Pentecost Sunday

Pastor Gideon Lee

Acts 2:1-21

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God- fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs–we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine. ’”

Peter Addresses the Crowd

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “ ‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

18 Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

20 The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

21 And everyone who calls

on the name of the Lord will be saved. ’

The word "wind" in verse 2, rûah actually means Holy Spirit.

Pentecost was a Jewish event. Every Jew was legally bound by law to observe three festivals. The Passover, the Tabernacle and Pentecost. Pentecost occurs 50 days after the Passover. Jews from all over will gather at Jerusalem. It is also an agricultural festival, the beginning of the barley harvest. Everyone was in the mood to celebrate. It's a big reunion at Jerusalem.

120 of them came and were at the upper room. You must understand, this is after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. At this point Jesus has ascended and Jesus told them to wait. They have come through despair at the crucifixion, hope at the resurrection and is getting excited with anticipation. Jesus had appeared to many by then but they were told to wait.

Jesus wanted to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. This waiting was not the sitting down, passive and calm. They were in the upper room praying. They gathered to pray, to wait.

Then they heard the rushing wind. It filled the whole room. How many of you heard the howling wind at about 1.00am? I was preparing the message and I heard the sound of the wind. I looked outside and saw the trees violently swayed. It was like that. The Holy Spirit came and they saw tongues of fire descending. The bible says they began to speak in tongues. So much so that the outsiders were in amazement because they were speaking in the language of the peoples.

There were as usual cynics. Some say they were drunk. Peter stood up to address the crowd. He began to preach one of his greatest message as 3,000 people got saved under the anointing of the Holy Spirit that day. Peter said it is too early in the morning at 9.00am to be drunk.

He quoted the prophesy from the book of Joel.

Joel 2:28 The Day of the Lord

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams,

your young men will see visions.

There are some truth I want to draw on from here. Important truth if we want our church to grow.

1. The disciples were all in one accord.
There must be unity or it will not happen. I am not saying there is no unity but here must be a greater measure of unity in our church. But that does not mean uniformity. It does not mean all of you must have the same hair style as the pastor. We need to be united in spirit. We can have our differences but we need to love one another even if there are some people we don't like. If we want a mighty move of God, we need to have unity of mind, heart and purpose. Many things are never worth fighting about. Church splits are often attributed to the most minor of issues. Who suffers? The church of God suffers.

2. They were all praying together.
The fact is that they were in one accord praying when God poured out his Holy Spirit. I measure the strength of a church by its Prayer Meeting attendance. There is a certain dynamic when they come together corporately to pray. I can understand the many reasons for not coming as I have struggled with this before. It's boring, I'm tired or busy. For TOP if you intend to serve in any ministry, you have to be found in prayer meeting. Only once a month, minimum requirement. Come together and pray if we want God to move. Look at all the churches that are growing, the secret is prayer. It's not the Pastor or the programmes. We need to be a church that comes together and pray. We used to have about 40 and now averages 30. Why? Maybe when you don't have a Pastor, you prayed harder. Some churches even do away with prayer meeting, this will not happen at TOP, amen?!? Youth, sometimes you tell me, Pastor, cannot come because got tuition. Young Adults, and everyone else, we need to be found praying in the house of God.

3. Unity, prayer and finally Repentance.
There must always be a call to repentance. John the baptist had only one sermon. Repent. Can you imagine your pastor week in week out preaches the same message? But that was what John the baptist did. Repent and be baptised. That has always been the central message of the church. Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

When they heard Peter preached they were cut to the heart. Peter told them to repent and be baptised. Acts 2:37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

I believe when we go wrong, we need to come back to the Lord. If we want our church to move in a greater dimension we need repentance in the church.

We are going to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We are an Assemblies of God church and we believe speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I am not here to debate on this as there are many scriptures to support this so this is a gift that is for all.

Some of you may have some preconceived idea or doubt like you worry whether it's the Holy Spirit or an evil spirit. The bible says when you ask from the father bread, he will not give you stone.

