THANK YOU

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ..
I would like to take this opportunity to express heartfelt thanks and gratitude on behalf of my family for your kind concern during my hospitalization.
It is said that you will know your true friends in your hour of need, and I count it my rich blessing to have your encouragement and prayers during my moment of infirmity.
I thank the Lord for seeing my family and I through this week and though the sequence of events that happened, I believe that it has worked together for good in the end.
-
Bretheren..
There is always a silver lining in every cloud and I have learned to take this time to rest and reflect. Sometimes life gets so hectic and out of control that *God forbid* a spanner is thrown into the works just to halt everything for a moment. It's as though God is saying ''have a break, have a Kit Kat''.
He does have a sense of humour, after all.
-
On a more serious note, the near-fatality of this incident has hit home a very important truth. Life is fragile. We are like the morning mist. Our lifespan is but a breath compared to the eternity of God's timing. All the more we should make our lives count by living for our Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him wholeheartedly.
But be encouraged that He has us in the palm of His hand and nothing will befall us except with His permission and His grace is sufficient to see all of us through.
-
Brothers & sisters in the Lord.
I also take this opportunity to encourage you to stay faithful in running the race together. The leaders, the congregation, the shepherd, the sheep, the young and the young at heart. None should be left out or left behind as we take a page from Paul:

''Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth untothose things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus''Phil 3 : 13-14

A fellow servant,
SK Sim

THANK YOU

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ..
I would like to take this opportunity to express heartfelt thanks and gratitude on behalf of my family for your kind concern during my hospitalization.
It is said that you will know your true friends in your hour of need, and I count it my rich blessing to have your encouragement and prayers during my moment of infirmity.
I thank the Lord for seeing my family and I through this week and though the sequence of events that happened, I believe that it has worked together for good in the end.
-
Bretheren..
There is always a silver lining in every cloud and I have learned to take this time to rest and reflect. Sometimes life gets so hectic and out of control that *God forbid* a spanner is thrown into the works just to halt everything for a moment. It's as though God is saying ''have a break, have a Kit Kat''.
He does have a sense of humour, after all.
-
On a more serious note, the near-fatality of this incident has hit home a very important truth. Life is fragile. We are like the morning mist. Our lifespan is but a breath compared to the eternity of God's timing. All the more we should make our lives count by living for our Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him wholeheartedly.
But be encouraged that He has us in the palm of His hand and nothing will befall us except with His permission and His grace is sufficient to see all of us through.
-
Brothers & sisters in the Lord.
I also take this opportunity to encourage you to stay faithful in running the race together. The leaders, the congregation, the shepherd, the sheep, the young and the young at heart. None should be left out or left behind as we take a page from Paul:

''Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth untothose things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus''
Phil 3 : 13-14

A fellow servant,
SK Sim

THANK YOU

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ..
I would like to take this opportunity to express heartfelt thanks and gratitude on behalf of my family for your kind concern during my hospitalization.
It is said that you will know your true friends in your hour of need, and I count it my rich blessing to have your encouragement and prayers during my moment of infirmity.
I thank the Lord for seeing my family and I through this week and though the sequence of events that happened, I believe that it has worked together for good in the end.
-
Bretheren..
There is always a silver lining in every cloud and I have learned to take this time to rest and reflect. Sometimes life gets so hectic and out of control that *God forbid* a spanner is thrown into the works just to halt everything for a moment. It's as though God is saying ''have a break, have a Kit Kat''.
He does have a sense of humour, after all.
-
On a more serious note, the near-fatality of this incident has hit home a very important truth. Life is fragile. We are like the morning mist. Our lifespan is but a breath compared to the eternity of God's timing. All the more we should make our lives count by living for our Lord Jesus Christ and serving Him wholeheartedly.
But be encouraged that He has us in the palm of His hand and nothing will befall us except with His permission and His grace is sufficient to see all of us through.
-
Brothers & sisters in the Lord.
I also take this opportunity to encourage you to stay faithful in running the race together. The leaders, the congregation, the shepherd, the sheep, the young and the young at heart. None should be left out or left behind as we take a page from Paul:

''Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth untothose things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus''Phil 3 : 13-14

A fellow servant,
SK Sim

14 SEPTEMBER 2008

Siow KW
Peter Long
Phoebe Sim, Peggy Tan, Shankar R.
-
Lydia Sim
Jonathan Long
-
Anna Sim
Nicholas Teh
-
Richard, Meng Fhui
Tommy Quek, Hiew FF

Vital Intercession

"... praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit ..." - Ephesian 6:18

As we continue on in our intercession for others, we may find that our obedience to God in interceding is going to cost those for whom we intercede more than we ever thought. The danger in this is that we begin to interceded in sympathy with those whom God was gradually lifting up to totally different level in direct answer to our prayers. Whenever we step back from our close identification with God's interest and concern for others and step onto having emotional sympathy with them, the vital connection with God is gone. We have then put our sympathy and concern for them in way, and this is a deliberate rebuke to God.

