Judge Not? (Matthew 7:1-6)

Elder Saw Lip Hean

18-04-2021

Breaking the Bondage of Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)

Speaker: Mrs. Ang Siew Khim

Topic: Breaking the Bondage of Worry (Matthew 6:25-34)

Date: 11 April 2021

1. Three areas that we always worry about:

1. Basic essentials of life, such as food, drink and clothing (v.25);

2. Physical make-up (v.27);

3. The Future and its troubles (v.34)

2. Definition of “WORRY”: anxiety, distress, being troubles; persistent mental uneasiness, nagging concern

3. Five reasons NOT to worry:

1. Life is more than food and clothes;

2. We are more valuable than the plants and birds that are taken care of by God;

3. Worry cannot change a single thing in our life;

4. Worry is bad for health;

5. Extreme worry becomes FEAR, which is a spirit of bondage that requires deliverance

4. Reasons to STOP WORRYING:

1. Worry is SIN! – it is a lack of Trust in God (v.26,30). We need to stop worrying to show that we believe Him;

2. Worry causes sickness – A mindset of constant worry will lead to physical and mental illness, such as depression, schizophrenia, high blood pressure, etc.;

3. It is borrowing trouble from the future (v.34);

4. It is brooding over what may NEVER happen;

5. We are creating for ourselves AND OTHERS trouble and misery;

6. Weight that kills prematurely and shorten our life;

7. Mental and physical suicide [*Suicide should never even be a thing to think about as it is a sin. Murder is a sin, despite killing others or killing yourself. Murder may deprive one’s salvation! If you face problems or difficulties, bring it to the Lord and seek help from others (pastor, counsellor, friend, etc.). There are always solutions to your problems!];

8. Waste of time that should be spent more profitably (Philippians 4:8);

9. Worry is a ROBBER of one’s FAITH, PEACE and TRUST;

10. WORRIER is a stumbling block to others;

11. A disgrace to God, implying that He cannot be trusted;

12. Anticipation of trouble(s) that may not happen;

13. Worry is torment over something that will likely be a blessing;

14. Worry is mental cruelty to ourselves;

15. Don’t be like the people of the world, concerning necessities of life, future and its challenges. A worrying living is a living as if we have NO heavenly Father. WE ARE DIFFERENT, WE ARE SPECIAL.

5. Extreme Worry is the same as FEAR: worry 🡪 obsession 🡪 oppression

1. When a spirit of fear torments, it even causes physical pain

2. Extreme worry and fear bring about sicknesses, such as emotional depression, biochemical change and physical disorders including headache, neck and shoulder pain, insomnia, panic attacks, etc.

3. TURN YOUR WORRIES INTO POSITIVE PRAYERS! Make the devil worry instead!!

6. Biblical Evidences where God cares for us

1. Genesis 12:1-3 God provided Abraham food, raiment and most of all safety

2. The angel told Hagar that God had heard Ishmael crying and that God would help them. The angel showed Hagar where water was, and after drinking the water, Ishmael got better

3. Joseph’s life – God was with him throughout the ups and downs

4. God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt

5. King Saul was going to kill David if it was the last thing he ever did. David stayed one step ahead of Saul because David listened to God. David was under the protection of the Lord

 

7. Three idols the world serves

1. Baal: the false gods with ceremonies of occultism, satan-worship;

2. Molech: the god that demands child sacrifices, sexual immorality, perversion;

3. Mammon: the god of materialism, money, greed, pride, pleasure

1 John 2:15-17 (English Standard Version)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Conclusion: Worldly troubles are temporary and just a part of our lives. Tomorrow may have challenges but God will enable us. Thoughtful preparation for the future is not condemned BUT fretting about it is condemned. Our final Goal and Focus should be on the KINGDOM OF GOD and its righteousness. Whatever success and talent God has given to us, it is for us to make use for the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. [v.33 (King James Version) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.] We are in challenging times where the antichrist system has already started. We need the DISCERNMENT of the HOLY SPIRIT, not to see with our eyes, but be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 6:34 (King James Version)

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Easter Message – Jesus is Risen! (Matthew 28:1-17)

Speaker: Pr Michael Koh

Topic: Easter Message – Jesus is Risen! (Matthew 28:1-17)

Date: 4 April 2021

Matthew 28:1-6

·         The day of Resurrection was the most earth-shattering event that had taken place. The power of the devil had been completely destroyed and broken.