When you receive the Lord as your saviour, you already have the Holy Spirit. What happens at the baptism of the Holy Spirit is like flipping a switch that empowers the manifestation. It is like the lights in this sanctuary. When you switch off the lights, is there still electricity? Yes, but when you flip the switch you activate the lights. Speaking in tongues is a heavenly language that edifies you and the body. It's a blessings and an empowerment of God to live an empowered life. But this is not all. It's just the beginning. You will also show the fruit of the Holy Spirit over time. It is a gift but you must open your mouth to speak in tongues. It won't happen if you keep your mouth shut. It is a gift but the timing is of God. You may be filled immediately or it can happen later wherever you are when you worship God. In my case, I asked but never received it until one day it happened in the shower.

It is the sovereign move of God. Please do not give up if you do not receive it immediately. God is sovereign and timing is His.

It happens in an atmosphere of praise and worship. Seek God and God will know what to do.

Christian Involvement in Education

Bro Lim Boon Chye
President of Penang Christian Fellowship
and Chairman of the Board of RGBC

I am going to share in the form of video and PowerPoint, so it will be a little different from what you're used to. I am glad that your church is very active with student work. TOP have sponsored two buses for our event  last year and this year TOP is participating too.

PCF has a membership of more than 100 and we partner with LPN and I am involved in the Education Sphere. TOP is the first church where we are sharing about these spheres and it will be followed by the other LPN churches in Penang.

The two key areas I am sharing about are:

1. Christian involvement in Nation Building
2. Christian involvement in Kingdom Building

This video is produced by PCF and Malaysian Teachers School Council, made up of Mission Schools in Malaysia.

This video will give you a good overview of education in Malaysia. Education can also be very political. Years of hard work can be destroyed by a political decision. Like Science and Maths being no longer taught in English. Also many are sent to teaching when they fail to make it in the other disciplines so they produce teachers who are non committal.

Teacher's Christian Fellowship PowerPoint. 

Would you like to become a Teacher?

The Great Commission

Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,  baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 

Why are the schools excellent places for Christians to be witnesses of Christ?

because 5.3 million students in our schools today. 

Pastors cannot reach them

Missionaries cannot reach them

But TEACHERS can and daily!!!
[tent makers & missionaries all in one]

85% of people make a decision for Christ when they are between 4 and 14 years old

Dr. Bryant Myers - World Vision

50% of Malaysian population < 23 yrs. old. 

[Statistical Dept]

The Harvest is plenty... but where are the workers?

Teachers are the workers.
The school is your mission field.
They are God’s missionaries.

Total number of teachers in Malaysia = 340,000

Estimated number of Christian teachers in Malaysia = 10,000 [<3%]

Christian teachers are called by the Lord into the teaching profession,        

sent by Him to different towns & kampungs in the country, BUT

paid by Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia. 

Paid Missionaries
Mt. 28:19  Great Commission -  ‘Go….
Mk. 16:15  ‘Go ye……. 

BUT

Teachers are becoming an endangered species. Look at the age groups. Almost half are in the 51-60 bracket.

Our
"Paid Missionaries"
[Our unsung heroes]

There have been many teachers, posted in various parts of Malaysia who have been fulfilling their call to missions and have borne much fruits. No names are mentioned here but here are some of their achievements.

Teacher A
250 students in CF
50 baptised in 10 years

Kayan, Kenyah, Lumbawang, Kelabit, Penan, Iban, Berawan, Kiput, Chinese
Total: 13 tribes!

CF Activities:

Sun  – Worship & testimonies

Mon  – Scripture Memory

Tue – Sharing of the Word

Wed – Paired prayer

Thu – Praise & worship

Fri  – Group prayer

Sat  – Learn new songs

Teacher B
In another school, another unsung hero.

- No official CF
-  Small Sunday meeting 7 pm for hostel students [50 Christians]
  ● Reading of the Word
  ● Sharing - 10-15 minutes
  ● Closing prayer

Teacher C
And here is another where 3/4 of the students here do not know Christ.

