Sermon on Acts 9:1-6

Pastor Steve gave a sermon on Acts 9:1-6 this past Sunday (apparently, we are going to look at the persecuted church). Here is my summary (any errors & ambiguities are mine):

Today, there are lots of threats, even murder, against disciples of the Lord, against Christians worldwide. There is something we can, should & must do about this. The striking thing in Acts 9:1-6 was Saul’s persecution of Christians. Jesus considers those who touch Christians as touching Him. Jesus questioned Saul as to the reason he was persecuting Him. Saul, it seems, did not even know who he was persecuting.

A lot of God’s people out there are suffering incredibly. This affects Jesus. And Jesus is the most scarred person in human history. That is why Jesus, in the passage, questioned Saul as to why he was persecuting Him & Christians. With every Christian who was mocked & persecuted, Jesus took it as if it was done to Him. The things that happen in the world today are atrocious. And Saul did not know that he was persecuting God. He would then later transform into apostle Paul. A lot of people today do not like Jesus because they not like the idea of having a King over their lives.

How are we to respond to persecution?

• Expect persecution; it is the Biblical reality. We are not to be shocked, for persecution is a reality. See John 15:20.
• Remember those who are in prison (Hebrews 13:3). It is hard for Christians elsewhere. We must always remember & always think of those Christians who are persecuted. Do not forget them.
• Love & prayer for “our” persecutors. Love your enemies (Matthew 5:43-45). It is not for us to judge those who persecute Christians. Pastor also referred to the St James Church in South Africa which was attacked one day in 1993 by some attackers who threw detonators to all corners of the church before spraying the church with machine gun bullets. A number of people were killed & many were seriously injured. In April 1996, the St James Church massacre victims forgave the attackers. The forgiveness shown is remarkable.
  
• Pray for the persecuted Christians, that they will be able to stand firm in the face of the persecution.
• Pray for the saints & gospel opportunities (that they will be able to proclaim the gospel boldly). Refer Ephesians 6:18-20. The persecuted church wants us to pray for them.
• God’s enemies can become His friends (Romans 5:8).
• Remember that victory belongs to God.
  

Psalm 1 - Blessed is the man!

Pastor Steve gave the first sermon of the year. It was on Psalm 1, & in the sermon, Pastor effectively issued a challenge. The challenge was for us to live godly lives.

He started by talking about New Year's resolutions (how some people are into making them etc), blessings & being blessed, & then asked us - will we have a happy year?

He referred to Psalm 1:1, & pointed out that blessing begins with God, for it is God who blesses people. God blessed those who avoid wickedness. The wicked are the ones who reject God, live their own way of life & reject God's way. Avoid being drawn in the ways of the wicked & we can look forward to a blessed new year.

God wants us to be blessed. It's not just those who avoids the ways of the wicked who will be blessed. Psalm 1:2 tells us that those person who delights in the command of the Lord will also be blessed. Pastor also referred to Psalm 119:97, 103 (blessed is the one who loves Scripture).

The outcome of following the first 2 verses is seen in Psalm 1:3. If we delight in the word of God, & get saturated in the Bible, we will have a happy & blessed new year. We will then prosper. The alternative is Psalm 1:4 - follow the ways of the wicked; the wicked will be like chaff that gets driven away. If we are not getting fed by God, the less we are shaped by the Bible. Then, we will have no fruit & no prosperity.

Psalm 1:5-6 shows 2 categories of people: those with God & are blessed, & those without God & are cursed.

The secret to happy (& blessed life) is to read the Bible, thinking about it, live & meditate on it. We are to read the Bible: # extensively # intensively # daily # memorise it # & teach it

Pastor also referred to Colossians 3:16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.


Reflections:

Nice sermon to kick-start the year, & seems to be a strong reminder to evaluate where we stand. Live godly lives by following the Lord, delight in His commands, avoid the ways of the wicked & we can enjoy His blessings. On the other hand, follow the path of the wicked, & it will hinder your relationship with God & you will be cursed.

According to the sermon, the wicked reject God's way & live their own way. Now let's look at me. I don't consider myself as one who rejects God. But I do tend to live my live my own way. So, I certainly have some characteristics of the wicked. It's definitely a big struggle - to obey God & live His way instead of living selfishly for myself.

