from Fear to Faith

by Pastor Calvin Lee

Haggai 2:20-23
Our God Resigns to Our God Reigns!

Don't be religious outwardly but your heart is not right with God


3 things that God said to Zerubbabel :
(1) He is in Control
- 6 times in the paragraph He said He is in control
- Encouragement / Eschatology
- how much of your life you're in control?
- especially when you're in an overwhelming situation?

(2) He is a Covenant-Keeping God
- God's will has always be to accomplish His ways through His people

(3) He is for you!
Romans 8:31
- We are Sure! We are Secure!
- We may be facing situation against us. Know this : The Maker of Heaven & Earth is for you !!


3 Perspectives :
(a) we can complain, blame and dispute the moment
(b) we can become discourage by the moment, lose heart and give up
(c) we can endure it and grow from it

3 Principles of discouraging moments :
(i) discouraging moments are always a great, divine moment. Question is do you believe?
- Men extremity is God's opportunity
- "God, out of this situation, please work at it and let your glory shines through it"

(ii) progress without perseverance is usually not possible
- don't give up, press on

(iii) what you receive from discouraging moments depend upon how you respond
- eyes fix on Jesus; the Author & Finisher of our faith
- God will bring to pass His great plans for the planet earth

from Disobedience to Obedience

by Pastor Calvin Lee

(1) Most of us here we want to obey God, we want to honour Him, we want to do what is right
(2) Nobody obeys God all the time

Therefore, it is something we need to work at constantly, everyday

Haggai 2:10
Haggai 2:11-14

The people are experiencing a close heaven instead of an open heaven, they were experiencing lack

Holy touches unholy. The unholy object remains unholy.
Unholy touches holy. The holy object becomes defiled

(1) You take a look at your heart. Your heart is not right. You cannot do the work of the lord when you are unclean. You are working but not willingly. You are serving but not.....
- God never desires a fancy building and lots of sacrifices if the hearts of the worshippers are not right with Him
- to obey is better than sacrifice
- it is very important that our hearts must be right with God
1 Samuel 15:22
(2) You need to give careful thought, search your hearts. Do a good evaluation of your heart
Haggai 2:15, 18
Proverbs 4:23

Principles :
(a) God is concern about the condition of our hearts, especially the spiritual heart. Is our heart right with God?
(b) God allows certain events in our lives to get our attention
(c) God disciplines in order to restore, not to punish. We experience trials in our lives. Those trials are not meant to punish us. He allows it to discipline because He loves us. He wants to restore, renew our lives.

How should we respond?
(i) take steps in the right direction, in the path of obedience
- every decision matters, big or small. It either be in the path of God's agenda or our agenda. God's way or our ways
(ii) trust Him
Haggai 2:19

God yearns and longs to bless His people
Genesis 1:22
Exodus 23:25
Leviticus 25:21
Deuteronomy 1:11
Deuteronomy 5:33

1. TRUTH
2. TROUBLE (turn the blessing of God outward, upward. Be a good steward of God's blessing. Blessing is not just money or material but in many ways)
3. THANK GOD FOR THE CROSS

The Privilege Of Prayer

by Pastor Lee Meng Cham

John 16:23-24
- Prayer is the joy and privilege of God's people

Claim the Gift of Prayer
1. According to God's promises
- God's Will, and God "I Will"

2. Confidence in the gorunds for prayer
- Ask in My Name
1 Timothy 6:15b-16a
Exodus 32:22,23
Hebrew 10:19-22
1 John 3:23-24
- Acknowledge the danger
- the old testament way
- the new and living way
"In Jesus' Way"
- Sin kills, forgiveness always has a price to pay because forgiveness has a debt

3. Commune with the God of Prayer
- My Father will give you and your job will be complete
- The joy of Wasting Time
- The joy of Spirit transformation and discernment
- The joy of just being found in His presence (Psalm 16:11)

2 Samuel 7:21
1 Chronicles 7:25

Whom have I in heaven but you, there is nothing on earth I desire besides you
My heart and my flesh, many times they fail. But there is one truth that always will prevail..

