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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 4
25 June 2006
Blessings at the True Life
B-P Church Camp
at Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia, June 12-16, 2006
A brief note from Pr Hien
Nguyen
I truly thank God and praise
the Lord for making a way for me to join the True Life B-P Church Camp
this year at Colmar Tropicale, up in the hills of Bukit Tinggi for a
blessed time of listening God’s Word and having fellowship with one
another. I also thank God for journey mercies to and fro. Praise the
Lord!
We are very glad and thankful
to the Lord to have our dearly beloved Pastor Rev Timothy Tow in our
midst with two speakers, Rev Stephen Khoo and Rev Errol Stone, who spoke
on the themes “Accelerated Missions Hastens to Bring in Christ’s
Kingdom,” and “Eternal Values in the End Times.”
Accelerated Missions
Hastens to Bring in Christ’s Kingdom
Rev Stephen Khoo challenged us
with very relevant and edifying messages:
(1) See the World as God
Sees it (Matt
9:35-36, 28:18-20; Acts 1:8): Our church must be a Vision Church. Due to
the failure of Adam, sin came into the world, and this is an ungodly
world with ungodly people living in the darkness of sins. Like our Lord
Jesus, seeing the multitude, we should be moved with compassion, going
about preaching, teaching and caring the needy in this world of darkness
to share with them God’s salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the
Great Commission our Lord has given to His disciples and to us today.
(2) Be Overwhelmed
about Missions or Catching God’s Heartbeat (Eph 4:4-16): Our God is a
missionary God, so our church must be a Mission church. The Gospel
Mission started with God from the very beginning (Gen 3:15). Our Lord
Jesus came to fulfil God’s Mission of salvation for men by His death and
resurrection. To be fruitful, like our Lord, we should be willing to die
to self, sin, the world and then live a fruitful life serving the Lord
with a mission mindset wherever we are (Jn 12:24-26).
(3) Be Driven to Our
Knees as a People of Prayer
(Matt 9:35-38): Our church must be a praying church, praying fervently,
specifically according to God’s will with a pure heart, with faith and
trust in our mighty God. God has ordained prayer to communicate with
Him, to change our lives and to change the world according to His will.
Prayer is essential in missions. Pray that God will send more labourers
into His harvest.
(4) Create a Supportive
Mission Base in the Church (Rom 12:1-13): All members of
our church must be involved in the Mission work. God grants each of us
different talents and expects us to serve Him faithfully. Having
witnessed a change in our lives by our faith in our Saviour Jesus
Christ, we are expected to be His witnesses wherever we are, sharing the
pure Gospel message, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of our
Lord Jesus without fear, without shame and without compromise.
(5) Give Financially to
World-Wide Missions
(Matt 6:19-34; 2 Cor 9): Our God is a generous God and He loves cheerful
givers. We can never out-give God and if we sow sparingly we shall reap
also sparingly: one seed, one tree. God is able to make all grace abound
toward us as we faithfully honour the Lord with our substance and
increase (Prov 3:9). Mission involves money and time. May God help us to
use our time and money wisely, responsively to extend His kingdom.
(6) Choose to Live by
Setting Personal Priorities Right
(2 Cor 5:17-21): We only have
one life to invest. As a lad’s five barley loaves and two small fishes
were multiplied in our Lord Jesus’ hands, our lives will be a blessing
to others in Jesus’ hands. Never be too late to serve the Lord. If God
calls you, do not resist, trust in the Lord and serve Him. Not the
beginning but the end of our lives will count. We should be committed to
following the Lord and serving Him faithfully until the end.
Eternal Values in the End
Times
At our morning devotion time,
Rev Errol Stone also challenged us with the edifying messages:
(1) Eternal Light
(1 John 1:5-7): As our God is the Source of Light, our lives must
reflect and shine forth His light in this world of sin and darkness. We
are to be born again and walking in the Light;
(2) Future Promises
(2 Cor 5:1): Thank God that we have precious promises for our future
when we live and serve Him faithfully until the end: a resurrected body,
a glorious body and future rewards when our Lord Jesus comes back again.