OK, so a good way of living less my way & more God's way is to saturate myself in the Bible & follow it. And here we go again: read the Bible - my old application point. And from the sermon, it's not just reading for the sake of reading. And look at those 5 things about reading the Bible, I practically don't do any of those. Read extensively? Nope. Intensively? Nope. Daily? Most certainly not.

Well, I guess the first concrete step is to find the Bible reading plan that Pastor gave me sometime last year, so that I can get the reading habit started & get immersed in God's Word. I've checked my Bible, but can't find the plan. I will keep looking for it. If I can't find it, I might come up with my own reading plan. How's that sound, eh??

Sermon on Colossians 1:24 - 2:5 (by Dr B Winter)

Dr Bruce Winter visited our church this past Sunday (4/11/07), & he gave an excellent sermon, on Colossians 1:24 to 2:5. He started by referring to Turkey, which at once were thriving with churches, but then the people became cultural Christians. Dr Winter then referred to the passage in Colossians. Paul, the author, thought that one must not be deluded with arguments that sound so good. Paul had been worried that the Christians would be like Peter Pan (a child who never grew up).

Dr Winter made 3 points about the passage in Colossians:

# A Christian person is possessed by Christ.
# That Christian person must be mature in Christ.
# That Christian person must be united in Christ.

#1: Possessed in Christ

Paul was given the word of God. We are privileged to have the word of God. God wants us to understand what He has done for us. Paul wanted us to know what happened to the Christians. Refer v.26 - Christ is in you. God has come to dwell in your life. Our lives will go on forever. We are possessed people (i.e. possessed in Christ). We have a great future that lies ahead of us. There is a home already for us. Jesus said He will go to prepare a place for us & He will come again. We are now people who are possessed by Christ.

#2: Mature in Christ

We must grow in Christ. This is not a quick fix. Refer v.28 & v.29. There are 3 aspects of maturity:

Firstly, continual proclamation of who Jesus Christ is. He designed everything, the creator, the enlightener, the sustainer of the universe. Christ must be continually proclaimed to Christians. We are here for Him; He prepared a place for us. We need to focus on Him. We are here for Him, & not the other way round. We need to be continually reminded that Christ is not here for us; we are here for Him.

Secondly, warn Christians of the dangers of certain things. God has put in place His word. It is not an easy task. We live in a world which says "greed is good". The Bible teaches us different things. Our society tells us to indulge. God is a shepherd from us; every gift is from God. Christian maturity also involves in warning us of the dangers that lie ahead.

Thirdly, we need information to live our lives. We need to be taught; we need to read up instructions to understand how we are to live. God has given us a manual on how to do just that. To become a mature Christian, we have to learn & be taught from the Bible.

Recapping the 3 aspects: the greatness of Christ, the dangers that lie ahead, the wisdom we need to live our lives.

Paul wanted everyone that we may present everyone to be mature in Christ. It would be sad if we have a body of an adult but the mind of a child.

#3: United in Christ

In 21st century, Christians can be polite & nice & smile but be different when you look underneath. It is easy for Christians to just be polite. Paul was concerned that there should be unity in the church - we should be united in Christ. Christians always chose to meet in homes. It is wonderful to come & share fellowship but bad when family members fight. We are to be united in Christ. We will love to come & meet up with our brothers & sisters. In Asian culture, family is important. When we become Christians, it is easy to transfer that cultural mentality into the church (family does matter).


Dr Winter then concluded by saying that if we are like all those 3 points, we can stand up to all the challenges in life.

Sermon on Colossians 1:15-23 - some notes

OK, my notes on Pastor Steve's sermon on Colossians 1:15-23 a couple of Sunday's back may seem sketchy to some readers. And it's most probably my fault (should have paid more attention & not let my mind be distracted by internal thoughts on other things).

But anyway, Pastor begin by saying that a lot of writers who claim to be Christian write materials which effectively say "Jesus, come follow me". A lot of people ask the question - Jesus, what can you do for me? It shouldn't be like that. It should be the other way round. The passage in Colossians is all about Jesus; Jesus is mentioned a dozen times. The invisible God, whom we cannot see, is made visible here. So, no longer can we ignore God & say He is not really relevant. He gave Jesus authority over this world, & we are to do what Jesus commands.