Matthew 6:8
- God does not need you to pray, he wants you to pray

I pray because I can't help myself, I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God, it changes me.
- CS Lewis -

If prayer seems to you a diversion from productivity, remember God does more in 5 seconds than we can in 5 hours!
- John Piper -

The Way God Works

Pastor David Lim

Joshua 4:4-7

1. HE positions us for His purpose, SEE IT!!
- the stewardship of your house. God watches over your house. Nothing in your life is wasted.
- sociologically, vision, multi cultural multi site all equal

2. The past is preparation, CELEBRATE IT!!
- by celebrating the past, you declare God is in charge and will use it
- by celebrating the past, you are free from your bondage, you find freedom from its bondage
- by celebrating the past, you realized the journey leads to His purpose

3. God's heart never changes, our role changes, be flexible, FLOW WITH IT!!
- roles change
- lesson from Grace (Hebrews 11:39-12:1)

4. You have an eternal destiny, learn God's lesson to fulfil it!
- out of rejection, His grace is sufficient
- out of pain, give God all the glory
- out of death of a vision, never hurt God's work
- out of delay, Grow, watch God's destiny unfold!

Triumphant in tough times

Pastor Ronald

Hebrews 12:1-13

Drifting faith may cause or leads to denying faith eventually

(1) Run like God's saints (Hebrews 12:1)

(2) Meditate on God's Son (Hebrews 12:1)
- consider what Jesus do for us, he emptied himself for us
- what Jesus understands about us (Hebrews 4:15-16)(Hebrews 12:2)
- what is Jesus doing for us (Hebrews 12:2)(Hebrews 7:24-25)

(3) Stand under God's discipline (Hebrews 12:4-13)(James 1:2-4)
- tough times reveal the inner man
- take God's discipline positively
- be stretched but don't worry, for God is refining you
- when God see His image in us, God will deliver us

** Real faith shows itself in action **
** Real faith is an ongoing trust **

Noah built an ark in 160 years...... WOW!! that's the kind of faith he has in God!!
What we are going through today is nothing

from Despair to Delight

Pastor Calvin Lee

Haggai 2:1-9

Why did discouragement sets into the hearts of the people in chapter 2?
- answer Haggai 2:3
- it's got to do with memory
- instead of celebrating, they were lamenting

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind it doesn't matter.
-Mark Twain-

Ezra 3:11-13

Reasons why this is happening :
- they were looking back to the good old days (they were looking back to the good old temple)
- they were playing the comparison game (the more they compare the more discourage they become)
- they were living in the past and downgrading the present (the memory of the past has become a burden to them)

How can we move from state of despair to delight?
(1) LOOK AWAY (Haggai 2:4-5)
- we need to move on from the past and be strong in the present. We cannot constantly live on this life and looking back the rear view mirror
(2) LOOK UP (Haggai 2:6-8)
- have a new perspective view of God and experience the power of God. Perspective eg. David & Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45)
(3) LOOK FORWARD (Haggai 2:9)

** We build more than we can see **
** Don't just look at the present condition and make a conclusion out of it **
** We trust in the unseen hands of God **

Some of us are holding on to the memory of the past that we cannot enjoy the present. Some of us are fearful of tomorrow that we cannot enjoy the present.

Sometimes God will allow you to experience a bigger-than-life Goliath so that you get to experience a bigger-than-goliath God.
-Tony Evans-

Hebrew 12:26-28
The world may be shaken but we belong to an unshakable kingdom

Forgiven and Free

by Pastor Scott The

John 7:53-8:11

** Example of a bicycle with a flat tyre
** Example of a woman who committed adultery

What is one thing in your life that need God to change you? It is not the physical although you change church, change outlook, attend church every Sunday as though everything's alright. However, if your tyre is flat, no matter where you are, you still have a flat tyre.

(1) You need to change your flat tyre
(2) Jesus can forgive and set you free

We need to spend more time in the presence of God. God can set us free in the bondage of sin. Sin will not stay secret or in the dark. God will forgives us. He will not condemn us.

Leviticus 20:10
Both adulterer and adulteress shall be put to death according to Leviticus. But in the case of John 8, the adulterer was not been brought to Jesus. The accusers were not concern about the woman's fate, they just want to trap Jesus.

"Secret sin on earch is open scandal in heaven"

Your sins and mine will be revealed one day. It is evidence of God's grace and mercy. What are you going to do about it?

