Here I Am

Bro Koay Kheng Hin

Today's message is titled Here I Am. I'm actually working on Ps Ronald's theme that he has been working on for the past month. The past months we have had speakers talking about missions and the commission and also on ministry and I'd like to round up on what we have been working on for the past month.

And I also think it is a good time for this message because we are starting on the first day of the fasting and as we look at the theme of prayer we are looking at consecration to the Lord.

I want to work on what we call the two Ms. That when we give our life to Jesus what exactly do we mean? Do we mean we are giving our finances to Jesus or do we mean we are giving our dreams to Jesus or do you think we are giving our hurts to Jesus? What I just mentioned are all valid reasons of what we actually mean when we say we give our life to Jesus.

And today I want to summarize it up into these two Ms. And these 2 Ms refers to Maturity and Ministry. Most of the time the messages we hear are often in bits and pieces. And it has to be because the preacher is not a miracle worker per se where he can deliver everything in the Bible in one hour. So today we need to focus and it is on one aspect I want to zero in to.

So what happens when after you hear messages for twenty years, you will find that you will compartmentalize bits and pieces. Faith is like that. Hope is like that. Love is like that. Ministry is like that and maturity is like that. But at the end of the day you will find you will end up with a lot of disconnect. Because the Christian faith involves the life of God manifested in us. And that life of God, that eternal life that is manifested in our life does not come in bits and pieces. It is a whole. So here is where I want an hour to connect just these two that most of the time we hear ministry we will sit there and hear about evangelism, about putting our hands to the plough and how we can put time in to further the kingdom of God.

The next day the preacher come up and talk about Christian maturity and then it's a different ball game. We are talking about holiness and how you are going to pursue the Christian life and then we compartmentalize again. So today I want to connect these two.

Some hold that Christian maturity and spiritual ministry are just two phases of one course. Of course now we have the Internet and access to all these media and we read a lot of things. We read about ministers who had fallen into snares and we wonder how come a minister of God also can fall into snares and we say how can he do this and that.

As a church we can do three things when we hear news like that. We want to take the picture nothing is wrong with the church. And that everything is alright. Sometimes things are not alright. The second is that we bury our head in the sand. And then the ostrich says I see no evil, I hear no evil. The third one will be, we try to understand and we try to know what went wrong.

So the question is this. Is the person who is very involved in the work of the ministry must necessarily be spiritually mature? The second question is the other extreme. Can we grow in maturity without being involved in ministry? Can a person continue to grow in God if he or she is not involved in ministry? These are the two ends to a question.

One is someone who puts his hands on the plough, someone who is very involved in ministry, can he still be spiritually not mature? And someone who does not want to get involved, can he really be matured? And this is where I want to connect maturity with ministry.

And I want to begin with our dear friend Moses.

Exodus 3:3-4

3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

The title to my message is Moses' answer to the Lord's call. Here I am. This is Moses' encounter with God. The burning bush encounter.

What does Moses' reply entails? Here I am. It is a phrase often said in the Bible. When Abraham took his son to be sacrificed and God called out to Abraham, Abraham said here I am. When the prophet Samuel was called by God, he said here I am. Isaiah 6 when God asked who will go forth, and Isaiah said here am I, send me.

So this "here I am" when we read it from the Bible we have seen it from the perspective of the call of God. The call of God for a certain commission. We are seeing it from a ministry perspective. And it is true, if you read Exodus 3 and when it comes to verse 10 the here I am, God says now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt. 

When God called him, he said here I am. But when God told him what he wanted him to do I think he panicked. For the rest of Exodus 3 and 4 you will see the conversation where Moses said not me, not me. So is that all there is to the here I am or is there something more to the here I am?

Is the here I am connected to a specific commission, where the here I am is connected to a ministry that God has called you or is there something more? That when God calls you and you say here I am, that mandate we have given to God to use you, is there more to it than just ministry? This is where we want to discover by looking 1400 years after Moses and we come to the New Testament.

Here I want to look at one of the last few letters that Paul wrote. When Paul wrote to Timothy it was believed that he was in this thirties, still young. And Timothy was caring for the church at Ephesus.