Jesus not only has authority over this world, He died to achieve salvation for this world. Pastor reminded us, & referring to the passage, that Jesus' death has paved the way for the world to change. Because He has achieved salvation for us believers, we are to live in line with that. We once rejected God & want to do things our way & marginalise or exclude God from our lives. But Jesus achieved salvation for us, & so reconciled us to God. Therefore, we are to continue in our faith.

Jesus Christ, Lord of creation, restorer of all things, Saviour of our lives. Since Jesus is all that, what then are we to do? As mentioned previously, we are to continue in our faith. We are to consistently attend church & not neglect meeting up altogether. Pastor then left us with a challenging question: What are we captivated by? Whatever it is we are captivated by shapes our lives. Pastor was basically saying that since Jesus has done so much for us, are we captivated by Him?

Reflection:

Am I captivated by Jesus? I'd say "yes" in the sense that I'm aware (from the Bible) of all the things that Jesus achieved while He was on earth, many of which only Jesus was capable of doing. Certainly in the case of His death & resurrection on the cross, only Jesus was capable of doing that, because He is the Son of God. So, from me, there is the awareness of all that Jesus has done & acceptance of who He is. Being surrounded by fellow believers at church & my Bible study group, I'm often reminded to focus on Jesus & what He has achieved on the cross. So yes, I am certainly captivated by Jesus.

But, in all honesty, at the same time, I'm also captivated by other things. I'm captivated by the things of this world. I watch football on TV & also clips on YouTube, & so am captivated by footballers, & their skills & all that. I'm captivated by materials I read on money, investments etc., & start thinking of what I can achieve in the future when my earnings go up & I start looking at various money making ventures/opportunities (e.g. share trading).

And, believe it or not, sometimes I'm captivated by my personal delusions of grandeur, of my perceived level of ability. I tell myself: "wow, look - I can do this, I have done that". And thump my chest & feel self satisfied.

I realise I should be more captivated by Jesus & less captivated on other things. Wow, it seems whenever I listen to sermons, I get reminded of the areas in my walk that I'm deficient in. I pray that God will help me overcome those spiritual deficiencies. But then again, I always talk like that. Remember DT, MTE talk by K Birchley - wisdom is more walk than talk. Or to modify for myself, wisdom is more walk than blog.

Thoughts & reflections on sermon/talk on Hebrews 13:1-7

As stated on my previous post, the visiting pastor from Singapore, Pastor Chris Chia, gave a talk/sermon on Hebrews 13:1-7 (or was it Hebrews 13:1-6? can't remember) during the Building Dedication ceremony.

The talk was really good, & I thought it was nice & appropriate given the occasion. Chris Chia was exhorting the audience, as people of CCCB, to adhere to the message of Hebrews 13:1-7. Thus we are to love each other as brothers, entertain & be hospitable even to those we don't know very well, emphatize with believers who are in prison, give honour to marriage, refrain from loving money, be content with what we have because God would never leave nor forsake His people, remember the leaders who taught us the Word of God (though this last point, I don't remember if he really dwell on in much depth). Anyway, I really liked the talk & the speaker's technique & style - he kept the talk simple & concise, yet there's real quality & substance in the content, with a dash of humour here & there.

For me, the big thing from the talk was refraining from the love of money & being content with what I possess. I remembered shifting in my seat (my friend might have noticed that, too) when he talked about those areas. Not only do I "love" money, but I also am not satisfied what what I got. Money is fine, says the speaker - after all, we do need it. But when we start loving money, then it becomes dangerous. And money (or the love of it) has increasingly become an issue for me. I may claim from time to time that I am not materialistic, yet the fact that money constantly occupies my mind suggests otherwise. You see, it's hard to not get sucked into all that when I'm constantly exposed to money & wealth every day - in my job, on the internet, in advertisements, etc etc. It's hard not to be greedy when you really desire your investments & savings to grow & grow - after all, that's a matter of you have your own best interests at heart. At one point, I was watching my investments daily like a hawk. That obsessive monitoring has died down, but mainly because I'm now focussed on another thing (which I won't reveal here).