 

Current reality … a crisis situation

- < 3% teachers are Christians

-  Majority above 40 yrs old

Invasion
into the Christian heartland
of Sabah and Sarawak.

Will the children still be Christians in 5 years time?

Touch the Future

If you touch a rock, you touch the 

Past

If you touch a flower, you touch the

Present

If you touch a child, you touch the

Future

  TCF agenda

1. Kingdom Building
2.  Nation building

Christian Teachers
play a very important role in the kingdom of God

WHERE to get the next generation of CF Advisers ?
YOU ???

WHERE to get the next generation of
BB/GB Advisers ?
YOU  ???

WHERE to get the next generation of
Church Leaders in small towns ? 

YOU  ???

Would you like to be

the next generation

Christian teachers?

“ Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”  Matt 1:19

What are factors that discourage the young from going into teaching?

Summary
* Glamour
* Rural posting – TCF network
* Low pay – no more
* Promotion – sure vs fast
* Medical
* Stability – iron rice bowl
* Holidays -  long hols. & weekends
* Paid missionary
* Stress

Will your children go hungry or die of starvation?

DG41 [Graduate starting pay]
Basic   2222
ITK   300
Special cola   300
Housing   210
[in Eng]   222
----------------------------------
TOTAL      3254 
Hardship allowance : + 1500

DG52   [Senior Time Scale]
Basic  7144
Cola   300
Housing   700
Entertainment   600
[In Eng.]   375
----------------------------------
TOTAL    9119
Hardship allowance : + 1500

DG54   [Form 6 Academic Teacher]
Basic   7597
Cola   300
Housing   900
Entertainment   800
[In Eng.]   380
-------------------------------
TOTAL   9977
Hardship allowance : + 1500

Retirement at 60 but optional retirement at 45 or 50
1.  5 years EPF contribution
2.  Gratuity
3.  Golden handshake [Max : 3 months salary]
4.  Pension  – 60% basic pay for life and spouse takes over when pensioner died. 
     Children up to 18 yrs old.

Hardship allowance for interior posting   – RM1500
Scared?  -TCF network

In Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah heard God asking,

“ Whom shall I send?

  And who will go for us?”

   “Here Am I. Send me!”

 

To teach in secondary school
1.  STPM
2.  Local Univ.

To teach in primary school
1.  SPM
2.  Teacher Education Institute

What if cannot get into a teaching course in college or local univ?

Get a degree from private College/University,  then teach as a lecturer in
i.  Private schools
ii. Colleges
iii. University
opportunities to share still there

Schools are excellent mission fields. It is an excellent opportunity to reach out. To parents, you can counsel and advice your children regarding their career but if God call them to teaching, let them go.

Bro Lim Boon Chye
President of Penang Christian Fellowship
and Chairman of the Board of RGBC

TOP teachers being prayed for by TOP students

Bro Allan Tan praying for all the teachers at TOP

Ruth and Naomi

Melinda Song on Mother's Day 2012

Logos wishes all mothers reading this blog a very Blessed Mother's Day!

Two years ago I preached on Mother’s Day – “The Longings of A Woman” from the life of Hagar.
This year’s Mother’s Day message is from one of my favourite books of the Bible – Ruth.

Intro to Ruth
Everyone loves a good story and Ruth as been called "the greatest piece of literature ever written."
It is a love story and one writer has called the story of Ruth "the Cinderella of the Bible." Because this love story is in the Bible, it’s more than just a romance novel. Romans 15:4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” 

The book of Ruth is also very significant to Jewish people because it is sung or read out loud in the Jewish Synagogue at the feast of Pentecost, which marks the first day of the Gentile church. The book of Ruth tells the story of a rich, powerful Jewish man who takes a Gentile bride and exalts her, the way that Jesus Christ raises up the Gentile church to be His Bride.

Ruth is love story with a happy ending involving ordinary people who become heroes because they choose to do the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason.