(3) End Time Service
(James 1:22): We are to fight a good fight of faith in this world of
darkness. Not being offended by what others may hurt us, we are to press
on, reflecting upon our service, advancing our service and renewing our
zeal for service unto the Lord.
(4) Eternal Blessings
(Rev 21:1-8): We are looking forward to a blessed joy, a blessed hope
and a blessed fellowship with our Lord in Heaven when our Lord Jesus
comes back again, where no tears, no sins, no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, nor pain shall be there.
***************
Desperate Prayer for Deliverance
(Message delivered by Bro Tim at the Sunday
Worship Service, 2 pm, June 11, 06)
Text:
Ps 142
Introduction
David poured out his soul through this Psalm when he and his men were
hiding in the cave from king Saul.
David’s trouble began when king Saul was enraged by the song “… Saul
hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands …” (1 Sam 18:7, 8).
Saul felt threatened.
Saul became David’s persecutor or in a simple term, a bully. We all
were victims of bullying in our lives. King Saul tried many times to
kill or get rid of David. Let us focus on some points in this Psalm:
1. What were David’s prayer
items or what is the content of his prayer?
2. What caused David to pray
like this?
3. Who did David call upon?
4. What were the results or
consequences of David’s call or prayer?
1. What were David’s prayer
items?
David was in danger
continually. The Bible tells us, “… but truly as the Lord liveth, and as
thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death” (1 Sam 20:3).
David was pouring out his
complaint or anxiety to the LORD. David did not do any evil against Saul
and yet he faced the injustice. David was pouring out his troubles to
the LORD. David asked the Lord to attend to his cry, to deliver him
from his persecutors, and to bring his soul out of prison.
2. What caused David to
pray like this? When should David pray like this?
(Psalm 142)
David’s spirit was overwhelmed
(v3).
David’s persecutors set a trap for him (v3).
No one acknowledged David (v4).
No one cared for David’s soul (v4).
Refuge failed David (v4).
David was brought low (v6).
3. Who did David call upon?
David called upon the LORD.
Who is the Lord?
“For I know that the Lord is
great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he in heaven, and in earth …” (Ps 135:5, 6).
The Lord knew David’s path (Ps
142:3).
The Lord was David’s refuge (v
5).
The Lord was David’s portion
(v 5).
The Lord was David’s deliverer
from the persecutors (v 6).
4. What were the results or
consequences of David’s prayer?
The Lord attended to David’s call.
In fact, the LORD delivered
David from king Saul many times. We can read 1 Sam 24 and 1 Sam 26 to
know God’s goodness and deliverance unto David.
Moreover, David was looking to
the coming of Christ with much praise in his heart. “Bring my soul out
of prison, that I may praise thy name …” (v 7). It is in heaven that
David will be surrounded by the righteous. The Lord has truly dealt
bountifully with David.
Only the Lord can deliver our
souls out of prison of sin. Our souls are enslaved to sin. It is more
important that our souls are delivered from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ
died for our sins and the sins of the world. He is able to save us from
our sins (Matt 1:21). We praise the Lord for this marvellous
deliverance. Let us trust in the Lord and fear Him, not men. The Bible
warns us to “… fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell” (Matt 10:28).
Application
If you and I are God’s
children, we are followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we should not
be surprised to be
in the minority; the majority are unbelievers.
We should be prepared to be
hated and persecuted by the world.
In all situations, we may call
upon the Lord who loves us and
attends to our prayer.
We can find peace and comfort
from the Lord and His Word. He is able to make all things work together
for good to His dear children (Rom 8:28-39).
My dear friend, if you are
not a child of God nor a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you
can call upon the Lord to bring your soul out of prison of sins today.
Only the Lord Jesus Christ can save your soul from the bondage of sin.
Turn to Him. Confess that you are a rebel against the Lord. Trust and
obey Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and King of your life. Then
you can pour out your soul to the Lord when you face troubles,
difficulties, trials and even persecutions in your life. How blessed you
are to have the Lord with you, take care of you and see you through.
Praise the Lord. Amen!
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