1 Timothy 4:12-16

12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Here I want to encourage those of you here who is young and sharing your faith, don't let anyone discourage you because you are young.

I want to say that verse 12 do not actually refer to ministry. Verse 12 refers to a Christian life that young Timothy was actually expressing and when people see him people can see someone whose  life is right with God. In speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Someone who has the love of God. Someone who's life is in the pursuit of holiness. This is Christian maturity. And when Paul wrote to Timothy, he's saying your life is important because people will not see you through your ministry per se but they will see you through your life. Be an example, be a pattern, be a model. And this verse 12 is in respect to spiritual maturity.

Immediately after this in verse 13, it refers to the ministry of Timothy. In verse 12, Paul emphasizes his life but in verse 13 Paul emphasizes what he does. In verse 12 Paul tells him to guard who you are. In verse 13, Paul tells him to focus in what he does. There is this connection of maturity and ministry. The two must go and in hand. They are two faces of one coin.

In verse 15 when Paul says be diligent in these matters, it refers to these two, guard your life and fulfill your ministry. The word progress here means we can all see you growing. When you are in a particular ministry there is always space for you to grow in that ministry. It can be in the intensity or the diversity of your ministry, but it can always expand in your ministry.

Last year, the Lord impressed upon my heart to be more kind. The world can do with a little more kindness. For some of us, we can be a little bit more kind to our children. For some of us, a little bit more kind to our spouse. Or to be a little bit more kind to our parents. I am not talking about ministry. But about the family. All of us have got more room to grow in kindness.

My mother is a very insightful person. When I was a new Christian I was very involved in the church running here and there. I would go sweep the floor and wash the toilet. So one day when I'm home she just said "wah in church so hardworking, sweep the floor and wash the toilet, but come home do nothing but sit with legs up and watch TV." So I told myself I better don't come and sweep the floor in church so that I don't have to sweep the floor at home. (Laughs)

I'm verse 16, Paul emphasizes it again. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Here the word doctrine also meant Timothy's teaching ministry. Watch your life and ministry. That you are rightly dividing the word of God so that the truth will always be revealed in your ministry. Paul does not separate maturity and ministry.

If you pursue maturity without ministry, you will not grow. You may say I love God but serving in church is another thing. If a person love God, he will grow in spiritual maturity and will also love the church, the body of Christ, the people of God.

On the other hand, if you pursue ministry without maturity, then you will become like Samson. I'm not talking about anointing. Look at Samson. Samson was born and chosen by God. And he was anointed by God with supernatural power. And if you look at Samson's life, was the will of God fulfilled in his life, the answer is yes because he kept the Philistines away from the Israelites. God raised up Samson so that Samson can protect the Israelites. Samson did his job. But was God's purpose in Samson's life fulfilled? God meant for Samson to be holy and righteous. Samson failed in his life. The life of Samson ended badly. Samson was blinded and lost his power. It was a little sad but I want to emphasize this. Some people who are most spiritually resistant are not the unbelievers but people who have put their hands to the plough, did much for ministry but for one reason or another have not grown in maturity and fallen into snares. They can fall into the snare of bitterness. Some into the snare of brokenness. The problem does not lie in ministry but in maturity.

I have met quite a few people and I have seen some who put their hands to the plough and they work and work and work but they are not happy. They have lost the joy of ministry. To those who are in that position, I want to encourage you, if you have lost the joy of ministry, something is wrong. Because the ministry is meant to be a gift. When you first accept Christ, you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And everyone who receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, there is at least one gift that will be given to you to do his will. Don't say you don't have a gift. Everyone has. It can be the gift of mercy, the gift of help, the gift of prophecy or the word of knowledge and many more. I want to say that it is a joy to be in ministry and if you have lost that joy, you have to go back and look at the maturity part.

What is your motivation behind your ministry? You must look at how you're doing the ministry and why you're doing the ministry. Spiritual ministry is very different from secure work. In the secular world you go to the office and the boss doesn't ask you why you're doing this and how you're doing this, the boss only tells you I give you a job, get it done. In secular world, it is just about getting it done. But God is different. The spiritual ministry is a ministry, it's not a work. He is more interested in the process than the result. 