Galatians 6:1
The objective is to restore sinners, not destroy.

Why did Jesus not throw a stone at the woman? Because Jesus was on the way to the cross to die for her. He is going to take the punishment for us at that time. We will be forgiven because of Jesus.

If we do not forgive someone, it will hold sin in our hearts. It is indeed difficult to let go of the stone from our hands, but God will help to take the stone away from our hands.

Study of Haggai

by Pastor Calvin Lee

The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.

Complacent to commitment (Haggai 1:1-15)

Ezra 4:24

4 important points :
(1) an inexcusable Complacency (Haggai 1:1-4)
- wrong belief
- wrong behaviour (started well but end badly)

(2) an inevitable Consequence (Haggai 1:6-10)
- much but more disappointment
- more but more dissatisfaction

You don't get what you should get because you don't do what you should do - Pastor Benny Ho

(3) an important Consideration (Haggai 1:11)
- are you heading in the right direction that you should with the lord?

(4) an intentional Commitment (Haggai 1:12-14)
- Reverence
- Repentance
- Honour Him
- Honour Him in His house

** The leaders set the example **

Puntuality
Non Attendance
Dress Code
Attention

Intellectual Approach

by Pastor Lee Meng Cham

Why do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?

Intellectual approach is being logical and rational about our approach to the gospel.

The example from Paul :
Acts 17:16-34
A. Determining the context for apologetics
- Paul is combating truth and knowledge
B. Delivering the content of apologetics
- Paul build a bridge, not barrier
- Move from Known to the Unknown (v 24-28)
- Go from insight to application (v 29-31)
- v 32-34

Most people do not have a reality of God but they have a problem about the nature of God
(Isaiah 55:6-7)
(Jeremiah 29:13-14a)

The exhortation from Peter
1 Peter 3:13-17
- Real hope endures (v 13-14)
- Real hope reveres
- Real hope answers
- Real hope invites (v 15-17)

Dorothy L Sayers :
"For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is— limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—He had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He has Himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.”

The incompleteness of intellectual approach :
- belief as a Verb
- faith as a Leap
- the gospel as Foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)
- apologetics as an Unveiling

"Sister/Brother, I hope you know Jesus. He is everything to me in the world"

Interpersonal Approach

by Pastor Calvin Lee

Luke 5:26-32

5 very important principles we need to understand :

(1) Being intentional in developing relationships with pre-Christians
A. Engagement
- friends, neighbours, family, co-workers, associates
- the Christians demonstrates caring and compassion through a genuine friendship
- the Christian seeks to understand the needs of unchurched friends
B. Enlargement

(2) People don't expect perfection from Christians, just honest ones
A. Transparent
- we need to be opened with others to say that we are not perfect, be humble, say sorry
B. Transformation
- people need to see the transforming works, ie. the change in us by the Holy Spirit for the Glory of God

(3) A person we perceives as being "hardened to the gospel" may actually be receptive if approached correctly
- be patient and be prayerful

(4) there is such a thing as a position of greater influence
- authority and arena

(5) Beware of valuing friendship over truth telling

** What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world but loses his soul?**
** At the end of the journey of life, what then?**
** When God's people are relevant, God becomes relevant to a lost world. When God's people are irrelevant, God becomes irrelevant to a lost world **

An Invitational Approach

by Pastor Calvin Lee

We are living in a perilous time. Almost everyday people are being killed by the terrorist. The world has become more ungodly... And more uncertain... look at all the countries that's facing issues. We are living in a life of urgency.. We must rise up as a church to do what we must do today.

There are 4 key reasons why we are not approaching people :
(1) Fear is the biggest culprit
(2) Feelings of inadequacy
(3) Apathy - indifference, no burdens of souls in our hearts anymore
(4) Personal struggles - I'm not good enough, I have my own problems to face

You don't have to feel holy before you talk about the Holy One. It is not about me, I must point people to Jesus. I am here because of the grace of God. Christ came to redeem us, it is not about our own story, it is about Christ story.

