Saturday, February 14, 2009

Eternal Love

He doesn't bring me roses
but He is called the Rose of Sharon.
He doesn't send flowers to my office/school
but He grows beautiful flowers in my garden.

He doesn't kiss me
but I sense His kiss when I feel sunshine
or softly falling rain.

He doesn't give me sparkling diamonds to wear
but the stars He set in the sky shine
even more brilliantly.

He doesn't whisper in my ear
but His still small voice is ever with me.
He isn't a valentine who has pledged lifelonglove
but He is Eternal Love.

He demonstrated it
Not by gifts or well-intentioned promises
but by offering Himself as the
fulfillment of promise.

Not by standing with me at the wedding altar
but by placing Himself on the altar.
That I may know life
That I may know Him
and love Him forever.

(Taken from http://www.creativeyouthideas.com/)

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Condolences

Our deepest sympathies and condolences go out to Vanessa, Stephanie and their big sister Louana for the passing away of their dad this afternoon. We are sorry for your loss and we remember you in thoughts and prayers. May God give you all the strength and courage as you go through this difficult time.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Family

Nothing scares or bothers us most than when our loved ones are sick. Sure we're not married so we don't have to bother about kids, or wife/husband. But we have families, and we still worry about them. You know, it's a weird thing, family, can't live with them, can't live without them.

Family.. they sure know how to pull our strings, get on our nerves, pick on us, nag at us, lecture us, isn't it? But that same family takes care of us when we're sick, when we need a ride to school, or tuition, give us pocket money, buys stuff for us, stick up for us, see why I say it's weird? But family, God gave them to us for a reason. Sometimes we may think we landed in the wrong one, and our friends' families are much nicer.. and sometimes, just sometimes we wish we can trade our family for someone else's. But you know what? God doesn't make mistakes, so when he chose our families, there wasn't any mistake. That is comforting to know.

So, whenever anyone of our family is sick, we worry, it's natural. So what do we do when we worry? No, don't run around like a headless chicken, no, no, no, that would be an unpleasant sight. What we need to do is to run to Jesus! Pray for God's healing to be upon our loved ones, for grace and mercy. Pray. Some of our loved ones are sick right now, and we as the family of Christ must also pray for them. Pray.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Red Nite

Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone! It's still not too late to wish you all this, since we technically celebrate it for 15 days. Even as I write this, I can hear the drums going and the lions dancing in my neighbour's open house. And just last night during our youth meeting, we were all scrambling around the whole hall looking for angpows! Heard Adriel collected 3!

We labelled the nite 'Red Nite' (sometimes we are not very original, but it's cool) and everyone turned out in red.. or pink. Some clueless one came wearing white (she just came back from Lahad Datu ba, so can't blame her, I guess) and another guy came wearing blue (he changed to a superman shirt ~ behind a stack of chairs - I thought Superman changes in a telephone booth?) but it was all in good fun. And the topic for the night? "Superstitions during CNY". I think I was laughing too much but hopefully I'll remember most of the questions, correct me if I'm wrong k?

Ps Lydia was the speaker and she started the ball rolling with passing the angpow game. With the angpow came a question which you had to answer, failing which you would have to pass your angpow to the person with the correct answer. (in random order)

1. Why do you need to bath with pomelo leaves during CNY eve?
A. To 'buang sial' lo..

1a. Why, of all the fruit, do you use pomelo leaves? Why not banana leaves or something?
A. It's cos the pomelo is round enough to 'buang sial'... go figure..

2. Why do kids need to stay up during CNY eve? (aiya.. this one no one knows.. but a lot of shooting in the dark)
A. So that their parents will live long and healthy lives (something in the translation)

3. Why can't you sweep the floor during 1st day of CNY?
A. So you don't sweep away the luck. (so how come only the dust on the 1st day is lucky? The other 364 days' dust is well.... dust?)

4. Why do you let off firecrackers?
A. To scare away the beast called 'Nian', who's afraid of loud noises and I think the colour red. That's why it's called 'Guo Nian' (past the beast).

5. Why is it only married persons give angpow?
A. Ah.. this answer is KIV until AD JY finds out.. hahaha..

I can only think of these 5 questions offhand but I think it was a really interesting night and we learnt some new things!

p/s. It has been an interesting and enjoyable holiday for everyone, but tomorrow we go back to school, and work, sigh.. hope everyone had a good collection of angpows! Have a great week ahead guys!

Our Rector Writes - 18 Jan

Sorry it's taken a while to update this..

Last week I began recapping the Vision and Direction of Christ Church Likas. It is a dream we wish to see ourselves in the next 40 years! It is a strategy built on the principles of Acts 2:42-47.

The first is to build a strong foundation of Worship and Prayer. That is why in the past three years we put efforts in strengthening our Sunday services and Prayer Meetings. The aim is that what we do corporately will also influence the private worship and prayer life of each member of the Church.

With the Core in place, we shall now look at the second which is the backbone of the church.

BACKBONE: FELLOWSHIP, DISCIPLESHIP AND EVANGELISM
Acts 2:46 - Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

The strength of the church is usually measured by the life of discipleship of her member which is seen through the genuine love for each other in the Body of Christ. It is also seen through the obedience to God and His Word.

Thirdly, it is reflected in the life mission of the church member to fulfill the purposes of God, which is evangelism. To do so, we seek to establish a strong discipleship structure where every member is nurtured, equipped and trained to minister (serve) others. The discipleship structure is two-fold:-

 CELL GROUPS The nurturing and fellowship will be done through home cell groups. We encourage every member to belong to a cell group where pastoral care can be given and learning will take place. Authentic spiritual growth is always seen through genuine care, accountability and responsibility in the context of a community. The cell group is the starting point!

 EQUIPPING CLASSES We will also set up an equipping system of basic, intermediate and advance discipleship training for our members. Our aim is that every member is trained to “reproduce/ multiply” based on 2 Timothy 2:2. Every member is encouraged to take courses offered for their own personal growth. These courses will be taught by our pastors and invited speakers.

(To be continued, Fruits: Global Mission)