尝一口圣经

尝一口圣经

圣经就像一杯好酒，

爸爸尝一口就醉了。

圣经就像一杯凉茶，

妈妈尝一口就精神了。

圣经就像棒棒糖，

妹妹尝一口就甜了。

圣经就像精力饮品，

我尝一口就醒了。

Translation:

A Taste of Bible

-Anonymous-

Bible is like a glass of good wine,

A sip by papa makes him drunk.

Bible is like a cup of cooling tea,

A sip by mama refreshes her fully.

Bible is like a lollipop,

A bite by sister makes her sweet.

Bible is like an energy drink,

A sip by myself recharges me to the brink.

The Man who Prepared The Way

I attended Hope Penang last Sunday, and I was blessed by the sermon =)
They are sharing on a series about people of Christmas from the Bible. Previous Sunday was about The man who missed Christmas aka King Herod.

Yesterday, preacher Sis Amelia, started like this.

Morpheus is always asking Neo “Are you the one?”
And Qui-Gon Jin asking Anakin “Are you the one?”
Who is the man in the Bible that asks “Are You the One?”

John the Baptist, the man who prepared the Way
Luke 3:1-19

1. He was God’s answer

a. To 400 years of silence
Malachi 3:1 and Mal 4:5-6 prophesied about John the Baptist. Although in the bible, the book of Malachi is only one page in front of the gospel of Matthew, in historical timeline, it was 400 years. Of silence? Of anticipation? Of faithful watch? Of silence?
b. To someone’s prayer
Matt 3:1 to Zechariah and Elizabeth. In fact, we all can be an answer to someone’s prayer

2. He gave his life to serve his calling. Luke 1:15

a. He prepared the people for the Lord. Luke 1:16-17
b. He exalted Jesus above himself. John 3:27-31
Jesus is the great shepherd and John pointed people to Jesus.
c. He lived his life well.
With simplicity. He was a Nazarite, which means no alcohol, no razor/knife on his hair, cannot go near dead body. (other examples Samuel and Samson). John the Baptist wasn’t afraid to tell a wrong as a wrong. Rebuked King Herod.

Cuba tanya diri: What’s your calling in life?

Our calling is to glorify God.
Ask yourself again: Which part of the Great Commission are you fulfilling?

3.He received recommendation from Jesus. Matt 11:11

Prov 6:16-19
1 Cor 15:40-41
Keep ourselves humble. Be kingdom minded. Be motivated by heaven!

Each and everyone of us can be a John the Baptist. We can be an answer to someone’s prayer. We need to prepare the way for Jesus’ second coming, because He is coming.

Make ready your house
Make ready your heart
Make ready the people of God
Prepare the Way

Able to Make The Difference

Shalom brothers and sisters! Hope you are all fine and healthy.

So like I said last time, our Hope Ipoh blog is going to feature Sunday Service sermons weekly from now own. First, I apologize for not posting sermon for last Sunday, because I was not at home and so I was unable to attend Sunday service.

Anyway, today in Hope Kuching, the sermon preached by Pastor Denis Lu was entitled “Able to Make The Difference“, with the passage from Luke 1:26-38 being the focus.

The passage was about the virgin Mary, who was approached by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel told Mary that she was “favored” and that the LORD is with her (v28). The angel also told her that she was going to become pregnant and she was going to give birth to the Son of the Most High (v27-28) even though she was a virgin!

By looking at the example of the virgin Mary, we can see how all of us are able to make a difference in the lives of others, especially those who have not accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour.

We need to become:

• God-positioned
• God-guided
• God-empowered

Firstly, we need to understand that God has put us where we are at because that’s where He wants us to be. Everything that God is doing is to prepare us and to position us. God had chosen Mary specifically, and Joseph too, even though Joseph wasn’t the “main star” in the passage we are looking at. God positioned Mary and Joseph to do God’s will.

Let’s look at Isaiah 7:14.

Isaiah 7:14

“All right then, the Lord Himself will choose the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give brith to a son and will call him Immanuel – ‘God is with us.’”

Mary was godly, and she didn’t commit adultery, thus she was a virgin and that’s why God chose her to be the mother of Jesus!

Also, in Matthew 2:23.

Matthew 2:23

“So they (Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus) went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what was spoken by the propets concerning the Messiah: ‘He was to be called a Nazarene.’”

If you refer to Luke 1:26, it says that the angel Gabriel went to a village called Nazareth. Again, this shows that God positioned Mary in Nazareth to be part of God’s amazing plan of salvation!

In Matthew 1, we can see the records of ancestors and descendants. As God had promised, Jesus was a direct descendant of King David and also Abraham! So with that, God has fulfilled His promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:18 “… and through your offspring all nations will be blessed, because of you have obeyed me.”

Next, we need to ask and follow God’s guidance. In Acts 16:6-10 and Daniel 6, we can see how Paul and Daniel had followed God’s leading. We need to believe in God, and know that His guidance is sufficient – never too much, never too little. Sometimes, we are afraid of asking God for His guidance because we are afraid that He will “mess up” our plans.

Brothers and sisters, if we can trust the Lord for eternal life, why not trust God for everything else? Amen?

Thirdly, being God-empowered means to rely on the Holy Spirit in doing our works. In Genesis 18:13-14, it says:

“Then the LORD said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, “Can an old woman like me have a baby?” Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son.’”

And true enough, God blessed Abraham and Sarah with their son Isaac, as it is said in Chapter 21. What seemed impossible was made possible with God’s Spirit! We really need to rely on the Holy Spirit because in Zechariah 4:6, God said:

“It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit.”

Brothers and sisters, I want to encourage all of you to be an agent of influence in this world that’s spinning out of control without Christ. All of us were born in this country for a reason. All of us were born in our respective hometowns for a reason. All of us were born in our specific family for a reason. All of us were saved by God for a reason.

Let that reason be to fulfill The Great Commission.

This Christmas, we can make a difference. We can do something that we’ve never done before. We can be a shining testimony, that shows that Christmas isn’t about snowmen, Santa Claus, presents, or Christmas Trees. We can show that Christmas isn’t on 25th December only.

We can show to our friends, our family, our colleagues, our neighbours that Christmas is about Jesus Christ, our Saviour who is with us! We can show that Christmas is the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord! We can show that everyday is our Christmas – a day when we celebrate our victory and salvation in Jesus Christ!

The question is: Will you do it for the Kingdom of God?

Brothers and sisters, let’s continue to pray for one another, pray for opportunities for us to be a blessing to the people around us. Let’s continue to strive and improve ourselves, and to be more available and effective in our ministries.

I pray that this message has touched your heart and God has inspired you on how you can be a difference this Christmas. God bless you all!