Luke 14:16-23

** COMMAND ** [Go and invite the people to come]
A. the Perameters
(1) Personal friends
(2) People with physical challenges
(3) People who are far off

B. the Partnership
God is with us as we go. God is in partnership with me when I go to fulfil the Great Commission

C. the Purpose
God's house will be full with the redeemed

2 Peter 3:9

Nothing happens until we go

** CONSIDERATION ** [Remember the faithfulness of this servant when you get tired about reaching out]

A. Rely on the Holy Spirit's leading as there is such a thing called divine appointment
B. Resolve to press on even in the face of rejections
C. Recognise there is only a window of opportunity to invite

Be The Gospel

by Pastor Lee Meng Cham

Galatians 6:9-10

- People matter to God
- People are lost
- People need connection
- People need community
- People need Christ
- People need contagious Christian to tell them about Christ

God has made you and me unique wherever we are. A special place where we have the unique opportunity to reach out.

We are suppose to be the gospel
We should complement each other
We must work together in the diversity of gifts to reach out to non believers

Invitational
Interpersonal
Direct

Serving Approach (Acts 9:36-42)
- the Wide and the Narrow
(1) All are to serve (1 Peter 4:10)
(2) Acts of kindness and mercy, let's look at the life of Tabitha;Dorcas
-one single act of loving kindness yields a multiple harvest
(A) Her Method (she was quiet)
- Much more is accomplish when you don't need the credit (Matthew63:4)
(B) Her Motives (she wasn't thinking about herself but others)
- If you are serving ourselves, we don't want to hear negative feedback
- When we serve people, we give honour to them (Philippians 1:23-24)
(C) Her Manner (suffers long)
- The miracle is being happy doing it. We can find joy in serviing, loving people
(D) Her Master (Matthew 25:21)
(3) The significance of service
(A) As worship unto Jesus (Matthew 25:40)
- whenever we serve we serve as worship unto the Lord
(B) As pointing to God our Father (Matthew 5:16)
(C) As alleviating the human condition
- serving is not trying to fix you. We can also serve in our inadequacy
- serving is not increasing a sense of indebtedness
(D) As attesting to our faith (Hebrews 13:15-16)
I belong to Jesus. He must have the right to use me without consulting me - Mother Theresa

How many people I can minus from hell - Mother Theresa

While 10% of Christians have the gift of evangelism, 90% have the gift of serving.

People know if you're making the service for their sake, or self reward.

Great opportunities seldom come, but the small ones are always around.

A Glimpse of Heaven

by Pastor Calvin Lee

John 14:1-7

Heaven is about having an eternal relationship with God

(1) Heaven is a place (John 14:1-2)
- Heaven is an awesome place because it's God's abiding (Genesis 28:17)
- Heaven is a dwelling place (Deuteronomy 26:15)
- Heaven is a healing place (Revelation 21:4)
- Heaven is a glorious place (Revelation 21:23-27)

@ Heaven is a place to worship, to serve the Lord, to fellowship with one another, to rest in the Lord, for us to explore

(2) Heaven is a prepared place (John 14:3)(Revelation 21:1-3)

(3) Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people (John 14:4-6)(Acts 4:12)
- No one gets into heaven by accident (John 14:6)
- It is only through Jesus because He is the only Way
- Jesus Himself made this claim
- The Fellowship with God was broken through Adam and Eve
- God promised us the redeemer and Jesus came for us to mend that broken bridge
- Therefore our relationship with God the Father was restored by the works of the cross
- Only Jesus Christ can forgive our sins, we cannot forgive each others' sins

@ It is time for us to set our eyes on Heaven (2 Peter 3:13)
@ Heaven is about eternal life, not just life
@ Things that we value on this planet earth will not be valued in heaven
@ Heaven is about timeline, not just time
@ I have more yesterdays than tomorrow
@ Therefore live life to the fullness for the glory of God
@ Heaven is about destiny, not just destination
@ Heaven is about the redeemer, not just the redeemed

** Fresh passion, Fresh Perspective and begin to fulfil God's purpose in our lives (Matthew 6:19-20)

** Let us walk through life with eternity in mind

The Cost Of A Soul

By Pastor David Lim

Isaiah 53:10

1. God is glorious. He delights in showing His glory throughout the universe
2. Out of His love, God created man with free will. He knew man would sin. Out of His love, God wanted to redeem man
3. Great contradiction : How to redeem man without compromising His glory? To overlook sin is to cheapen His glory and grace.