When you grow in maturity, you will grow in ministry. When you grow in your ministry, the ministry is a means in which you grow in your maturity. I want to give an example about gym work. My good friend Andrew has recommended me to go to gym. So I say I have to think about it. I asked him why go to gym and he gave a very good answer. He calls me sifu, and he said he enjoys the results of going to the gym.

It's the certain feeling when I crossed the line of the only half marathon I took part in. When I was asked to join I said what for. And have to wake up early for preparation and practice before the run. So much hard work. But when I crossed the line, I thank God I signed up. It was fulfilling.

Ministry is like that. There is always that joy. When the Apostle Paul was about to be beheaded was he crying on his bed? No, a man like him will be singing his praises until the end. The joy of the ministry is very very important.

And here, I'm not talking about just teaching and preaching. I'm talking about you being a helper like when last time we had the big party, about you washing the dishes and driving the people up to Teluk Kumbar. The ministry is the means through which God builds your maturity. You may think you have only a small ministry but you must understand the Christian ministry in the kingdom of God, the result of what you do is very different from the corporate world.

In the secular world, the result can be quantified and the result is short term. In the kingdom of God it doesn't work like that. Spiritual growth cannot be seen overnight.

Recently I came across this thing that really talked about spiritual ministry and ministry in the kingdom of God. It was called the butterfly effect. This theory came from weather forecasting. Weather forecasters have these computers with their modelling for weather forecasting but  they can also get it wrong.

One fine day, this scientist decided to just limit his computer reading to just 6 digits. He thought it was just a fine change. What surprised him was that by the time the computer churn out everything, suddenly the whole weather pattern all changed. And he was so surprised that just a small change in temperature can affect when the tornado will hit and whether there's a tornado or not. And so after studying this came the theory. The layman explanation is this. When a small little butterfly spreads its wings in Brazil, it can determine whether that particular year there will be a tornado in Colorado. He's trying to say a small little change somewhere, it spreads it's wings and move the air a little bit, it affects everything. There is no such thing as an insignificant small change.

What I'm trying to tell you is that you may serve as an usher. A small little thing. But because you shook that hand and smile at the person along the way when the gospel was shared to that person your smile actually made him very open and he accepts the gospel. And the best part is he becomes an evangelist and someday, when we traced back from his big ministry is the fact that you shook his hands and gave him a smile. And this was specifically what happened.

One Sunday school teacher one fine day decided to go and see this person. This person was a book salesman. But he was wondering if he'd be busy if he goes to visit him. He went and nearly turned back when nearing the shop. But in this Sunday school teacher's heart he said he has to go. So he went in and spoke to this book salesman. If I get my statistics right, this book salesman spoke to 100 million. He was the greatest evangelist. His name is DL Moody. But do you know if that Sunday school teacher on that particular day just turned back and DL Moody had not accepted the Lord, it would have been all different. It's a spiritual butterfly effect.

Every little thing that you do for God will have a lasting effect when God piece it all together. I want to encourage all of you. In the kingdom of God there is no small ministry. Every little thing you do in ministry has far reaching results you may never know.

And now I want to ask this question. I'm talking about ministry. That you know as putting your hands to the plough. But when I talk about spiritual maturity, what exactly is spiritual maturity? You may be thinking, oh, must know the Bible a lot. Pray a lot. Is that spiritual maturity? There are many ways to look at it.

One way.

1 Timothy 6:11

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

These are the signs of spiritual maturity. The two key words are flee from and pursue. When you flee, what are you fleeing from? Then you have to look at verse 10.

1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

This is about maturity and money. And here it is talking about the love of money being the root of all evil which you can see how verse 6 addresses it.

1 Timothy 6:6

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

Here it is trying to tell you what are you trying to pursue? I'm not talking about money per se. Whether you are rich or poor. A person who is well off may not have the love of money. The love of money is about greed. On the other hand a person with not much money may actually have a love for money. It's all about the attitude towards money.