Ruth is a story of a woman which makes it very appropriate for Mother’s Day. Women are relational creatures from sharing our food, to going to the toilet together. 52.4% of book, 55 out of the 85 verses, is dialog.

Ruth is a story that celebrates the family and the way it continues through many generations.

Ruth is a book of prayers. All the prayers were prayed by the characters for others, not for themselves and every prayer was answered by the end of the book. Boaz even became the answer to the prayer he prayed for Ruth.

Ruth is a story that showcases the hesed of God. According to rabbinic tradition, the main theme of Ruth is steadfast love. In Hebrew, hesed, means "faithfulness born out of a sense of caring and commitment".

All the main characters in the book — Ruth, Naomi and Boaz — acted with hesed (found 1:8; 2:20 and 3:10). They acted well above and beyond the expected and the book of Ruth shows that even when it appears as if we have nothing going for us, our own loving service may be repaid to us in ways that we cannot predict.

Today we shall look at how the hesed of God and the hesed displayed by the Naomi, Ruth and Boaz that brings glory and honour to God and the persons involved.

A. Naomi & Ruth (In-law relationship)

1. Naomi (Ruth 1:8-13)
Naomi must have been an amazing woman to inspire such affection in her daughter-in-law. She showed loving and caring hesed in thinking of the future of her daughters-in-law when she wanted to send them home.

By the time the story starts she had changed from being “pleasant/lovely” to a bitter woman (v. 20) with a spirit of complaining, faultfinding, and fretfulness.

Later in the story Naomi again acted with hesed when she “matchmade” Ruth and Boaz.

2. Ruth (Ruth 1:16-18)
Ruth followed Naomi with no expectation of marriage and children, but rather the bleak prospect of poverty in a place where she was a despised foreigner. She was referred to as Moabitess five times in 1:22; 2:2 & 21; 4:5 &10.

Ruth devoted herself to meeting the needs of her mother-in-law and helping her the best she could. Love and concern for her mother-in-law were her only apparent motives as Boaz pointed that out later in the story: “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know.

Ruth uttered one of the most moving pleas of hesed in the entire Bible: "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me" (Ruth 1:16-17, NKJV).

She was willing to serve Naomi for the rest of her life.

Application today:
Many a woman who loves her husband cannot seem to love his mother. And men seem to have the same problem with their wives’ mothers, as evidenced by the mother-in-law jokes that have circulated through the years. The fact is that there are good, bad and ugly in-laws but much of the problem arises out of a clash of cultures.

My cousin in his wedding vows said, “I promise to love and care for you and those whom you love.” A wedding does not just unite two individuals but two families.

Where does love like Ruth’s or Naomi’s come from? It comes from the Lord of all love. When we have experienced the love of God, it will spill over and we will express it in our family relationships—parents, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, children, and in-laws.

B. Ruth & Boaz (Husband and wife relationship)

1. Ruth
Ruth was devoted to the family (Ruth 1:15-18). She had initiative, “let me go to the fields” (2:2) and she was hardworking, she “worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter” (2:7).

Nowhere does it say that Ruth was a beautiful woman like Sarah, Rebekah, or Rachel, but we do know that she had an inner beauty, a meek and quiet spirit, an unpretentious humility that made her one of the loveliest women in Scripture. (Ruth 2:10; 2:13).

She also had a good reputation, “I have been told all you have done…” (2:11)

Her trust in God and her love for God (Ruth 2:12) were the sources of an inner strength and beauty, She was submissive “I will do whatever you say…did everything her mother-in-law told her to do” (3:5)

She did not go after younger men (3:10) and was known as “a woman of noble character” (3:11). In short, she was a Prov. 31 woman.

2. Boaz (Ruth 2:8-9, 14-16)
Boaz was “a man of standing” (NIV) or “a man of great wealth” (NKJV). Helived a God-saturated life. He greeted his reapers in the field. “May the Lord be with you.” And they responded, “May the Lord bless you” (Ruth 2:4). To Ruth he declared, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter” (Ruth 3:10). And again, “I will redeem you, as the Lord lives” (Ruth 3:13). 

