You Did It For Me...

"How can I stay here with you and not be moved by you?"

| Lifehouse - Everything |

I couldn't help myself. I had to go back to them. I had to see them again and be with them. I had to baptise them with His Love because I felt I might drown in it otherwise. I had to release the thickness of His presence or I would suffocate. Is there such a thing as too much of God?

Sani became introspective today... He asked questions that many of us have struggled with. Why am I like this? How did I come to this state?

I kept silent. Some questions sound better if they are left to linger.

My heart was so full, I had to remind him of how we met. I tried to suggest that we were God's Love showing Him that he was remembered... and treasured. I was hoping with every fibre of my being, willing the words I spoke to take root in his heart. He needs it. He deserved better.

I admired the relationship that he and his Chinese friend had. They had a world of difference between the both of them, I wondered how they managed to stay friends for so long. God reminded me, you know very well about friendships that should have disintergrated but didn't. He was right. There are friendships that were built to withstand even the worst of people. The worst of me.

We all need relationships to keep us going. We all need to be around people that challenge us. In ways that keeps us fresh and relevant. It surprises me how much we depend on the people that we place importance in.

Sani has unwittingly become my teacher, my Jesus. And yet, its time to look out further.

Just What Did We Do?

"If everyone could do what you do, there wouldn't be need for jail..."

| Sani* - Unsheltered |

Such weighty words! Such high praise! But what was it that we did? What were the selfless acts of kindness? What sort of generousity deserved such thick gratitude? Was it salvation? Was it redemption? Reminders of righteousness? Or Grace? Did we clothe them? Or feed them? Or break their chains of bondage? Did we preach to them or heal them?

No...

It was one bloody dollar spent. A cup of tea.

We should all be amazed at how simple it is. Tea with the unsheltered helped the conversation along. From loneliness to relationships, cigarettes to lifelines, jails and families. We made them curious just because we listened to them. They didn't say it but you could see it in their eyes. I'm guessing it made them question. Why were we so confident and assured? People don't normally slow down to talk to us.

I was surprised at how quickly we found our groove. It made men, wise and authoritative, out of the boys. Strength & beauty were revealed in the girls. All bold, all brave. We began to see a depth of His power & the fidelity of His Word. I saw believers raring to become doers. The Greek word, Poietes, doesn't just mean a doer. It also means producer, author, maker, and my favourite, poet. There is creativity, authenticity, originality, beauty when believers become doers and not just hearers. What good is our doctrine and theology if it doesn't inspire or benefit? What good is it learning about Jesus if we don't recognise that He is the white-haired Chinese man who speaks in broken English. Or is the light of Jesus so dim and His voice so feeble that we can't see or hear Him through the dark skin and Malay accent of Sani?

I know this. The Love of God is unstoppable. No amount of bad decisions, or bad attitudes or sin can stop His Love. It will find a way even through the lethargy and ignorance, the prejudice and procrastination of the church. I know this. Because He found the most unlikely. He found me.

* Not his real name

Tea In A Takeaway Cup...

I found it interesting how often he brought up the topics about the Catholic and the Christian Church. It was interesting how he noticed that Christians were the only ones who bothered to visit the unsheltered. Tonight, he seemed genuinely pleased and more comfortable with us. He spoke about the same topics and repeated stories that became clearer each time he told it. The years lined in his face seemed to fade away as he sipped his sweetened tea.

He spoke of his 13 years unsheltered. Most would blame it on their bad luck. But he was thankful. Thankful for coincidences. He remembered the times when hunger pangs would steal his sleep, but somehow his needs would be met. Someone would leave Nasi Lemak with him. Or a packet of Kopi. I think God loves him more than he knows.

He was conflicted when it came to religion. He praised Christianity and its good works. And yet spoke of those who converted from his religion to Christianity as weak and foolish. They were usually drug addicts and ex-convicts. He spoke of the generosity of pastors and priests in the respective churches. He often brought other unsheltered friends to get handouts. But he himself could not step into a church. Was it fear? Or tradition? I think it was the awe of God. I think he could not bring himself to come close to God.

I believe we are God's response. We are to bring Love to him. The presence of God in the form of tea in a takeaway cup. He was smiling when we walked back to his regular spot. I could see peace on his face. This may not be evangelism as we know it. This is baptism into the presence of God.

First Things First!

Its been quite awhile since I've preached and I'm grateful to Pastor Andy and the XS committee for giving me the opportunity to speak at combined cell. I spoke on the Great Commission.

---

What do you understand by The Great Commission?
The common answers will be “BRINGING PEOPLE TO CHURCH”, “EVANGELISM”, “ SPREADING THE GOSPEL”, “GETTING PEOPLE TO BECOME CHRISTIANS”, “MISSION TRIPS!”

Let’s take a close look at the passage today. I want us to read this together in just a moment.