 

·         Christ has gotten us this victory that is seen in every person’s life living in the past, present and future. There is nothing more devastating yet joyful and victorious that had taken place before or after.

 

·         But there was a sense of sadness and hopelessness as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary approached the tomb.

 

·         On the day of His resurrection, Jesus was missing. The Jesus that they had loved and lived with for the past three years was not there.

 

·         His resurrection seemed to have no effect on the people closest to the tomb. The resurrection should make an impact on every person’s life because it is the love of God triumphant over every evil. The resurrection was an immediate event that had taken place but the effects of His resurrection were not immediate and often delayed.

 

·         Perhaps you’re experiencing an Easter where it feels like He is missing. His presence is not that strong in your life. The miracles don’t seem to be there.

 

·         The place that you’re looking for hope is not from here. The resurrection life of Jesus doesn’t come out of the life that is here, and it is not a continuation of the life of the flesh.

 

·         That’s why the angel of the Lord said, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”

 

·         They would see nothing. And they were supposed to see nothing. The angel, whose face was like lightning, was trying to tell them that if you look for the place that is of this earth, you will find nothing.

 

·         In order for us to experience the resurrection by faith that would have an impact upon us, God allows all our expectations, thoughts and plausible theories on things, to come to this place where there is no hope there.

 

·         God brings us to the end of ourselves so that we experience nothing, just like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, and the guards did.

 

·         Sometimes the way in which we see Jesus can be in the flesh. We look to the majority and the safety in numbers and to technology to tell us what is the true and logical conclusion to our rational ideas.

 

·         Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. What’s needed is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts and seals us.

 

·         The resurrection of Jesus Christ and His power is received not by proofs and certainly not by using the logic of this world.

 

Matthew 28:7-10

·         The women believed because fear and great joy came upon them.

 

·         As they ran to report to His disciples, Jesus met them and they worshiped Him because they knew that He was God.

 

·         Jesus was now having a supernatural body and the dimension of His resurrection and reality was no longer earthly. He was no longer bound by His body or time. Something more has to happen between Jerusalem and the sea of Galilee.

 

·         In the Scriptures, hope is not sentiment or optimism. Hope is not just hopefulness. Hope does not depend on being in the majority opinion. Hope does not depend upon the flesh.

 

·         Hope has to do with substance that God has eternally ordained and created in the future but which comes to the present time before it happens, like an anchor for the soul.

 

·         What was needed was for the disciples to wait upon God and set their hearts on Him and to seek Him in their hearts in the midst of uncertainty.

 

·         In order for Him to be seen, you have to use the eyes (lens) and hearing of faith.

 

·         By His grace, God gives us good hope.

 

Matthew 28:11-15

·         The guards were frightened but at the same time, they also denied the experience for money. What their eyes saw was so awesome, powerful and frightening but it was not enough and it caused them to sink back into corruption and bribery.

 

Matthew 28:16-17

·         What the eleven disciples had seen, experienced, touched and came face to face with was the fact that Jesus clearly died and was now in their midst and filled with glory. The proof of His resurrection was right in front of them. But some still doubted.

 

·         Therein lies the mystery of why the resurrection can be such a powerful, all comprehensive and pervasive event. Yet, at the same time, people could actually doubt, take bribes and deny the experience.

 

·         In the midst of uncertainty, some people can experience nothing of the resurrection.

 

·         A lot of it has to do with how we see things.

 

Conclusion

·         The resurrection today is for you and me to experience. The resurrection has to do with the fact that when Jesus died on the cross, He carried upon Himself your old person and He cut you down so that when you become a Christian, you don’t become an improved version of yourself and you don’t live your Christian life by the old person. Jesus in person is alive in you and you are dead.

