ‘happening’ (referring to churches). It is very easy to do that but instead, we should make it happen wherever we are.
• God chaser makes sacrifices for the sake of God and His kingdom
  • Philippians 3:7,12
  • When we sacrifice to chase God, we become a winner, not a loser.
• God chaser serves God with his gifts, talents & everything he has
  • Deuteronomy 10:12-13
  • ‘He gives, He takes, yet I’ll choose to bless His name’. – Job. That is the attitude of a God chaser.
  • Don’t wait. The time is NOW.
• God chaser seeks for purity
  • 1 Timothy 4:12
• God chaser is a Man of the Word of God
  • 1 Timothy 4:12 = ‘…example for the believers in speech’
  • What we put into ourselves will be our output
  • Be an example in our speech. Keep our word.
• God chaser invariably seeks after God with an undiluted passion
  • Psalm 105:3
  • All eternity is not sufficient to know God. If we ever feel bored with God, it means our passion is diluted.
  • If we are truly a God seeker, our first priority will be God

So with all that said, how do we seek God?

• David sought God EARLY
• We seek God with OUR HEARTS
• We seek God in the Place of the WORD OF GOD
• We seek God in the PLACE OF WORSHIP
• We seek God in PRAYER
• We seek God in SERVICE
• We seek God when we live HOLY LIVES

 

By Hannah

Picnic BE: Living Out Loud

On 18th November 2016, we had our BE..OUTDOORS? *Gasp* It was held in the USM Stadium and the MC of the day was Sarah! :D Audrey and Team step up and lead wotship acoustic style! The Speaker of the day is Mr Michael Williams! :)

Click on the link below to watch the sermon! :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BynUnCjEh-u8M3ZRbnFFZjd3dU0/view?usp=sharing

Pictures

Audrey and Team with Acoustic Worship

Sarah is the MC of the Day

Mr Michael Williams and Andrew Ting!

First ever Picnic BE! Smiles all around!

By Ruben Lai

BE4: Who Am I?

With hearts both excited and maybe a little drained from classes and assignments, we gathered once again at LWC last 11^th November for our 4^th BE. After a kicking off with our weekly 5+1 greet and pray session, worship leader, Emi Uchiyama took over for a truly blessed time of worship.

It was a privilege to have Pastor Reuben share with us the message entitled, “Who Am I?”  With Reference from Romans 8-12-19, Ps Reuben pointed out the difference of being “Child” and “Sons” of God, where a Child of God is referred to someone who is still young and immature to the faith and easily led by the flesh and one who serve out of performance identity. On the other hand, a Son of God, is a matured disciple who is led by the spirit and not by their own understanding or the opinions of man and a person who serve out of Relational Identity. Through Romans 8:29, Ps Reuben pointed out how the image we have of Christ determines the image we conform to as well as our identity, self-worth and self-esteem.

Ps Reuben stated how as Sons of God, we reveal and represent the ways of our Father in heaven, reveal and represent the ways of Christ in our fathers in Christ and also how a son leads, disciples and fathers, our of sonship (not performance or rewards)

It was truly a fresh insight into our identity in Christ, as sons and not mere children. It was also a challenge given to all of us to reflect and realign our lives and service to one of a Son. After receiving the week’s announcements, BE 4 concluded with the well loved and well anticipated lunch at Bakti :)

Watch the video below to watch the entire sermon! :)

Pictures:

Ever Smiling MC: Kelly Chew

Emi and Team!

Ps Reuben talking about Sonship

Our very own Jasmin Ho passing the love gift

BE3 : BE(LIVE)

On the 4th of November, it was the 3rd edition of BE for the first semester of the 2016/2017 sidang! It was MC-ed by our very own Mariana Tan! “ELLO”:D With Bernice and Team handling worship, it was indeed a great start needed after the mid semester break. :)

The speaker of the day is non other than Father Campbell and he shares about his life and how he served as a Chaplain and how it put him in situations that helped him grow himself and those around him. Watch the video below to hear the entire sermon! :)

Pictures:

OUR MC OF THE DAY!

Bernice and Team giving God the praise He deserves.

Father Campbell and Miss President

MOMENTS

Moments took place two times throughout the first semester of the 2016/2017 sidang! It was held in CLC on Wednesdays, 8pm- 10pm.

To see a number of people gathered together, arms stretched out praising Him is a beautiful sight to see. To be a part of it was even better.

A community of worshippers; praying and seeking; surrendering and letting God do His thing is such a Blessing.

Perhaps the one thing that lingered on even after days that passed was the pure knowledge and assurance of Gods Joy being our strength in moments of weakness, in the tears that we shed, in the overwhelming life around us, His Joy is our strength to keep going.

Moments wasn’t just another night of prayer and worship. It was a night my own heart felt Gods Peace which surpasses understanding and Love which knows no end.

Psalm 26:10 “Be Still, and know that I am God”

By Miriam

Let us come and soak in His Presence.