Bonhoeffer : Grace is free, but it is not cheap

For God so loved the world,
1. He gave His one and only Son
- Not delight in Son's suffering, but in success of upholding his justice & honour & providing salvation for sinners. (Isiah 53:10; Ephesians 5:2)
- Christ, the Lamb of God slain from before the foundation of the world.
a) The Word became flesh!
b) John 12:27-28 - For this purpose I have come to this hour.

2. That whoever believes in Him shall not perish
- Redeem us from Law's curse. Man's works cannot justify. Only True Repentance!
- Redeem us from empty life.
1 Peter 1:18-21 - Full life : purpose, empowering, hope.
- Redeem us from sin's bondage. Forgiveness, freedom based on truth of God's word. Grace is power, not just pardon. Grace enables us not to sin.
1 Thessalonians 4:7-8
- Redeem us from coming judgment (wrath). We deserve to die. All fall short.
- Redeem the church. Ephesians 1:20 - so she could spread his glory throughout universe.
- Redeem the world. Creation groans & travails in pain. A new heaven and a new earth.
- Redeem us from death. Hebrews 2:14-15 - In resurrection He defeated the powers of death. Result : Philippians 2 - At the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow - to the glory of the Father!

3. But have eternal life
- If life has meaning beyond this life, we must know how to reach it.
- If life has meaning now, we need to know what it is.
- If there is right and wrong, and ultimate justice, it must be absolute Right and Justice.
- If there is no hell and only heaven, I would like to believe that.

The Reality of Hell

- by Pastor Calvin Lee -

There is a hell.  It's eternal fire!

(1) The Bible teaches it
- A place of Suffering (Jude 1:7)
- A place of Sorrow (Revelation 20:14-15)
- A place of Separation (2 Thessalonians 1:9)

Matthew 25:41

(2) Jesus talks about it (Luke 16:19-31)

(3) God's justice demands it
- God does not send anyone to hell
- God sent His only son to die for the world
- It is the freewill of each and every human being to choose eternal heaven or eternal hell
- God rewards the righteous and punish the weaked
- God is a just God

(4) Human being misunderstand it
- There is consequences we have to face
- There is grave consequences when we choose not to believe in God

(5) The Cross presupposes it
- If there is no hell, why should Jesus die on the Cross?


* Do you believe in hell?
* What have you done with this knowledge of hell?

If I were the devil

1 Peter 5:8-11

- The devil is real from Genesis to Revelation.
- Satan, father of lies, accuses and condemns us, appears as angel of light to seduce us.
- Evil, cruelty and sin destroy families. It brings pain and bondage on mankind.
- The devil knows we are the height of God's creation.

If I were the devil, I want people to :
- Challenge Biblical Authority
- Doubt God's Power, then Despair about Life
- Distort God's Grace
- Promote Complacency among Christians
- Attack the Family Structure
- Exalt Greed & Selfishness

But in spite of seeming success in some areas, if I were the devil I would cringe in fear :
- Redemption!
- The Bible
- Transformation

What to Do?
- Be self-controlled & alert (1 Peter 5:8)
- Resist devil (1 Peter 5:9; Ephesians 6:12)
- God will restore (1 Peter 5:10)
- Fulfill your destiny! Impact your world (1 Peter 5:11)

The Glory of God

2 Corinthians 3 (glory or glorious word were repeated several times)
2 Corinthians 4:1-6

# The ultimate goal of the gospel is the glory of God Himself
# The glory of God must be both the fuel and the goal, the motivation

What is the Glory of God?
- the infinite beauty and greatness of His manifold perfections
- The appropriate outward expression of His own excellence
- His infinite and intrinsic weight and worth

We are all moving to the end that is the glory of God

SEE HIS GLORY
(1) We see God's glory in creation
Psalm 19:1 (Awe/Wow)
Kabod
(2) We see the Glory of God in covenant
Exodus 40:34-35 (Fear/Woe)
Shekinah
(3) We see the Glory of God in Christ
John 1:14 (Bewilderment/Wah)
Doxa

The Glory of God is everywhere. Many people will miss the glory because they always focus on the things below.