Yes, I do give some money away (to Compassion, Open Doors, friends doing ministry training etc). That is fine. But I think the problem is in how I deal with or view the money left over after giving some away. I'm not content with that "left over money". I always "moan" that it's not enough, & believing that I need more, I crave for more. That's not being content with what I have. And that brings another area to question - trust. Do I trust God to look after all my needs? Whether I do is questionable, given the way I've been struggling with the love of money & being content. It suggests that I don't trust God enough to look after my needs - or, that I don't trust God enough to look after me the way I want.

It's really difficult to shake off these struggles, but I pray that God will help me be content with Him & love Him more & love worldly things less (things which do not last). I know it's wrong to be caught up with worldly things, but knowing what's right & doing what's right are 2 very different things for me - simply because of the way I am. Perhaps it's a good thing I got the chance to hear Chris Chia's talk - it's a big "wake up call". I seem to be one of those who need water thrown at my face. I'm sure I will get plenty more warnings in the future.

Hmmm, just looking at what's transpired above - eeek, I've ranted & raved long enough! Which might say something about the extent of my struggles. Ai yah, perhaps I'd better sign off here.

Sermon on Nehemiah 5:1 - 7:4, soccer after church

In his Sunday sermon on Nehemiah 5:1 - 7:4, Pastor Steve posed the following question: what is the biggest danger to God's people? Is it persecution? In light of recent happenings, one may think so. Pastor talked about a young woman in Egypt who experienced torture & harm from the police & then (appalingly) members of her own family, just because she converted to Christianity. He also mentioned the group of South Korean Christians currently held hostage in Afghanistan. But persecution, as Pastor correctly pointed out, is nothing new to God's people. And the sad but true fact is, a lot of people will be open to attack & persecution just because they are Christians.

However, from the Nehemiah passage, the biggest danger to God's people came not from their enemies, but from those within their ranks. Specifically, the wealthy Jews were profiteering from the poorer people, & this injustice caused Nehemiah to be angry. He would have been thinking, how could they (the rich) be be doing this to their own people?

So what is the biggest danger to God's people? Persecution? Opposition? No. The good news about persecution is that it shows God's enemies are fearful, & the persecution only strengthens believers & spur them on to seek Christ. Actually, the biggest danger to God's people is the faithlessness of God's people towards each other. This was the case in Nehemiah's time, & is also the case today. As pointed out by Pastor, the Western church has all the wealth, but do not seem to be doing very much with it in terms of helping the church in poorer places. In some developing countries, several villages share 1 Bible, & then the Bible is passed on to another lot of villages. The people in those countries are poor & could not afford to get many Bibles. In such countries, the church is growing. We in the more advanced world, with the money we have, could do more than we are currently doing to help the church in the poor areas.

Pastor's sermon reminds me of how lucky I am to be living in a place where I am not persecuted for my faith (not that I'm very active with my faith). I should also reflect on what I can do to help less fortunate fellow believers in the developing world.

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After church, a few of us played soccer at one of the UQ fields in Carmody Rd. It was fun, though my team got hammered big time (probably because the other team had fitter runners). I think for every goal we scored, the other team scored about 2. My sister & brother-in-law also played, & they seemed to enjoy the football as much as I did.

I did more running than expected & lasted longer on the field than I thought I would. Nevertheless, it was very veerrrryyyy tiring. At the end, I was left sore & could barely move. The next few days were painful. Due to my lack of fitness & not excessively high stamina, my whole body (especially legs) were aching like mad. Every leg movement was such an ordeal. Even moving a leg out of my bed hurts. Walking from bus stop to work was a torture - I practically limped, & colleagues at work could tell something was different with the way I walked. "Played soccer on Sunday....that's what it did to me", I would tell them & pull a face to indicate how much of a toll the soccer took on my physically. Colleagues would laugh.

Luckily, I can feel that recovery is imminent. I should be ok by this weekend! The whole thing reminds me of the physical limitations of my earthly body. Never mind - when I get to heaven, I will be given a new body. There will be no more aches & pains of the sort that I have experienced lately. Isn't that good?

Sermon on Ezra 7-10

Pastor Steve's sermon on Ezra 7-10 talked about God sending Ezra back to Jerusalem because God wanted the place to reflect His holiness, & Ezra (a scribe, a leader) was to help achieve that aim. God wanted the place to be holy, & for the people to love God & love other people.