It is impossible for us to have living and vital intercession unless we are perfectly and completely sure of God. And the greatest destroyer of that confident relationship to God, so necessary for intercession, is our own personal sympathy and preconceived bias. Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will. It is sympathy with ourselves or with others that makes us say, "I will not allow that thing to happen." And instantly we are out of that vital connection with God.

Vital intercession leaves you with neither the time nor the inclination to pray for your own "sad and pitiful self." You do not have to struggle to keep thoughts of yourself out, because they are not even there to be kept out of your thinking. You are completely in other lives. God gives us discernment in the lives of others to call us to intercession for them, never so that we may find fault with fault them.

- Oswald Chamber, from "My Utmost For His Highest"

Let each of you out only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others. - Philippians 2:4

HIS WING SHELTERS YOU

by Max Lucado

“He will shield you with his wings. He will shelter you with his feathers.”
(Psalm 91:4)

My college friends and I barely escaped a West Texas storm before it pummeled the park where we were spending a Saturday afternoon. As we were leaving, my buddy brought the car to a sudden stop and gestured to a tender sight on the ground. A mother bird sat exposed to the rain, her wing extended over her baby who had fallen out of the nest. The fierce storm prohibited her from returning to the tree, so she covered her child until the wind passed.

From how many winds is God protecting you? His wing, at this moment, shields you. A slanderous critic heading toward your desk is interrupted by a phone call. A burglar en route to your house has a flat tire. A drunk driver runs out of gas before your car passes his. God, your guardian, protects you from

“every trap” (Ps. 91:3);
“the fatal plague” (Ps. 91:3);
“the plague that stalks in darkness” (Ps. 91:6);
“the terrors of the night…the dangers of the day” (Ps. 91:5).
One translation boldly promises: “Nothing bad will happen to you” (Ps. 91:10 NCV).

“Then why does it?” someone erupts. “Explain my job transfer. Or the bum who called himself my dad. Or the death of our child.” If God is our guardian, why do bad things happen to us?

Have they? Have bad things really happened to you? You and God may have different definitions for the word bad.

God views your life the way you view a movie after you’ve read the book. When something bad happens, you feel the air sucked out of the theater. Everyone else gasps at the crisis on the screen. Not you. Why? You’ve read the book. You know how the good guy gets out of the tight spot. God views your life with the same confidence. He’s not only read your story…he wrote it. His perspective is different, and his purpose is clear.

God uses struggles to toughen our spiritual skin.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2–4)

Trust him. “But when I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Ps. 56:3). Join with Isaiah, who resolved, “I will trust in him and not be afraid” (Isa. 12:2).

God is directing your steps and delighting in every detail of your life (Ps. 37:23–24). In fact, that’s his car pulling over to the side of the road. That’s God opening the door. And that’s you climbing into the passenger seat.

There now, don’t you feel safer knowing he is in control?

From
Come Thirsty
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004) Max Lucado

7 SEPTEMBER 2008

Caleb R.
Kai Yew
Siew Pin, Gigi Lim, Lydia Sim
-
Jun Fhui
Meng Fhui
-
Terry Choong
Anna Sim
-
Moses Tan, Tian Sia
Tom Cheryan, Manjit Singh

The 23rd Channel

Dedicated to all Television Fanatics

The television is my shepherd, my spiritual life does want.
It makes me to sit down and do nothing.
It leads me beside people of no faith.
It restores my desire for worldly pleasures.

It requires all my spare time and keeps me from doing the will of God because it presents so much foolishness which I must see.
It increases my knowledge of nonsense and keeps me from the study of the Word of God.

Even though I live to be a hundred, yet the viewing of my television shall have first place in my life as long as it does operate, for it is my closest companion.

It's sound and its picture comfort me.
It presents foolishness and folly before me continually and keeps me from surrendering my whole life to God.
It anoints my mind with seeds of corruption and fills my head with vanity, which profits me nothing, my cup remains empty.