 

·         It is also not about bringing back Old Testament traditions. (Colossians 2:20-3:3) The revelation of the New Covenant has to do with the fact that you died to all that and you become a new person because that person that you are, is Christ in you the hope of glory.

 

·         The real life is in Christ. As you live by faith in the Word of God and in the love of God, you live a supernatural life because Christ lives in you.

 

·         Christ is risen. And He is not missing.

Good Friday – Isaiah 53

Speaker: Pr. Michael Koh (2nd April 2021)

Topic: Good Friday – Isaiah 53

 

Isaiah 53:1-12

Christ experienced the spirit of rejection and the consequences of sin on our behalf. We are rejected by that which we admire/which is good, and that makes rejection much more painful.

 

“We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it.” - C.S. Lewis

 

Example - You feel so close to a movie star when you meet him in person (like you know him), but he doesn’t know you. Something about us wanting to project ourselves into a world we are not part of.

In the same way, some of us find it hard to praise God or to identify with psalms of praise to God. We seem like outsiders to the greatness of God, but Christ invited us in at the price of own His life.

• He was rejected but decided to take upon Himself all the rejection and indifference - so that that gap will be broken.

• Isaiah 53:8 – “he was cut off out of the land of the living” - He had to be cut off from heaven to take upon Himself all of our sin and maladies, so that beauty and God will not be indifferent to us

• God made a breakthrough into us, to break our rejection, from God to us and cause a covenant to be made

• Psalm 65:4 - “Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts!” God was not satisfied in being admired, He wanted to bring us into the circle, through a covenant with us

• In order to draw us in, He had to carry upon Himself all our sin and conditions, the very burden of rejection that was upon us, on the cross

 

What did he do to break the rejection?

• He carried all our burdens, shame, sin. God meant every single burden and sorrow. Only God can do that.

• Jesus carried every single specific burden in real time, upon that cross (what we are going through and have been going through). All the reasons we've been rejected was carried upon Him. He invites us into the family.

• My sin, your sin, the fullness of pain, disease and disease personality was carried upon Him.

 

Let’s take the time to thank Him for carrying upon Himself - every of our burden, fear, rejection, and pain. He died on the cross and bore our burdens.

 

Many times we pray that the terrible things we experience be taken away

• Paul asked God to remove his thorn, but Jesus said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9)

• God comes under the thorn with His grace, and overcomes the pain, and stops the robbing that the devil intended, turning it into replenishing

• On the cross, God’s grace was unleashed to us Jesus told the thief next to him that on that day, he will be with Him in paradise.

• He meant that on that day itself he can be brought back to the circle of God’s love, where he’ll be completely accepted by God.

• He had to make the covenant in His blood, the cost was His blood, so that we will never be rejected by God

 

He defeated every power you are experiencing right now, because of that we can have communion.

• John 6:32-37 – we will have to eat it and experience the good of it

• Like looking at pictures of food we can't eat, is how Jesus doesn’t want us to know this intellectually, but He wanted us to "eat" of Him, because He was given for us.

• How do we eat it? We give ourselves time to wait upon the Lord, to make every of these promises and truths real to us. To allow that which we’ve heard to become something we feel and a conviction that changes our lives.

 

Closing

As we take communion together, I invite you to give your life to Jesus. When we say, "I’m crucified to Christ”, we crucify our own desires and agendas. Yet not I but Christ who lives in me.

 

Galatians 2:20 - I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

 

Be it a burden He has carried or a shame you have experienced, bring it before the Lord. Let Him drop into your heart a conviction. Pr. Michael Koh: Good Friday (Psalm 53), 2 Apr 2021

 

Reflection Questions

Self-Reflection

1. Think about how Jesus has carried your every burden, fear, pain and rejection on the cross. Take some time to thank Him for that.

2. With that, what is God speaking to you regarding your current situations?

 

Group Discussion

1. Share your personal experience of a "thorn" (suffering) that hasn't been removed. How have you experienced God's grace in that?

2. Reflecting on how Christ has brought us into His circle of love, are there people that God wants your group to include into your "circle of love"? Who are they and how can you include them?

 

Optional group activity: To partake the Holy Communion together.