Prepared for Action

Rev Gideon Lee

Combined Service and TOP's 32nd AGM

Pastor Evelyn sharing a little on Wycliffe, which does bible translations. 
And thanked TOP for their giving and support.

Testimony on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday event at TOP by Sis Joyce.

Today I want to continue to talk about the church being ready. Not just being ready but also to get others outside the church to be ready. We want to be prepared for action.

1 Peter 1:13-16

Be Holy

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

I want to talk about being prepared for action when I said the church must be ready. It is not about sitting down and waiting. This ready calls for action. That we must be ready to action anytime.

There are three areas we need to prepare ourselves.

1. We need to prepare our mind
2. We need to prepare our body
3. We need to prepare our heart

1. We need to prepare our mind

Albert Einstein is supposed to be the cleverest person on earth. He was interested in many topics. He was interested in many many subjects. And many people visit him from time

to time. And he'll spend time talking to them. But often in the middle of the conversation he would get up and said he's sorry but he has to go to work. Because in the middle of the conversation an idea can come to him. He is someone who thinks. We not only need to think but it is also about right thinking.

Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed

How do you know you have a brain? Some people asks how do you know there's a God? He can't see him. So we ask do you have a brain? How do you know? You can't see it. But God has given us the capability to think. But often it is not right thinking. The things we should be meditating on we don't. And we know what we think, we become. As a man thinketh so he is, the bible says.

To get the right kind of action we need to have right thinking. What is right thinking? How many of you know about Bruno Mars song? "It's a beautiful night. I'm looking for something dumb to do. Let's get married tonight."

We need right thinking. Not do dumb things.

Philippians 4:8

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.

What I'm trying to say is that we need right thinking as mentioned in Philippians. When we have the right thinking what happens? We'd have right actions.

The most important is the word of God. We should be thinking and meditating on the word of God.

Psalms 1:1-3

​1 Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

When we fill our minds with God's word whatever we do we prosper. Let's prepare our minds by having right thinking. Right thinking and positive thinking is different. Right thinking is based on the word of God.

2. We need to prepare our body.

If you look at the first verse in Peter, be self-controlled. That tells me that we need to exercise self-control. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor  God with your body.

As we prepare our minds our body must also be ready. How many of you spend time

to exercise. Some people say pastor that's not important. The church needs to be mentally and physically healthy. I'm saying this to myself too. My wife is laughing at me.

We need to be healthy to serve God. Do we honour God with our body?  Because of time I cannot go into detail. But it includes the way we dress or how we treat our bodies or upkeep ourselves. It's more than just being healthy.

We have to have self control in certain ways and that includes the food we take. We have to really take care of ourselves

1 Timothy 4:7-8

7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Physical training has value but we also need to have godliness.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When we do our part and exercise self control God will help us. He will help us produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit in us. We must cooperate with him and he will

Know how to operate in us.

3. Prepare your hearts.

1Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Desires come from our heart. What we want starts from the heart. Then we think how to get them or do them. And the longer we think on them we will do it. We have to start with our heart. That we have good desires. No evil desires. Our desires should be holy. We desire to be holy because God is holy. It starts with our hearts. Have we prepared our hearts?

Matthew 5:28

28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Nobody just wake up one day and commits adultery. It starts with a desire in the heart. And we think how to do it and it becomes an action.

Matthew 6:21

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What comes out of our heart is important. We need to prepare our heart.

God is going to move in TOP. We need to be ready. All of us can arise and shine for him even in the simplest thing. It doesn't matter what God calls us to do. It is time to arise and shine. It is time. Some say we have been so many years but no breakthroughs. Sometimes we think we're waiting for the right pastor to come or the right board to be elected. No, it's starts with you, now.

If you hear what the Holy Spirit is saying we need to action. Pastor Mike gave us a word, we need to break the box. Some may say it's been more than 30 years, what box? Box also gone.

We need to break tradition, not saying that tradition is not good but we need to break forth. We don't know how fragrant is that perfume but unless we take it out of the box we won't enjoy the fragrance. I hope you hear what God is saying. This is not me. God is telling us to break the box so that the perfume can come forth and others can experience it.

As I end this morning, it's time for us to rise up. It starts with one person and that the fire will be caught by people. Wherever you can serve God, say God use me. Prepare our mind, prepare our body, prepare our heart.

In TOP we have groups that goes biking, or go hill climbing. If you like biking go see Bro Tommy. And there's a group that goes hill climbing. There's also a group that plays badminton. If you like badminton go and see bro Kenny. They play twice a week. Go and join them.

Also prepare your heart. Don't have a critical heart. Out of the abundance and outflow of your heart comes the issues of life.