Put it simply, what do you pursue when you wake up in the morning? If from the time you wake up in the morning and through the day, the decisions that you make revolves money per se, then you have a love for money. But if you wake up in the morning, what you focus upon is what  Paul is talking about. Are you pursuing righteousness or godliness. Are you pursuing faith or love, gentleness and that reverence for God, this is what is important. That will mark your spiritual maturity. It's marked by what you pursue.  They are important.

1 Timothy 6:13-14

13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

You will find when you pursue righteousness and godliness it is always in the context of Calvary in the person of Christ. It's always to him be the glory.

1 Timothy 6:16

who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

Before I end, I want to look at our Lord. In Jesus  you will see perfect maturity and perfect ministry. The Bible tells us that Jesus led a sinless life. His life was a perfect life. That is perfect spirituality maturity. But when he went to the cross it was the ultimate ministry, dying for the sins of the world. So when we look at the life of Jesus we see that perfect maturity and ministry merged into one. It is that perfect sinless life that became the basis of that perfect sacrifice.

Now I want to turn back to our friend Moses. I looked at verses 3 and 4 and I stopped there.

Exodus 3:3-4

3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

If you look at the following verses.

Exodus 3:5

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

This word Holy has two emphasis. One emphasis is that God is a being that's different. An otherness about him. But the most common understanding of holiness is that in God there is perfect goodness and no darkness in him. God is perfect morally.

It is the same with Isaiah. He saw the holiness of God when he say Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.

As much as Moses took that rod and parted the Red Sea and with that rod took the people out of Egypt, it is Moses answering that call of God for ministry but he is also the man who brought out the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Moses is the man who actually gave us that perfect moral character of God that forms the basis of the Mosaic Covenant. He is also the man that wrote down in Deuteronomy that you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

Moses was not only a minister, he was a spiritually matured minister. I would like to encourage all of us. There is no big call and no small call. We are called to put our hands to the plough and it encompasses us saying Here am I.

The Power of Praise

 

Rev Ronald Ooi 

Let's welcome Joshua and company to TOP. They are with the House of Prayer. 

I was one of those young people in the seventies where I was gripped by the love of God. It was early in the morning when I encountered God and was praying in the Holy Spirit for four hours. I pray the young today will have an encounter with God not because their parents are Christian but they personally have an encounter with God. I was in KL at the House of Prayer and I saw how these young people were praying for you and I. 

In 2 Chronicles 20 we see an impending war. The world today is in a very vulnerable position and that the Third World War may happen anytime with all the nuclear warheads that are there. We call it the end times. But the prophesy is that in the last days there will be an outpouring of God's Spirit. We are seeing that happening and we also see the increase of violence and natural calamities. All have been prophesied in the Bible. 

But we have a God who is with his people even through the difficult times we are in. 

The Power of Praise. I want to talk about that. King Jehoshaphat called for a time of prayer and fasting. 

2 Chronicles 20:3-4

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

The people were positioning themselves to seek God and to hear from God. Jehoshaphat did a very wise thing and we can follow him. 

We have not gone through a World War except the World War 2 and it was a traumatic experience for those who went through it. We may not have gone through this battle but we go through different battles ourselves. Some financial where we have to feed our family in spite of challenges. There are relationship issues. Lost of loved ones. Career and sickness, battles that we go through and some people don't even know what we go through. 

Men, women and children came to seek the Lord. And this was his prayer. 

2 Chronicles 20:12

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

Have you been I'm a situation where you just don't know what to do? He said but our eyes are on you. When you face a problem, fix your eyes on God. God is bigger than your problems. You get scared and disappointed when you don't fix your eyes on him. 

He is always there even if it seems he is not. God is present. Jehoshaphat said we have no power but our eyes are upon you. He had a serious dependence upon God. 

We are going to come to the Good Friday and Easter event. We are entering the 21 day of prayer and fasting. I had my reservation when Allan said he is coming. He speaks to thousands in India. He is called the Jesus of India but he is a simple man. He is an evangelist, one of the five fold ministry. Once, he raised a person from the dead. He is bared from certain countries because they cannot handle the crowd. 