The people (Israelites) were set apart to honour God, & they (the descendants of Abraham) were chosen by God to represent Him to this world. However, God's chosen people lost their identity as they did not want to become a separate holy nation. Therefore, they could not represent God. As a response to the people's failure to keep themselves holy, Ezra ripped his tunic & cloak & pulled his hair from his head. He must have felt such great sorrow & despair for the the people's sins, the failure to be holy, to have resorted to doing all that to himself. Those of you reading who personally know me, can you imagine me ripping my hair & clothes if I was angry at something - it would not be a very pretty sight, would it? Haha.

Anyway, the thing is, God wants holiness, & He will forgive us (if we repent of our sins), & we can then be part of God's solution. The people back then had to make a hard decision for the sake of holiness. So, we today have to be absolutely ruthless if we are to be holy people.

Pastor Steve then posed this question: Do we strive to be holy? God made hard decisions for the sake of holiness. He killed His Son Jesus so that we can become holy. He did that so that we can be transformed from a life of hopelessness to a life of holiness, so that we would stop living a life of sin.

So back to that question: Do we strive to be holy? I cannot answer that question in the affirmative. As mentioned in previous post (on sermon on Ezra 4-6), striving towards holiness is not something that is at the forefront of my mind. I have never given the topic of "holiness" much thought. A part of me thinks that holiness is such an impossible goal to achieve, that I'm not inclined to try hard to achieve that goal. Needless to say, I am sure I will hear more on "holiness" in the future. It is something I need to think more about.

Sermon on Ezra 4-6

Church is currently doing a series of sermons on the book of Ezra. The first sermon in the series was delivered last Sunday (by one of the elders, I believe), but I wasn't around to hear it as I had visited another church. However, I did manage to catch yesterday's sermon by our pastoral apprentice, on Ezra 4-6. (The same guy gave the sermon in mid-April which I previously blogged about - see "Simple Faith")

The main encouragement from the book of Ezra is that God's sovereignty ensures that all things work for His glory. Because God is sovereign, we can trust Him in the face of opposition. God's people can expect to face opposition when they do God's work. Unfortunate, perhaps, but it's the reality of this world, & believers must face various opposition & hostility. They should not be discouraged by all that, but rather trust that God is in control over everything & He will help overcome obstacles.

In Ezra 4-6, the construction of the temple in Jerusalem (as part of Jerusalem's rebuilding) was finished, but not before opposition which delayed the rebuilding. The temple may have been completed, but it lacked the glory of God. The speaker referred us to the New Testament (specifically John 2), where we saw that there is another temple, one which didn't take so long to complete & which certainly did not lack the glory of God. That temple is Jesus Christ - the true temple. The speaker pointed out that in Jesus, God dwells among His people. In Jesus, we see God face to face. And in Jesus, we have the perfect atonement for sin.

The speaker also referred us to 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, which basically said that God's temple is holy & we are that temple. I understand that to mean that we believers are/should be unified in God (i.e. part of God's temple), & therefore we should be holy. The speaker points out that we often struggle with the idea of being holy (this is too true in my case).

He referred to John Chapman's book "Sinner's Guide to Holiness", & pointed out a couple of things. Firstly, holiness is connected to the character of God. God is holy & we should treat Him as God, & God's moral purity is such that we should be clean if we are to approach him. On this, we have been made clean only because of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. Secondly, we should strive after holiness.

He then spoke of the reasons why Christians struggle with holiness:

• We love the world too much. (often, this is associated with time, money spent pursuing worldly things?)
• Wealth. Here, it was emphasized that the Bible is not against wealth, but is against wealth at the expense of generosity. ^^
• Alternatives. (unfortunately, didn't catch his discussion on this point).
  

He then concluded the sermon by reminding us of Ezra where we see that God is at work to ensure that all things work for His glory. He is at work as we strive towards holiness.