Surely no good thing will come to my life because I am devoted to my television, which leaves me no spare time to serve God.
Therefore I will dwell in the House of Confusion forever

Adapted originally by Joseph Bakke - a great man of faith in God

Psalm 101:3 - I will set no wicked things before my eyes.

HARD HEARTED

by Max Lucado

Hardhearted people are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. (Eph. 4:17-19)

A hard heart ruins, no only your life, but the lives of your family members. As an example, Jesus identified the hard heart as the wrecking ball of a marriage. When asked about divorce, Jesus said, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because our hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.” (Matt. 19:8) When one or both people in a marriage stop trusting God to save it, they sign its death certificate. They reject the very one who can help them.

My executive assistant, Karen Hill, saw the result of such stubbornness in a pasture. A cow stuck her nose into a paint can and couldn’t shake it off. Can-nosed cows can’t breathe very well, and they can’t drink or eat at all. Both the cow and her calf were in danger. A serious bovine bind.

Karen’s family set out to help. But when the cow saw the rescuers coming, she set out for pasture. They pursued, but the cow escaped. They chased that cow for three days! Each time the posse drew near, the cow ran. Finally, using pickup trucks and ropes, they cornered and de-canned the cow.

Seen any can-nosed people lately? Malnourished souls? Dehydrated hearts? People who can’t take a deep breath? All because they stuck their noses where they shouldn’t, and when God came to help, they ran away.

When billions of us imitate the cow, chaos erupts. Nations of bull-headed people ducking God and bumping into each other. We scamper, starve, and struggle.

Can-nosed craziness. Isn’t this the world we see? This is the world God sees.

Yet, this is the world God loves. “For God so loved the world…” This hard-hearted, stiff-necked world. We stick our noses where we shouldn’t; still, he pursues us. We run from the very one who can help, but he doesn’t give up. He loves. He pursues. He persists. And, every so often, a heart starts to soften.

Let yours be one of them.

When my daughters were small, they liked to play with Play-Doh. They formed figures out of the soft clay. If they forgot to place the lid on the can, the substance hardened. When it did, they brought it to me. My hand were bigger. My fingers stronger. I could mold the stony stuff into putty.

Is your heart hard? Take it to your Father. You’re only a prayer away from tenderness. You live in a hard world, but you don’t have to live with a hard heart.

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

Standing In The Gap

Is this not the fast that I have chosen to loose the bonds of the wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? - Isaiah 58:6

The Lord is looking for you to stand in the gap to intercede fro the man of God and woman of God. The Lord is looking for you to stand in the gap and bring before Him the ministry of God with burdened heart to keep it from failing. Will you be willing to be the one? Will you pray that the man or woman of God will not be deceived, will not fall into temptations and viles of the wicked one but will be sensitive to the voice of God to hear rightly from Him for His people and lead them?

Choose a man of God and unceasingly stand in the gap for him that he may be bold and strong for the Lord. Choose a woman of God and fall on your knees battling against the works of the enemy for her. Choose a ministry of God and bring it continually before the presence of God.

1 Peter 3:12 says, "For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer." Your prayer is heard in heaven. Do not while away precious hours and minutes in vain and unfruitful thoughts but spend those times to bring the people of God before His throne. Beloved. Ephesian 6:18 commands us, "Pray at all times in Spirit, with all prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints."

What is the result of such prayer? James 5:16 tell us, "The earnest prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available," Your prayer is very effective and strong. It works. It brings result in the life of the man or woman of God and the ministry. It also revives you and fills you with the power of God. So will you start to seriously uphold a man or woman or ministry of God in unceasing power? Will you be alert to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in special moments of need to stand in the gap for this person or ministry?

Belove, make a serious commitment and start today. Apply the scripture and pray for the man or woman of God. For a start if you do not know how, apply Colossians 1:9-11. Pray that " may be filled with the full, deep and clear knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things, that may walk worthy in a manner worthy of the Lord fully pleasing to Him and growing increasing in and by the knowledge of God. That may be invigorated and strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory ..." Pray that they may have a bold utterance to preach the word of God in truth (Ephesians 6:19-20), holiness in their lives and word. Take other bible passages and pray like Ephesians 6:10-18, Philippians 1:9-11, etc. Pray in tongues. Pray in the spirit and be sensitive to special needs as God burdens you.

