this week marks the final sermon following the 40 days of community. conversely, our cell is one week behind the sermon series(because of fusion). well, here goes!

FINAL week: 23 feb -- 1 march
Sermon Topic: Worshipping Together
Preacher: Ps. Stanley

When we think of why we worship together, we often lead ourselves to fundemental questions on our faith:

-What is worship?
-Why does the church exist?
Scripture reference: 1 Cor 10:31. "So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." => which simply translates to Glorify God!

worship = worthship
worthship denotes the worthiness of an individual to receive special honour
Scripture reference: Romans 15: 5-6

FOUR ways to glorify God:

1. By cultivating a habit of including God in every segment of our life.
Scripture reference: 1 Cor 10:31

2. By refusing to expect or accept any glory that belongs to Him(God)
Biblical example: John the Baptist.
Scripture reference: John 1: 23-27;John 1 :30
Are we really glorifying God when we serve Him, come to worship services, etc?

3. By maintaining a priority relationship with Him that is more important than any other on earth.
Scripture reference: Matt 10: 37-38

4. By living a life of giving. Everytime we give, we glorify God.
'consumerism worship':one who simply comes to get something out of the service.
Scripture reference: Romans 12:1;1 Peter 2:5
Question should not be: Where can i go to get what i want?
But: Where can i give to help others?

*Worship is not a spectator sport. We come primarily to give to God.
Bad News: We can 'fake' giving glory to God. Pretense on the exterior ISN'T giving glory to God. looking holy doesn't either.
Good News: We can truly come to God in glory. God doesn't give us anything that we can't do.


thought for the week: WHERE are we going for lunch on 1 March. Thomson food court is quite disappointing. (but the indian food is damn shiok.lol)

isaac!

FUSION 2009!

Details below:

Where: ACS (I)
When: 21st Feb 2009.this sat.
Time: 9am -- 9pm
What to bring:
1. a set of colour pencils(entrance 'fee'.this is important!)
2. sermon notes
3. jacket(just in case it gets cold)
Webby: http://www.weloveourgod.sg/default.asp

ok, here's the thing. some of us are going in the morning at 9, some of us are going in the evening. here's what to do:

-if you're going in the morning, there MIGHT not be transport there. thus we have to arrange our own transport. since isaac is going in the morning at 8, please contact isaac if you're going in the morning.

-if you're going in the evening, there MIGHT be transport there. i will sms ya about the details. please let jit know if you're going in the evening.

there is NO cell grp this coming week, unless you wanna spend it alone with rick warren on the tv. :)

isaac

Hey guys,

Here are the details for Horror Fest this coming friday.. (Friday, 13th 2009).. Haha... We will be renting the dvds from video ezy.. Oh yea!! If you guys happen to have any horror movie dvds, please bring it!! Haha...

Time: 10pm - 6am... Overnight, yep!
Meeting Location: AMK MRT
Things to bring: Tibits & Drinks..
People that are confirmed(Limited 15 seats.. First Come, First Served.. Kidding man!) :
1) Matthew
2)Kenneth
3)Joshua
4)Jabez
5)Caleb
6)Willy
7)Gabriel Lee
8)Ian
9)Isaac
10)Desmond
11)Amos
12)Aaron
13)and counting if anyone is interested..
Whose House are we watching at?: Amos's

to clarify things, we are having a total budget of 50 dollars for this fest. that includes rental fees from videoezy, snacks, drinks, etc. yup! we will come up with the cost per pax by friday.

haha... To make things interesting, we will be releasing a horror movie title everyday, starting from tmr till thur.. haha.. OK, back to studying.. See ya..

Desmond

Today marks week three in the 40 days of community. let's keep the pace in reading the guide! here's sunday sermon for those who missed it. it's rather lengthy( i copied three pages of notes!!!) so please bear with me:


Week THREE: 2 -- 8th Feb 2009
Sermon Topic: "What destroys relationships and what builds them?
Preacher: Ps Stanley
Scripture Text: James 4: 1-12


Introduction:

* relational conflict extends to every level of society. we're not free from conflict!
*loving one another may be the key, but it is easier said than done.


What is the source of all fights and conflicts amongs us all?
Scripture reference: James 4: 1

What destroys relationships?

-Most fights and conflicts stem from unresloved problems in the past.
-Root cause of conflicts--> DESIRE(carries a negative connoctation in Greek).
Scripture refrence: Mark 7: 20-23
-Summing up, the desires in our heart is the root of all our relationships.

Two desires that constitute the evil desires in our heart:
Disclaimer: This list is not exhaustive, there are many other root causes but due to time constrain, pastor chose these two out of the rest.

->Selfish Desires.
Scripture reference: James 4: 23
When we stop working hard in our relationships, selfishness creeps in!
Scripture reference: Phillipians 2: 3-4

->Prideful Desires.
Scripture reference: James 4: 6 (adopted from Proverbs)
Pride: huperephanos, which literally means "he who shows himself above other people."
-Pride tends to show in criticism.
-The comparing sprit hints pride.
-The most destructive side of pride: when pride blinds one from seeing one's sin.
-In any relatonship, it takes two hands to clap.


What then builds relationships?

1. Submit ourselves to God.
Scripture reference: James 4: 6
-All relational problems stem from problems with God.
-Our conflict with another person inevitably and indirectly involves God. Why? The bible says, how can we say we love God when we hate our brother? By being in conflict with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we are indirectly saying we are in conflict with God!

Therefore, humble ourselves before God:
*Submit/confess our sin to God. Forsake our sins!
Scripture reference: 1 John 1:9

*Humble ourselves before others! Genuine confessions involves specific apology and asking for forgiveness. confessions ought to be short and not lengthy.


2. We must resist the devil.
Scripture reference: James 4: 7

How do we resist the devil?

->the only reason how we can stand before any spritual being is because of the blood of Jesus.
->the blood of Jesus gives us the authority.
->But for us to have the authority of Jesus, we must be right with God and our brothers/sisters.
As pastor illustrated, there was a man trying to cast demons out of a man. Instead of leaving the man, they replied to him:"Jesus we know, Paul we know. Who are you?!"
->In resisting the devil, we say,"In the name of Jesus, I reject you Satan and your thoughts."


3. We come near to God.
Scripture reference: James 4: 8
-We fear rejection. Naturally.
-but when we draw near to God, God draws near to us.


4. Stop judging others.
Scripture reference: James 4: 11-12.
-Conflict is inevitable when judging happens.


Conclusion: Psalms 133: 1-3.

i have to say, whatever that is written above MAY not be exactly what was shared on Sunday. Many times i have to paraphrase what was shared so i can copy down more notes. i hope that this helps though. if you do have anything to add, i will be more than willing to 'zheng' this post.hahaha just email the boyzone email. yup!

A not-so-friendly reminder: Please remember to read the guide! cell's the same this saturday at 5! as usual, we will watch the video first before proceeding with worship and discussion. yup!

isaac