Hmmm, let's read that again. He (God) is at work as we strive towards holiness. But am I? Am I presently working towards that goal? I can't say I am & that's not surprising, for I have not given it much thought at all. I do hear about striving to holiness time & time again, but it seems this goes in one ear & out the other. The stuff from the sermon has given me quite a few things to muse about (more stuff piling on my plate). I am presently caught up by all sorts of things/distractions (so many things occupying my mind simultaneously), & sometimes feel I'm at risk of burning out. I sense that I need to "sit down" one day & reassess lots of things, including what I learn from church (such as the sermon above) & my Clay study group.


^^ I think during his discussion on wealth, he referred to my blog (without mentioning my name), specifically my post last week on payrise/money. I glanced around as he talked about my post, as though half-expecting sections of the audience to turn to me & say "It's you, isn't it? He's talking about your blog, isn't he?". No one did, which was a relief ;) Hehe.

Sermon on Matthew 13

Given the Sunday School roster swap, I was able to sit in on Pastor Steve’s sermon at church on Matthew 13. Although I was feeling “dead” as I only had 5 hours sleep, I still managed to take some notes. Once again, any posts on church sermons will be accompanied by the usual disclaimer that “any mistakes or oddities in my post are completely mine”. I won’t rehash the entire sermon (partly because my note-taking was not at the optimal level). Rather, I will talk about parts of the sermon & thereafter post my thoughts. My post may be patchy, but anyway, here it is.

In the sermon, we were reminded that the biggest problem in our church (perhaps not just talking about the church we attend) is deceitfulness. No one can serve both God & money. If we are trying to make money today & it becomes our priority, then we are “gone”.

Another thing from the sermon is that Jesus is about transformed lives & He wants the weeds to become wheat. The difference between weeds & wheat is receptivity & responsiveness. Pastor referred to Matthew 13:44-46 for a picture of what receptivity looks like.

Then, pastor made a point that really grabbed my attention – true Christians can be seen by what they treasure. After talking about treasures in Matthew 13, pastor referred to one of his favourite authors, John Piper & his book ‘Seeing & Savouring Jesus Christ’. In that book, Piper apparently stated: We were made to enjoy God. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Nothing most satisfies us or more glorifies God than when we are blown away by God’s grace.

Pastor also referred to Ephesians 1 , & said that God’s love is the ground of our joy. On the subject of love, he said that love must be God-centered, or it is not love. It is a wake-up call for those who find treasure/love in the wrong place.

Pastor then said that being a Christian is about receptivity, taking hold of the treasure out there (which God has made for us). What treasures are we trying to gain? Those who seek the world forfeits his/her soul. Pastor then called us to assess our priorities – where are we at, if we are a Christian? What happens if what we currently have is taken away from us? We must be willing to put Jesus as number 1. Would Jesus still be number 1, a treasure of unsurpassable value, if we lose what we have? Will we walk away from Jesus in that instance, or will Jesus remain number 1?

Pastoral ministry & missions are worthless if Jesus is not at the centre of our heart. Pastor’s last comment is this: Is Jesus our treasure, our pearl of unsurpassable value?

Ok then, that’s the sermon. Now here are my thoughts:

• The point about not serving God & money came just 2 days after chatting with a friend on Friday nite, regarding his “sulphur” comment on a previous post regarding workaholism. When that friend explained what he meant by his comment, it felt a tad ominous. He sounded like he meant business. His explanation for the “sulphur” comment was also centered on the futility of believers serving God & money. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that I heard about this “God & money” thing from 2 different people within a matter of days – is it mere coincidence, or is it God trying to highlight an area in my life where I may be struggling (& am in danger of stumbling even further)?

• “True Christians can be seen by what they treasure”. It's that attention-grabbing sentence from Pastor's sermon. Flowing from that, I have to pose this question: What is it that I treasure? Well, I’d be bluffing if I say that I only treasure Jesus & the Word of God. I also happen to treasure the pleasures of this world – in fact, I often am more carried away by the things of this world than by spiritual things. This raises a further question: Am I then a real Christian?

• Have I got my priorities right, as a Christian? The answer is probably not, although these days I’m more mindful of & less oblivious to my faults.

• Am I looking for treasures in the wrong place? Should I be looking for those “wrong” treasures, given that I already have the one that really matter – Jesus, our pearl of unsurpassable value?

As u can see, I’m left with lots & lots of things to think about. Serious things, the answers to which will not just come instantly or overnight.