We are dependent on God because there are obstacles to the work of God. The time has come not just the Intercessors praying but all of us going for a time of prayer and fasting. It can be a vegetarian diet. See the instructions in the booklet. TOP will see a change. When you pray for victory there will be a battle. It can be a scary time. The challenges will come but when I look back in all my years as a preacher, I asked why is there so much trouble in my life and I realised it is a training ground where we get down on our knees to develop our muscles to become like God. And God will use you as an instrument to do exploits for God. 

We have become a very inpatient society. We want everything fast. We want fast food, fast cars. Fast money, fast entertainment. We want everything fast except to fast. 

Penang traffic is getting too fast. It used to be slow. We are losing this spiritual discipline to wait patiently in the Lord. Slowly wait before God. Pray for one hour, two hours, three hours, four hours. Don't be afraid. It's training. It's such a joy to wait on the Lord. It's such a joy when God's people come together to seek God. 

We pray that God will slow us down because we live too fast. With all of eternity before us, let us learn to wait on God. The Psalmist reminds us to wait on God if we want strength to go on. 

George Mueller started an orphanage at Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He prayed for everything he needs in. And that is what I have learnt. Before I open my mouth to ask anyone for anything, I learnt to ask God first. 

“I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk, when I lie down, and when I rise. 
And the answers are always coming. Tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. 
When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, I go on praying for it. - George Muller

It is the same with my life all these years. There was one time when my children was so sick in Penang. We had to send him to the hospital one week after my daughter and I asked God what did I do wrong? As I look back now, it was a training ground and when they came out of hospital, all the bills were paid for. 

If you fast and don't pray, it's starvation. If you fast and sleep, it's hibernation. If you fast and pray, it's intercession. 

2 Chronicles 20:15

And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

When you spend enough time with God you have to wait and wait and wait to get a prophetic word. Why only David get to bring down Goliath? You may say he's the lucky one. No. He's the ready one. You have to be ready. When you are ready, God give his word like he gave to the army. My battles become God's battles. My bill become God's bill. Your children becomes his children. God will fight your battles. And you will receive because his word will be released. When it comes, it is heavens word and not man's word. The battle is not ours. It belongs to God.

We need to be the ready ones. Not the lucky ones. And we will see the breakthrough we are waiting for. 

They then moved forward and praise God. They worshipped. 

2 Chronicles 20:18-19

18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

There is Worship. There was Praise. And there was Thanksgiving. They did all of that. 

Worship in Hebrew is "shachah". Worship is to bow, to kneel to crouch before the Lord. The emphasis is to come before God. 

It's like your puppy. When you come home, it's not the wife that greets you. It's your puppy and it comes to lick you. That's the image. 

Praise is boasting. Boasting of who God is and we give him the credit of what he has done. It's like polishing silver. Then you lift it up for everybody to see. To show your trophy. You lift him up and not shy about showing who God is and what he's done for you. You praise him not just in good times but also in bad times. In the valley you can still praise God. In whatever circumstances of life you praise him. 

Thanksgiving is to communicate surrender. Coming to him with empty hands and surrender to him. You couldn't have done it yourself. 

And blessings is to kneel down and saluting God for who he is in his authority. And you speak well of him. Like an eulogy given when someone died. Eulogia in the New Testament is to speak well of him while he is alive. 

And look at what happened when they praised God, something happened in the heavenlies. Something happened where God's power was released and the enemies killed each other. And they came in and plundered the enemies. There is a spiritual dynamics there that our minds cannot comprehend. God gives victory to his people when they praise him. 

You may not have an answer today but praise God and see the results that will come ahead. 

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you today for accepting me as your child.
I surrender to you all the challenges that I am facing in life.
I understand from your word today, that you will fight the battles for your people.

The Battle is the Lord’s!

I believe victory is mine as I praise your holy name. 

No weapon formed against me shall prosper.

I praise you today from the depths of my heart.

In Jesus Mighty Name!

Bro David Ng being interviewed by Ps Ronald about his experiences as an ex-Thomas Cup badminton player representing Malaysia.

Ps Joshua from House of Prayer leading us in a time of praise and worship at the close of the service.

Ps Ronald praying for all the ushers, and encouraging them on the importance of their ministry.

Bloglovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

You are Designed to be Different to Make a Difference

 Rev Jasmine Ooi

Romans 12:4-8

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

We have different gifts. Why do we want to make a difference? Because fruitfulness in our lives increases according to how we are designed.