Beloved will you stand in the gap for the people of God? God bless you as you do!

- Daniel O.C

WHAT MAKES HEAVEN HEAVENLY?

by Max Lucado

You will be you at your best forever. Even now you have your good moments. Occasional glimpses of your heavenly self. When you change your baby’s diaper, forgive your boss’s temper, tolerate your spouse’s moodiness, you display traces of saintliness. It’s the other moments that sour life. Tongue, sharp as a razor. Moods as unpredictable as Mount Saint Helens. This part wearies you.

Just think what Satan has taken from you, even in the last few hours. You worried about a decision and envied someone’s success, dreaded a conversation and resented an interruption. He’s been prowling your environs all day, pickpocketing peace, joy, belly laughs, and honest love. Rotten freebooter.

But his days are numbered. Unlike he did in the Garden of Eden, Satan will not lurk in heaven’s gardens. “There shall be no more curse” (22:3 NKJV). He will not tempt; hence, you will not stumble. You will be you at your best forever!

Christ will have completed his redemptive work. All gossip excised and jealousy extracted. He will suction the last drop of orneriness from the most remote corners of our souls. You’ll love the result. No one will doubt your word, question your motives, or speak evil behind your back. God’s sin purging discontinues all strife.

No sin means no thieves, divorce, heartbreak, and no boredom. You won’t be bored in heaven, because you won’t be the same you in heaven. Boredom emerges from soils that heaven disallows. The soil of weariness: our eyes tire. Mental limitations: information overload dulls us. Self-centeredness: we grow disinterested when the spotlight shifts to others. Tedium: meaningless activity siphons vigor.

But Satan will take these weedy soils to hell with him, leaving you with a keen mind, endless focus, and God-honoring assignments.

We might serve in the capacity we serve now. Couldn’t earthly assignments hint at heavenly ones? Architects of Moscow might draw blueprints in the new Liverpool. We will feast in heaven; you may be a cook on Saturn. God filled his first garden with plants and animals. He’ll surely do the same in heaven. If so, he may entrust you with the care and feeding of an Africa or two.

One thing is for sure: you’ll love it. Never weary, selfish, or defeated. Clear mind, tireless muscles, unhindered joy. Heaven is a perfect place of perfected people with our perfect Lord.

From 3:16, The Numbers of Hope
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

31 AUGUST 2008

Siow KW
Shankar R.
Hong Lu, Foong Yee, Siew Pin
-
Jessica Lee
Jun Fhui
-
Anna Sim
Kai Yew
-
Richard, Meng Fhui
Hiew FF, Tommy Quek

Pray Regularly

As for me, I will call upon God; And the LORD shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I will pray, and cry aloud. And He shall hear my voice. - Psalm 55:16-17.

Are you waiting for something awful and terrible to happen before you seriously get down to pray? That's what happens in the lives of most people. Spiritual awakening and the reality of prayer strikes in the hearts of some people only when there is a shaking in the concerns of those near and dear or themselves or something precious and important.

My dearly beloved, do not wait for such moments for you never know what the next moment brings - life or death, loss or gain. Pray now. Start praying for others, praying for the church, praying for yourself. Know that prayer works in your midst where nothing else is of avail.

Jesus Himself knew the importance of prayer. That is why in the Garden of Gethsemane he told Peter, James and John, "All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and actinve) and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41)

Satan taps on the weakness of flesh and its confidence in itself. When everything goes well and there is no trouble, you begin to rest confidently on the peace of that situation. You will begin to get a little lax in prayer. Soon you will find that you can easily pass off some days without praying and still be 'protected'. Arise, beloved give yourself no room for such negligence of prayer. This false security soon pass when tragedy occurs and then you will begin to realize that there is meaning and power in prayer. Pray! Pray now! Begin to pray like you have never done before. Though you do not see what is happening with your physical eyes, there is much happening in the spirit when you pray constantly, unceasingly and for one another.

The New Testament church saw miracles happening, the Word growing mightily and the church increasing because they were willing to give themselves steadfast to prayer. "But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer .. " (Acts 6:4). The Apostles separated themselves to prayer and the Word while others took care of the daily administration.

How much of yourself have you given to prayer? How serious is praying in your heart that you would spare yourself to stand in the gap for concerns of others? The Word of God wars us, "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers" ( 1 Peter 4:7 )

There are many people whose faith fails them because they are looking only at what they can see and touch.