SERVE HIS GLORY
To serve God's glory is :
- Our pleasure; love to, not have to
- Our privilege; get to, not got to
1 Peter 4:10-11

- Our purpose; want to, not ought to
* God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

* The main measure of your devotion to God is not your devotional life, it is simply your life.

SHARE HIS GLORY - The Crown of the Gospel (v. 16-18)
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
John 17:4-5, 22
- Present transformation; inward and gradual (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
- Future glorification; outward and final

"Until we realize that God is in this venture of glorifying Himself through our participation, missional living will not be our daily prayer and preoccupation."

Build with Extraordinary Grace

Grace is favour or kindness showed with regardless if the person is worth. Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Mercy is getting what we deserve.

Zechariah 4:6-10
Luke 2:40

(1) Build with a humble dedication (Zechariah 4:6, Acts 4:33)
(2) Build with a hopeful declaration (Zechariah 4:9)

# When uncertainty is tainting your mood, know that the Lord's grace is the beacon of light that will provide the pathway to a place of peace.

# When it seems that you are lacking something, boast in that weakness because this is exactly the area in which God will want to display His power and glory.

# When life doesn't meet your expectations, it is important to take it with grace.

# To know the grace of God is one thing, to live the grace of God is another.

# Learn to see beyond your present moment.

# When grace moves in, guilt moves out.

# Don't limit God and don't box God in a certain mould.

Grace Declaration :
* I am saved by Grace
* I am sustained by Grace
* I am strengthened by Grace (2 Corinthians 12:9)
* I am supplied by Grace (1 Peter 4:10)
* I am surprised by Grace

Speaking with Extraordinary Insights

(1) Believe that we can hear His voice
(2) Become the vessel for His voice
(3) Be tuned to His voice

Prophecy is speaking the word of God under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21)

God urge us to seek prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Prophecy releases the life and power of God (Ezekiah 37:10)

A. Just be ordinary (James 5:17-18)
- Elijah was as human as we are
B. Just believe (Ephesians 1:19-20)
C. Be available (John 15:15)
- Availability is not about ability and time but is about Relationship
- Our availability is driven by our deep friendship with God

3 types of relationship :
1. Duty-based relationship
2. Needs-based relationship
3. Friend-based relationship

# Be Willing (John 4:34)
Jesus success in ministry :
- is not about the number of followers
- is not about faithfulness of the followers
- is about willingness to do the Father's Will

# Be Humble (Psalm 25:9)
- the humble has a special place in God's heart
- humility is not about being worthless
- is not about having no ability

4 Keys to hearing God's voice :
Habbakuk 2:1-2
1. Being still (Psalm 46:10)
2. Being focus (look for vision as you pray) book of Daniel
3. being spontaneous (John 7:37-38)
- recognise His voice as spontaneous thoughts
- thoughts from our mind are analytical, thoughts from our hearts are spontaneous
4. being conscientious (1 Chronicles 28:19)
- write out the flow of thoughts and pictures within you

Minister with Extraordinary Power

James 5:16
James 5:17
1 John 3:8
Luke 10:19
Ephesians 6:10-20

- We are looking at the life of Elijah
- It is the secret of a prayerful life
- A simple, short and direct prayer approach
- Ordinary people who are willing to pray extraordinarily ordinary prayers to an Extraordinary God

(1) Elijah cry out for God's compassion on lives (1 Kings 17:20-21)
A. he was subjected to same sanctions
B. he was compelled into the same hardships

(2) Elijah contend for God's glory : He Vindicates! (1 Kings 18:36-38)
A. The real source of blessings : Baal or Yahweh? (1 Kings 17:1)
B. The real source of conflicts : physical or spiritual?
- the battle is real but the victory is sure
- Jesus wins! satan loses!