The first prerequisite for a successful marriage is that the man be a man of God. One reason so many marriages are floundering is because the husbands are still spiritual babies, ill-prepared to assume the spiritual leadership of their homes.

Boaz was a kind man, thoughtful, considerate, and gentle. Some men have the strange notion that kindness and gentleness are effeminate traits and they go out of their way to avoid them. Not at all! Surveys show that kindness and gentleness rank near the top of the characteristics women are looking for in a husband. They would be good traits for Christian men to ask God to help them develop.

Boaz was generous to Ruth publicly (Ruth 2:8-9) and privately (Ruth 2:14-16).

Boaz was a man of moral integrity (Ruth 3:12-13). His actions in a threshing floor showed that he was a godly, moral, honourable, self-disciplined, Spirit-controlled man.

Naomi recognized that he was a man of his word (Ruth 3:18).

Application today:
Young men should look for a wives like Ruth, a Prov. 31 woman.

Bishop Taylor came the closest of anyone to capturing the sentiment of Proverbs 31 when he wrote: "If you are for pleasure, marry. If you prize rosy health, marry. A good wife is heaven's last best gift to a man; his angel of mercy; minister of graces innumerable; his gem of many virtues; his box of jewels; her voice, his sweetest music; her smiles, his brightest day; her kiss, the guardian of innocence; her arms, the pale of his safety; the balm of his health; the balsam of his life; her industry, his surest wealth; her economy, his safest steward; her lips, his faithful counselors...and her prayers, the ablest advocates of heaven's blessing on his head."

Young ladies should look for men like Boaz who fulfilled our friend, Chin Thuan’s, 4 H criteria to look for in a husband – Happy, Honest, Hardworking, Holy. It works as well for ladies looking for a husband.

The word husband literally means the bands of the house, the person who keeps it together as the band keeps a sheaf of grain together. There are today many married men who are not husbands, because they are not the band of the house. The key to happy families lie in the leadership of the husband.

There is also a Mr No Name (Ruth 4:1-6) who remained nameless in the story. Boaz addressed him as “my friend” (4:1), which in Hebrew means so-and-so.

Why did he refuse? He used a calculator and he was overly concerned with securing his own future.

Hesed is intervention on behalf of someone suffering misfortune or distress and those whose names are remembered – Naomi, Ruth and Boaz – live for the good of others.

C. A Child is Born

The book of Ruth closes with a genealogy from Perez to David. Obed was the grandfather of King David, the great shepherd king of Israel. Ruth and Boaz were ancestors of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Boaz, not Mahlon, is recognized as the father of Obed. The reward of God for the hesed he showed to Naomi and Ruth.

Ruth is one of only three women named in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1.

The most unusual aspect of this story is the continuing role Naomi played in their lives from this point on. As a former mother-in-law, we would expect her to drop out of the picture, but Boaz and Ruth are too loving and caring to let that happen. In Boaz’s case, Naomi is not even his mother-in-law!

Application today:
Like Naomi and Ruth we have been brought to fullness and hope through our kinsman-redeemer Jesus Christ. As we receive His love and experience the hesed of God in our lives we too can show such kindness—such covenant loyalty—in our own lives.

When we do so, in turn, God may end up repaying us in ways we cannot foresee. Though Ruth, Naomi and Boaz could not see the end result of their acts of hesed to each other, they acted out of love anyway. So should we.

Ruth, Boaz and Naomi’s story were part of God's story in history because of hesed. We too can be part of God's story -- He invites us to be part of it.

Pastor Gideon giving special gifts to the oldest mother, the most recent mother (no takers as they were on the third floor's Children Church), and the mother with the most children. Last but not least to her beloved wife Sis Serena.

Pastor and the Church Board praying for Oliver and Jesslyn who will be leaving for Singapore to work.

Pastor Gideon praying for all mothers at the end of the service.

Some of the youth giving potted plants to the mothers.

Some mothers with their Mother's Day gift from TOP.