We are made to multiply. Adam and Eve was told to be fruitful and multiply. And not just biologically. We are created to contribute and not just consume.

There are three main points I want to share.

1. How you are designed differently
2. How you can make a difference
3. How you are designed to function as part of your church

How you are designed differently

You are gifted differently to express different facets of God's character.

Romans 12:6-8

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

You are given the gift of serving. Jesus came to serve.

Matthew 20:28

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

And the gift of mercy is given to most of us. God is rich in mercy. And it's a reflection of the image of God. And the gift of giving is like God who gives bountifully.

You are designed to function in your different gift.

A gift is a "God given ability/capacity, and desire to perform a function within the body of Christ with supernatural joy, energy and effectiveness."

How can we discover where we can make a difference?

All of us have different passion and talents or gifting. How do we combine this by meeting a need that is around us. Is there a need?

Like in Sunday School there are two kids who comes to church on their own by walking. And sometimes we wonder why are they here when they are not paying attention or listening? We need to instead bond with them. We who have a heart for children can connect and mentor them.

What other needs can you see in your community? Find that sweet spot. Like if you play golf, you will know when you hit the sweet spot, the ball will fly. Find your sweet spot, not the sweet tooth.

This is a tool to discover how God has designed you, to achieve his purpose and fulfill his plan. Explore the S.T.O.R.Y. God has written in your life.

Strength

Topic (enjoy working with?)

Optimal conditions (what motivates you?)

Relationship pattern (people/task)

Yes! (I was made to do this)

Use your S.T.O.R.Y. for God's glory.

All of you have strength. Or topics you enjoy working with or talking about. And what optimal conditions motivates you. Like some who likes the limelight while some likes to be in the background. God can use you.

What is your relationship pattern. You work well, in a team or maybe you work better alone.

Are you people oriented or task oriented.

God gave gifts us to:

Equip the Saints. Edify the body and unite us in the faith.

Ephesians 4:11-13

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Some of you are good at encouraging or evangelism. Some may be able to pray or have compassion for the poor.

An example is the church in Acts. How did the church use the gifts?

Acts 4:34-37

34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Barnabas saw the needs at that time. He is an encourager. He had a piece of land and he sold it to give money to the needy. What do you have? David had a sling. Maybe you have a car. What can you do with what you have? Dorcas used her gift to do good and to help the poor.

Acts 9:36-42

36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. 37 About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. 38 Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

39 Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

40 Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. 41 He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. 42 This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

Philip used his gift to evangelise an Ethiopian official. He went near to the carriage. Sometimes all we need is to listen to a need and to lead them to the Lord Jesus.

Acts 8:26-39

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,

and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.

Who can speak of his descendants?

For his life was taken from the earth.”

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37 ] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.

In the Acts church there were prophets and teachers, apostles and evangelists. How can you use your gift today. You can edify (build up) one another.

Today you can make a difference with your gifts. You are designed to function as a part of the church. We are living stones. You make up the church. Not bricks but it is people that make up the church.

You are designed to function as a part of your church.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by supporting ligament. Grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians 4:16

from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

You are designed to function as a part of your church. There was a pastor who lost his toe to gangrene due to diabetes and he said with his missing toe, he had to learn to walk again. You may think the toe is not important but it is vitally important. If you are missing on Sunday, it makes a difference.

We are all designed to pull together. We are a team. If one of you decide to stop, you will slow the team down or it may stop completely.

God has designed different people/ages to serve various roles, like members of a championship football team. You have different gifts to serve different roles and different positions. Ruben, what position you play? Defender. That is his role. He is not a striker and cannot paly that role.

Lessons from the geese. Do you see how geese fly in a V position? As they flap their wings, they create an uplift that will help the one behind him. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if any bird were to fly alone. What can we learn?

Share a common direction and a sense of community, we can get where we are going quickly and easily because we are travelling on the thrust of one another!

Whenever a goose fall out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take the advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those who are headed in the same direction. Be willing to accept their help as well as give our help to others.