Simple faith

Simple faith. Uh uh, that's not just a phrase I coined up for the title for this blog post. "Simple faith" is what was emphasized by a Christian brother in his sermon at church today, on Matthew 8 & 9. Well, Matt 8:5 - 9:35, to be exact, although he didn't cover every verse in great detail - he selected a few passages here & there for the purposes of his sermon. I shall elaborate on that "simple faith" thing below (with the story of the centurion approaching Jesus). You will also see below, why I struggle with this "simple faith" thing.

I hope that what I write in this post does not misrepresent or distort the message of the sermon, which I enjoyed such that I will read that Bible passage again & review the notes I took from the sermon. I'm glad to have had the chance to listen to this brother's sermon - I've missed out on some of his past sermons because they always seem to coincide with my Sunday School teaching (the Sunday School roster can be such a lottery....haha).

Anyway, here is what's covered by the sermon (mainly rehashing my notes):

• The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 7:28,29) are Jesus' words of authority. Matthew 8 & 9 show Jesus' acts of authority - authority over the weather, demons, demon-possessed people, healing the ill. Nothing which He did in these chapters is ordinary. After all, those acts are beyond the capacity of normal human beings.
• There is a cost or sacrifice that comes with following Jesus (Matt 8:18-22). It's not always going to be easy, as it may involve foresaking basic security or family commitments.
• The speaker also took us through the passage where a centurion approached Jesus to heal his servant. What's significant/remarkable about this is that the centurion (Roman military officer) belonged to a group that was oppressing the Jews - so we have a member of the oppressor asking help from a member of the group that he is oppressing. The speaker used the analogy of a Nazi oppressor approaching a Jewish person (in times of WW2) for help. So that's not a normal request for help. Nevertheless, the centurion showed real faith in Jesus (His ability to heal), & Jesus was amazed at this. The main point here is that what really matters is simple faith founded on the truth of who Jesus is. We should have simple faith as manifested in trust & dependence on Jesus. The centurion recognised that Jesus acts with authority under the Father, & Jesus marvelled at the simple yet profound faith of a Gentile (the centurion).

In this context, when talking about simple faith, simple does not mean simplistic; rather, simple means plain, clear cut, not pretentious. It connects belief in Jesus with faith in Jesus.

The speaker then concluded with applications, & he did something I can't recall seeing before. He looked at 3 types of applications:

• Necessary (essential to do): Recognise Jesus acts with authority from the Father & submit to Him.
• Possible: Jesus is the one who we put our faith in to transform us. [Speaker said it is who we put our faith in that matters, more so than how much faith we have].
• Impossible (what we should not/cannot do): Do not recognise Jesus & rely on our own strengths to impress God.

Now, that is (especially third point) a new way of looking at applications. I have always looked at applications in "positive terms", i.e. in terms of questions like "What should I do in response to the sermon/study" or "How should I improve this or that". I can't remember the last time I personally looked at applications in "negative terms", as in the "impossible" application above - what we should not do in light of what we have learned. That's interesting, actually. Expanding on the "negative" application, the speaker said that we cannot ignore Jesus' authority in light of the passages covered.

Later on, while chatting with the brother & referring to his sermon, he asked me a hard question "What are you going to change?". Well, for me anyway, it's a hard question. I was unable to muster a response, & it's not the first time he's asked me a hard question - he's done so in the past. I've since reflected on that question, but more in terms of "What should I change?". For me, one thing which I should definitely change is to have more trust & dependence on God, especially in terms of decision-making. I usually rely far too much on my own abilities & judgment when making various decisions on various things, & tend to reduce God's involvement to "last resort".

You may be shocked after reading that. But it's true - self-reliance is a feature of my DNA, & I do sometimes take pride in being able to do things my way. Every now & again, I have been asked by Christian siblings questions like "Have u prayed about it?" or "What do u think God wants?". Questions like these, when they arise, do remind me of my lack of trust or dependence on God (as well as my weak prayer life) - yet I often ignore or brush aside those questions. In doing so, I guess I lack the simple faith of that centurion & certainly not recognise God's authority as Christians should. I pray that I will let God be a significant part of my future decision-making, depend more on Him & less on myself, trust that God (& not me) knows what's best for me, & be submissive to His will & authority.