(3) Elijah care for God's honour : He Provides (1 Kings 19:14-18)
A. The conditions of the lost
B. The crisis of pre-exilic Israel : Double-Minded (1 Kings 18)
C. The comfort of the Lord
- His Supernatural Provision
- His Supernatural Presence

We are there to reach out to raise dead dreams, dead plans, dead life. We have been saved by Grace.

satan trembles when the weakest saint goes on his knees

Defend with Extraordinary Strength

Samson, a man of great strength.  Samson means "Sunshine"

Nazirite - Different, separated and set aside

Judges 13:1-5
Judges 16:20
Judges 16:23-25
Judges 16:28

5 reasons for Samson's fall :
(1) Samson disobeyed his parents
(2) Samson deserted his promise
(3) Samson distorted his purpose
(4) Samson defiled his purity
(5) Samson deluded his power

1st danger to learn of Samson's story :
DANGER OF STEPPING OUT OF THE BOUNDARY (Judges 14:1)
- boundaries are normal
- boundaries are needful because it sheltered us from trouble
- boundaries shape us into a better person
- boundaries show us how we are doing

4 simple steps of how we can keep ourselves from stepping out of the boundary :
1. Remember the joy of living within God's boundaries
2. Renounce any activity that has lured you outside of God's boundaries
3. Rebuild the fences you have trampled
4. Rejoice in the mercy and grace of a forgiving God

2nd danger to learn of Samson's story :
DANGER OF SUCCUMBING TO THE DESIRES OF LUSTS (Judges 16:1)(Judges 16:4)
- lust discount spiritual considerations
- lust disregards God's plan

4 simple steps to overcome the desires of lusts :
1. Get Right
2. Get Away (2 Timothy2:22)
3. Get Help
4. Get Busy with things of God

Lessons to learn :
* You can't experience extraordinary strength if you are standing outside the circle that God has given to us (John 15)
* Strength of the muscles is one thing, strength of the soul is the real thing
* Sometimes we accomplish God's purpose the hard way which we can avoid
* God is a God of second chance

Bowing down before God is not a form of spirituality but it is a state of Dependence and Desperation.  Only with God can I have strength and wisdom

Battle with Extraordinary courage

Joshua 23:5-6
Judges 1:1
1 Corinthians 11:32 2 Corinthians 6:14-15
Psalm 106:35-37
Hebrews 11:32-34
Proverbs 3:5-7
Isaiah 43:1-2
Jude 1:20

Othniel - The First Judge
Judges 3:7-11
* Repentance brings Restoration
* Repentance is crucial for renewal and restoration
* God sends spiritual leadership
* We're living in this world amongst gods
* God don't want half-hearted life

Gideon - The Fearful Judge
* Faith brings Victory
* God's call to His people is to combine spirituality with courage

Jephthah - The Outcast Judge
Judges 11:29-33


Extraordinary is define as "Beyond what is usual, exceptional, exceeding the common measure"

God not only desires you to live extraordinary but also has equipped you to do so. It is not our profession but the disposition of our hearts.

If God is not the Lord of our life, then He is not Lord at all.

Don't underestimate what God can do in and through you.

The Lord is ready to give you assurance.

The Lord always works in a way that exalts Him.

Overcoming negative thinking

Background of Moses (Somebody, Nobody, Somebody)

Root cause of negative and faulty thinking :
(1) Exodus 3:11 (I am NOBODY)
Exodus 3:12 (God's Presence and Promise)

(2) Exodus 3:14 (Moses IGNORANCE)
Exodus 3:14-15 (I AM Who I AM)

(3) Exodus 4:1
Exodus 4:2-4 (Demonstration of God's Power)

(4) Exodus 4:10 (Moses INABILITY)
Exodus 4:11-12 (Failure is the backdoor to success)

(5) Exodus 4:13 (I am not the Man)


** Replace your thoughts  (Philippians 4:7-8)

Which christians are We?

Malachi 1:6-14
Jeremiah 17:9-10
Psalm 139:23-24
Romans 12:1-2
Exodus 15:11

- We should not live our lives in complacency and wastage
- God does not look at our outlook expression but inward reverence
- Outlook expression does not always represents our inward devotion

In the midst of our praise and worship, where is the Reverence?
- God is not pleased that He wants to close the temple door
- God is not pleased in our offering that is just mere ritual
- Ritual without reverence is not accepted

Symptoms of inreverence :
- Painless worship
- Thoughtless worship (Malachi 1:8-9)
- Contemptuous worship (Malachi 1:12-13)
- Hypocritical worship (Malachi 1:14)

Their perspective of God have shifted :
(1) "Give Me" god
(2) "Grandfather" god
(3) "Hot Hub" god
(4) "Jello" god
(5) "Junior Executive" god

He is God, the God Almighty

Reverence is the loving, sincere, recognition of the greatness of God