When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position. This is important also for the church. Take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing responsibilities. Like geese, we are interdependent on each other's unique arrangements of gifts, skills and resources.

Some of those in the children's church have been serving for more than ten years and they miss the service to be a teacher. We can offer our help and rotate so that they too can enjoy the service.

The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

If we honk, we need to make sure it is positive and encouraging. Where there is encouragement, production is greater. Speaking the truth in love… cause growth and edification. (4:15,16)

When a goose gets sick or wounded or is shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock.

If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find caring people offering encouragement, support and able assistance.

Lesson learnt on team building.

Stand by each other.

Let us try to fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who might need it!

1 Thessalonians 5:14

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.

The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good.

How did the church help members to function as a team to resolve a crisis in the midst of revival? Grecian Jews complained against Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

Acts 6:1-7

1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Apostle Peter stood up and he said choose seven men from among you who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and ministry of the word. So the word of God spread. The numbers of disciples increased rapidly.

Our significance has to be in God. We have needs yet we can help others. We can help each one, hear them out and help them understand that their needs can be met by God.

Conclusion :

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

1 Peter 4:10

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Do not neglect the gift.

1 Timothy 4:14

Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

Stir up the gift.

2 Timothy 1:6

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

What I am is God's gift to me; what I do with it is my gift to Him. TOP, your tagline is blessed to be a blessing. Have you blessed someone. 

Rev Ronald Ooi praying for the youth and young adults.

The Three Calls

Rev Ronald Ooi

Luke 6:12-19

The Twelve Apostles

6:13-16pp — Mt 10:2-4; Mk 3:16-19; Ac 1:13

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Blessings and Woes

6:20-23pp — Mt 5:3-12

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

I want to pick up on where Bro Koay ended last week. If you missed it, go download the TOP App.

The Call to Communion v13

There was a particular time in Jesus' life where he was going to call individuals to carry out a mission to save the world. I wonder what happened the night before? How many of you have prayed through the night before.

We used to do that and we call them the overnight prayer. Last night I woke up at 1.30am because of the mat rempits and I decided to pray through the night. I was talking to God and it was wonderful as I was trying to talk about the major decisions in my life.

And here we see Jesus  trying to connect with the Father and he planned to connect with the twelve. He spent the whole night praying to God and it shows us how important it is to pray and catch the mind and heart of God and to align ourselves to him. We cannot live in a world by ourselves and like Cheryl she has connected to a girl in Mongolia and to getting his son to also connect with this child.

Here Jesus is connecting with the Father and he connects to the twelve. We are all connected to one another and the world. But how do we use the life that we have to bring the healing of God, the mind and heart of God to those we are connected to?

He was going to change the world and humanity. He chose twelve imperfect apostles and one even betrayed hm. The first is a call to him, to abide in him. When we draw towards him, we will not be swayed by other voices.

We have one life on earth so how do we want to live it? To live it for ourselves or to live it for the call of God? God calls us as his children. As his servant. The first call is to be with God. That was what Jesus did. The world has lost this communion. It's a clear call. Let my heart be broken with the things that breaks the heart of God.

Jesus said I'm the way the truth and the life and there's no other way. He's trying to connect to us and if we refuse that call we get into trouble. That’s why the world is going round and round and round into trouble out and then into trouble again.

It's breaks my heart that a woman was found tied to her child drowned in Penang. And I heard she's pregnant. Is there a cry in society that we really need him? Can we hear the call of God so clearly that when we walk with him we know what to do. We get that right and everything falls into place.

There is a safely in that centre. Harmony, peace and unity with God will flow into other areas of our life.

I was a diver so at a low point of my life, my wife asked that we do something different. So we dived and it's a marvelous sport. One time the sea was really rough and the instructor told us you must never swim alone. You must have a buddy. And you must know where that anchor line is.

You can lose your bearing down there. I always remember that life line. When you get lost, distracted or you drift away, remember where your lifeline is. My life has been spared because of the instructor's instruction. It was so rough that you struggle and use up your air. We don't call it oxygen but air. It was so bad that I wanted to quickly go up but my instructor told me to go down. And waited for the calm to come then we went up through the lifeline.

