Last Sunday I was sharing on the lesson of love for discipleship class. Though I have been through the same lesson for umpteenth time, He never fails to reveal another depth of this thing called LOVE.
Impacting lives is about love, isn't it so? Loving people matters so much to God that it becomes the second greatest commandment that Christ speaks about in Matthew 22 (verse 37-39).
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." 1 Peter 1:22
We are called to love one another with the same kind of agape love that God first love us with, from the heart. God did not love us with His mind, because loving people is not from thinking logically. In fact, it is the opposite! He ask us to love our neighbours and our enemies, much more than ourselves!
Love is acceptance (and many more...). If we wanna impact the people around us, we love them with the love of God, from the heart. More so for our brothers and sisters in the same body, because by our love for each other that all men will know we are His disciples:)
Look forward to!:
Counting down 15 days to our youth/church camp! 15 days to answering the call of our lives! More details this week! Please remember to bring your passports (or a photocopy) this saturday!
This Week @ Detonate:
Pastor Eileen Poh will be amongst the Detons this week to share about God's Word! Be here at 4.45pm for a time of worship!
This Sunday we will be heading to Youth GDOP @ Singapore Expo. Right after Sunday Service, do lookout for your leaders as we head off for a quick lunch and back to church by 2pm for the shuttle bus to Expo!
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” Mark 4:37-40,
The first level of faith that Jesus speaks about is no faith. No faith believes God does not care. It is typified by the disciples who woke Jesus in the midst of the storm and said, “Lord, don’t You care that we’re perishing?”
Perhaps you are in a storm today; and, to you, it seems like God is asleep and that He doesn’t even care. That He is aloof, disinterested, and disconnected from you. That you are going through hell and He doesn’t care.
Do not believe that lie. If you buy into the lie that God does not care, it robs you of faith. And you cannot get any lower than that.
Do not believe the lie that God is detached and unconcerned. Don’t think, “If God cares about me, why would this have happened? Why am I going through this storm? Why is this happening in my life? God doesn’t care about me. He doesn’t even know my name.”
Dear brothers and sisters, God does care. He is not going to let you perish. He is interested in even the smallest details of your life.
1 Peter 5:7 says, Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you!
Look forward to!:
Our first year of youth GDOP! Never despise the power of united prayer:) We are gonna let faith arise and see God does His work as we partner with Him! 31st may, bus leaves church compund at 2pm!
This Week @ Detonate:
No stranger to us is Pastor Andrew Yeo from Cornerstone Church this saturday! It's gonna be a week that God is going to pour out much more into our lives and ministry! Cya all at 4.45pm!
In the book of Matthew, it tells us that the end of the age will come like a thief in the night. (Matthew 24: 42-44) “Am I ready for God to receive me?” Perhaps we may say “God, You take complete control of my life” but yet we do not allow God to touch our great amount of leisure time like hooking on to the net to chat, spending huge amount of time on computer games or television while actually the time can be spent fruitfully studying the bible or sharing the gospel with a friend.
We live in this world, and many a times we let situations overcome us that God no longer seems to be in our lives. Whether are we studying or working, we naturally want to be successful in the things we do. However, when we become so successful in our studies and work, when God calls upon us to do other works, are we ready to give up?
To some, giving up materially may be easy but when it comes to give up time and bad habits, it is very tough. However, let us offer ourselves to God. For someone who would die to save us from the bondage of sins, how much more will He do for us if we give ourselves wholly to Him. Giving up our bad habits allows God to implant good and new habits in our lives, that we may bear characteristics of Christ likeness.
A servant cannot serve two masters. Neither can we serve God and the world at the same time. Hence, if we truly love God, our focus should not be on the things of the world. Yes, we should continue to work hard but not for the world but for God. God puts us in service to Him so that His kingdom may be expanded. We are not just students nor just working young adults but we are also servants of God, called to be a light in the darkness, to reach out. Therefore, we ought to obey what He has planned for us.
Let us be ever ready to offer ourselves wholly unto Him, giving up our own desires, trusting in Him that He has got much better things for us. Let us not put our focus unto things of the world, but onto the living God. Let us follow the way of Apostle Peter, who gave up all the fishes he caught and followed after Jesus.
Look forward to!:
Let Brother Bernard know if ure going so that we can cater for transport (one way only!) by THIS Saturday! Don't deny the power of prayer! If your friends are interested to come as well, do let us know! 31st May, History Making Day.
This Week @ Detonate:
There will be NO service in Detonate this Saturday. Instead, we will be heading down to Grace II Assembly of God Church at Bukit Batok. Please meet6.15pm @ Bukit Batok Mrt Station Control. Any issues, please feel free to contact Brother Eric.
The story of Gideon is a fascinating account of how the Lord used a regular guy to do an amazing work. Gideon didn’t see how God could possibly use him to lead his people in a military victory. Though Gideon doubted, the Lord didn’t give up on him. He stood firm on His plan to use Gideon to deliver Israel (see verses 17-40 in Judges 6). After the angel gave Gideon confirmation that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon built an altar to the Lord. Gideon submitted himself to the Lord and was ultimately used to defeat the Midianites and deliver his people.
We can all be encouraged by this story. God is the God of Faith. God actually has faith in us in that he will speak things over us that will occur if we will simply agree with Him and follow Him. Paul wrote that God is “God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17 NIV). When God declares things that are contrary to present reality, He is speaking it by faith. When we agree with Him and obey, we help bring the manifestation of that faith to pass.
When we set out to follow Jesus and live the “new life in Christ,” the reality of our “old self” may make this task look impossible. We can consider 2 Corinthians 5:17 as God’s “faith statement” over us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” As we call this to mind, we have the choice to agree with God that this is going to be the case, or we can give up and admit defeat.
By agreeing with God on it, we engage His word with our faith, and supernatural power is released in us to complete our transformation into the new creation. This may not happen instantaneously, as there are likely sin issues that we’ll need to work through that will take time to surrender completely. The point is, however, that we will move positively toward the complete manifestation of what God said we would become – a new creation.
Look forward to!:
Let Brother Bernard know if ure going so that we can cater for transport (one way only!) by THIS Saturday! Don't deny the power of prayer! If your friends are interested to come as well, do let us know! 31st May, History Making Day.
NOTE 16th May, instead of the normal youth service at our church building, we will be at Grace II AOG church! Details this saturday!
This Week @ Detonate:
Our camp speaker, Pastor Rupert will be in the house this saturday! What an awesome man of God who will be here to inspire us AND to give us sneak previews of our camp! So don't miss it out! Be there at 4.45pm:):)