Matthew 28
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

THE LEAD UP TO THE GREAT COMMISSION.
They went to Galilee…
You know… sometimes, as Christians, we tend to overcomplicate things. When we think of evangelism, we think it is some difficult, complex debate that we have to win when we share the gospel.
But the lead up to the great commission starts off with a simple act. They went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. They simply did what Jesus told them to do. Obedience.
When I say obedience, I’m not talking about having to be perfect. Always making the correct decision. I’m talking about just being faithful with what God has told you to do. The bible says that if you’re faithful with the small things, he will reward you with much. Obedience is the starting point for greatness. I see this occurring consistently in the bible and it can also be true in your life.
Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Jesus, The Disciples, Paul,

When you are obedient, Jesus will reveal Himself to you! Not the ‘peekaboo’ kind of revealing but an understanding of His Word, or a discovery of His character, a show of His Power in healing or miracles.

Matthew 11:25 -> Revealed them to children.
Luke 17:11-19 -> Ten Lepers get healed AS they went…. Only the samaritan worshipped

The Jews of Judea and Galilee disliked the Samaritans because they were not true Jews.

As a religious sect, the Samaritans are a strict, Torah-observing party with a resolute pride in their religious heritage. They maintain that they and not the Jews are the bearers of the true faith of ancient Israel as expounded by Moses and as practiced at Mt. Gerizim in ancient times.

Which brings me to my next point.
When they saw him…
When you have a revelation of Jesus Christ, you will Worship.
What is worship? What has it got to do with The Great Commission? EVERYTHING!!!
John Piper, theologian, preacher, and author, once said that Missions exists because worship doesn’t.

Proskuneo
1. to kiss the hand to (towards) one, in token of reverence
2. among the Orientals, esp. the Persians, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead as an expression of profound reverence
3. in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication

Luke 5:6-8 -> Peter gets a revelation of Jesus Christ and confesses Him in Luke 9:18-20
Exodus 3:10,12 -> God redeemed the nation of Israel so that they might serve or worship God on this mountain. God wants worshippers!!
John 4:21-24 -> Worship in Spirit and in Truth. But He still wants worshippers!

We have the awesome-mest God
Jesus says one of the most amazing, controversial statements ever recorded in the bible. Sometimes I feel that our reading of the verse doesn’t do it justice.
“All authority in heaven and on earth HAS BEEN GIVEN to me!”

How powerful is your God? Is he the same one we sing about in Sunday School song, “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There nothing my God cannot do!”

Sometimes, I feel that we are rushing into evangelism before we ourselves get to know how great our God is. We try to tell people before we are convinced! We start telling other people’s testimonies!
“You know my Mother’s colleague’s daughter prayed before she took her piano exam and she got a distinction! Praise God!”
What has God done for you! Tell me YOUR encounter. Tell me YOUR experience. YOUR healing, miracle, breakthrough!

Do we know our In-Christ Position? (Eph 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

THEREFORE!!!!
Go and make disciples - Matheteuo
1. to be a disciple of one
a. to follow his precepts and instructions
2. to make a disciple
a. to teach, instruct
Have we forgotten how to learn from the nations?
I think we should be listening to them and observing them and learning from them so that we can become relevant… And that’s what our missionaries are doing. They have cultural exchanges, where they learn to speak the language, the activities, the behaviour and character of people in a foreign land.

Shouldn’t we be doing that with our own groups of friends? Shouldn’t we learn about them too? Shouldn’t we present our Jesus in a way that they will accept instead of the typical “You’re a sinner, you need Jesus” method?

Baptizing them - Baptizo
1. to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge (of vessels sunk)
2. to cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make clean with water, to wash one's self, bathe
3. to overwhelm

Bapto (Dip) Baptizo (Immerse)

I believe in baptism. I believe that when confess Jesus as Lord, we’re immersed and mixed up all together with Him. And God sees us as His own children.
But before people are ready to be accept Christ, I believe they need to be Baptoed first. Its like swimming. You can’t throw a young child into the deep end of the pool and expect him to enjoy swimming immediately! You have to let him get used to the temperature of the water, let him wade about before he is comfortable with it.

That’s what we as Christians should be doing. We carry around the presence of God. We are the ones who give them the taste of the presence of God.
2 Corinthians 2:14 àBut thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Teaching them - Didasko
1. to teach
· to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, deliver didactic discourses (communication of thought by words; talk; conversation: earnest and intelligent discourse. From dictionary.com)

Teaching makes it sound as if we have to know a lot. I prefer the word conversation. Its less threatening for both sides.

Recently, a small group of us decided to visit the homeless in Singapore… And I loved the fact that we didn’t have an agenda for them. We weren’t there to talk about Jesus or to convert them. We just sat at their feet and listened… We became a disciple so that we could find out what they needed, what they were concerned about. I learnt a lot of new perspectives from them. Some skewed, some true, but all interesting.

They were wary at first, and they kept asking where we were from. But about 5-10 minutes after we introduced ourselves, I think they started enjoying the company. I believe God Is concerned about the well being of people. And if we would just learn to show love instead of practicing the 4 spiritual laws, we could actually create some change.

Some of you might be asking God, how can I serve you more, how can I reach more people? As the musicians come up, I want to ask you, have you been immersed together with Christ? Have you experienced and enjoyed His presence? I believe God is telling you today , “Will you just come into my presence and enjoy me? Let me fill you up? Let me show you abundant life!”

---