- Daniel O.C

HEAVEN'S "WHOEVER" POLICY

by Max Lucado

“. . . whoever believes in him shall not perish . . .”

Some years ago I took a copy of God’s “whoever” policy to California. I wanted to show it to my Uncle Billy. He’d been scheduled to visit my home, but bone cancer had thwarted his plans.

My uncle reminded me much of my father: squared like a blast furnace, ruddy as a leather basketball. They shared the same West Texas roots, penchant for cigars, and blue-collar work ethic. But I wasn’t sure if they shared the same faith. So after several planes, two shuttles, and a rental-car road trip, I reached Uncle Billy’s house only to learn he was back in the hospital. No visitors. Maybe tomorrow.

He felt better the next day. Good enough to come home. I went to see him. Cancer had taken its toll and his strength. The recliner entombed his body. He recognized me yet dozed as I chatted with his wife and friends. He scarcely opened his eyes. People came and went, and I began to wonder if I would have the chance to ask the question.

Finally the guests stepped out onto the lawn and left me alone with my uncle. I slid my chair next to his, took his skin-taut hand, and wasted no words. “Bill, are you ready to go to heaven?”

His eyes, for the first time, popped open. Saucer wide. His head lifted. Doubt laced his response: “I think I am.”

“Do you want to be sure?”

“Oh yes.”

Our brief talk ended with a prayer for grace. We both said “amen,” and I soon left. Uncle Billy died within days. Did he wake up in heaven? According to the parable of the eleventh hour workers, he did.

Some struggle with such a thought. A last-minute confessor receives the same grace as a lifetime servant? Doesn’t seem fair. The workers in the parable complained too. So the landowner, and God, explained the prerogative of ownership: “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” (v. Matt. 20:15 RSV).

Request grace with your dying breath, and God hears your prayer. Whoever means “whenever.”
And one more: whoever means “wherever.” Wherever you are, you’re not too far to come home.

bookFrom 3:16, The Numbers of Hope
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2007) Max Lucado

From RBC Ministries' Discover The Word Series:

Improving Our Work Ethics
Download the MP3
What Motives You ?
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Working In A Way That's Commendable
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PURPOSE: To help Christian workers understand that there is significance in their labor.

Do you enjoy your work?

We sometimes think that other people have dream jobs and that work for them is a constant delight, but that is seldom the case.

Paderewski was one of the most diligent concert pianists about practicing. He once played before Queen Victoria. She said, "Mr. Paderewski, you are a genius." He replied, "That may well be, but before I was a genius, I was a drudge."
It’s not what we do, but the attitude with which we do it that can make a difference in our jobs.
In Ephesians 6:5-8, Paul gives Christians a new way to look at their jobs.

I. Your job is a calling.
Studs Terkel, in his book Working, reminds folks that most people find their jobs confining and stifling. He illustrates that with Nora Watson, an editor, who put her concern this way: "I think most of us are looking for a calling, not a job. Most of us, like the assembly line worker, have jobs that are too small for our spirit, jobs that are not big enough for people."
What is a calling?
A calling is a place in which we sense we are doing the will of God.
In the film Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell remarks, "When I run, I feel His pleasure."

II. Think of your job as service rendered to Jesus Christ.
Look again at Ephesians 6:5-8 and look at the attitude that comes when you are serving Jesus Christ on the job.
We do our work as sacred service with fear and trembling (with reverence and awe, with respect and trembling) (v.5). We fear and tremble before whom?
We do our work in sincerity of heart (v.5).
We do our work with integrity, not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ (v.6).
What picture comes to mind when you think of "eye-service"? Paul coins this word.
We do it with goodwill, a good spirit (v.7).
We do it with goodness (v.8).
You do good for your employer, you do good for those who get your product, you do good for those around you by the way you work.

Working For A Boss Who's Always Around

From RBC Ministries' Discover The Word Series:

Working For A Boss Who's Always Around
Download the MP3

PURPOSE: To help listeners see the dignity in their work.

There was a factory in England where the workers pushed their wheelbarrows, except for one slow worker: he pulled his wheelbarrow. A visitor asked the foreman why this man was so different from the others. "Oh, him!? He hates the sight of the bloomin' thing!"

Do you think many people feel what that worker felt about his job?
What are the consequences of being in a job you hate?
It’s a tragedy when you spend the greater part of your life doing something you despise.
It affects your family, your attitude toward recreation, free time, etc.
What are some of the changes Christians can make as they look at their job?