Life is like that. We can't predict what the day is. But I know in all the crisis of life, there is a lifeline. Stay as close as you can to God and he will show you when everything is stormy you will be fine because he is with you.

Our busy noise driven world is an obstacle to our pursuit of harmony with God. In Penang now everyone seems to be rushing. I'm surprised because 20 years ago the traffic was too slow for me and now it's too fast for me. We need to make that communion happen.  It's not a law but it's intentional. We need to have that communion.

Can you hear God calling you these days or are you so busy? You bury yourselves in your work so when the Holy Spirit prompts you, will you listen? Find that time because it's so vital.

Jesus made it a habit to seek a solitary place of worship. The early church began with constant prayer.

Acts 1:14

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

And the early church was sustained by prayer.

Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Prayer is the engine room for the church. That is so vital in these days we live in. We don't take time to warm up, like an engine. The prayer of the Saints are needed. Not just on Wednesday and Sunday but daily. We are a daily church. And if we want to see the fullness of God's purpose in our life, we need that engine room.

The present day generation will remain a powerful force of influence through prayer. We taught our granddaughter to pray before food and sometimes when we forget, she reminds us.

The present day church will remain strong through prayer. There was a group of house church pastors in China who came together to pray. They love praying. These are people who works, as farmers and executives but when they come together, they pray. The house churches are growing in China and the thing why these churches are growing is because prayer always precede revival. Nothing can replace true revival that happens is because of prayer.

And Malaysia, we have to pray. Pastor Raymond is missing. Something is happening and we have to pray. It is so essential for us to understand this. It is through prayer that revival happens.

Without a lonely place, our life is in danger. We need to have that time with God to find our direction. Listen first. Don't be so quick to speak. He gave us two ears and one mouth. Listen carefully. Without listening, speaking no longer heals. What is God saying to you? Listen carefully. The Lord will direct and give you the peace when you consult him first. As we learn to listen we will find that strength. 

Without distance, closeness cannot cure - Henri Nuowen .

The Call to Community v13

Why did he call twelve? Not one. He uses community. He chose Adam and then he chose Eve to oversee the whole creation. Then he chose Abraham and formed Israel. Then came the church through 12 apostles. To commune in unity. It's called teamwork in our modern day.

In the early days, I worked in a rehab centre. Living in community I learnt the acronym LIGHT. Living In Group Harmony through Truth. We are part of a larger community. We are not alone. Can you rest in the calling that God has called us together for a time such as this. That God has gelled us together for his purposes. If you hear that call clearly, then you will find no matter how difficult the work is you will stay true to that call because it is a call from God. You will work through.

In community, we do life together. One heart one mind. We do it together and as a channel for God to change the world.

The Call to Communicate v17-19

The commission. Jesus chose 12 to win and change  the world. Later in my life, I caught this. I will call 12 and pour my life into them. It has been the most fulfilling. If the Holy Spirit impress upon your heart, would you in your lifetime, just find 12 men or women and focus intentionally in raising them up as disciples. I can assure you just as Jesus did with the 12 and Jacob with his 12 sons, you will be like a father and mother in that approach to discipleship. 12 multiply by 12 is 144. That’s a whole new level. We don't play the numbers game but it's a discipleship process. 144 x 144? 1720. Wow.

If we carry his cross we too may be betrayed. How did he responded to Judas? He called him friend and asked him to do it quickly. He use us to make a difference in the world.

There is the call, the community and then the curing. Power was coming from Jesus and healing happens. That's what it's like to be in a community. You touch one another.

Yesterday we went down to earth. We went to the Jelutong market. Suddenly, we had someone who called us pastor! We sat at the drain side by the market and it dawn upon me what is God saying? This is how I came down to your level. From heaven to earth with the sinful fragrance of earth. It is wonderful to be a part of this community. We walk through this world not just by ourselves but in the community he has given us.

We cannot do it without first fulfilling the first two call - to seek the Lord, called to community.

Rooted in God and community, we find life, we do life, we communicate life.

We can make a difference. We can change the world. Never say cannot. You may have had some obstacles but with God all things are possible.

Cheryl shared on World Vision and it's work.

Rev Ronald praying for the Head of Ministries.