I. If you can’t change your job, you can change your attitude.
Paul demonstrates this in Ephesians 6:5-8.
You can understand that your job is the will of God for you: ". . . doing the will of God from the heart."
What difference does that make?

II. Realize that on the job you serve Jesus Christ.
Look at what Paul writes to Christian slaves and masters.
Look at the way the workers and the owners are to think about what they do.
Whom are they serving?
What is the vision of God in this passage? Jesus Christ is your employer.
In the passage, what difference should it make if you know that when you’re doing your work, you’re really doing it for your Lord or Master, Jesus Christ?

III. Do you think the church has really underlined this truth for workers?
For example, if you think of a carpenter or plumber or housewife going to church, what do they hear about their Christian duty?
What should we have told these people?
If in the work we do, we fail to do it up to its own standard, the work becomes a living lie.

Your Attitude and Your Job

From RBC Ministries' Discover The Word Series:

Your Attitude and Your Job
Download the MP3

Investing Your Life
Download the MP3

Looking at Your Job From God's Perspective
Download the MP3

Viewing Your Job As A Service To God
Download the MP3

PURPOSE: To help people evaluate the kind of work they do.

Did you ever have a call to ministry?
Do you believe that what you’re doing today is really doing God’s will? Why?
What do you mean by saying "a call"?

I. Every Christian needs to consider God’s call in their lives.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to consider becoming a pastor or a missionary. It does mean that you need to think seriously about how you invest your life.
Paul wrote to slaves in the Roman Empire and said, "Your job is the will of God for you." It’s always important to ask two things about a biblical passage:
In what ways are we like the people Paul is addressing?
In what ways do we differ from the people Paul is addressing?
How does a worker today differ from a slave in the first century?

II. The choices of a slave were limited. Ours may be much more varied.
We have a responsibility to think about the work we do. Where we have a choice, we have a responsibility.
What is the responsibility we have?
How do you go about making the choice for a career or for new employment opportunities?
Is the amount of money you make a legitimate criterion?
Is it the only one?
What makes your job the will of God for you?

Your Work Is A Sacred Service To God

From RBC Ministries' Discover The Word
You Work Is A Sacred Service To God
Download the MP3
'Sacred Work' and 'Secular Work'
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PURPOSE: To help people realize that secular work is as significant to God as religious work.

Have you ever heard of the "bull’s-eye" theory of the will of God? Who would most religious people put in the center?
Basic to that whole concept is that we think of some occupations as being more central to God’s purposes than others.

I. People who have a bull’s-eye theory of the will of God might be upset by what Paul writes to slaves who lived in Ephesus (Ephesians 6:5-9).
Paul tells slaves that they are to do the will of God from the heart. When he talks about doing the will of God from the heart, what is it that he is referring to? Is it their work at the church?
He’s referring to their daily work. Does he imply that they were several points off-center?

II. The idea that only religious workers are in the center of God’s will was a heresy in the early church. It was called Docetism.
The heresy maintained that there was a distinct difference between the body and the spirit. They maintained that Christ was not a real human being who actually suffered and died on a cross, but who only seemed to do so. They could not believe that God would have anything to do with what is human. They denied the incarnation.
In wider terms, that led people to believe that God was concerned about the sacred, but not at all concerned about the secular. It was part of a Gnostic heresy.

III. The Church condemned the heresy.
The early church affirmed the incarnation of Jesus, that He really became a human being.
When you say that Jesus is human, what do you actually mean by that?
In affirming the incarnation of Jesus, they were saying that He is both human and divine.
In the wider realm, they were saying that there is not a difference between the sacred and the secular. There is not one realm in which we are more pleasing to God than in another realm. That is why Paul could say to slaves, "your job is the will of God for you."

What The Bible Has To Say About Work

From RBC Ministries's Discover The Word:
What The Bible Has To Say About Work
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IDEA: We can find significance in work if we realize that our jobs are the will of God for us.

TEXT: "Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him" (Ephesians 6:5-9).

PURPOSE: To help listeners feel the significance of their daily work.

We sometimes talk about "making a living." What is implied in that?
Is it possible to be glad you have a job but not see much significance in the job you have? For example, in a recession, people who get laid off are usually glad for any work they can get.

I. It is sometimes helpful to start with hard cases to establish principles.
Do you think it would be difficult to convince a physician or a nurse that their jobs are significant?
Do you think it would be more difficult to convince people flipping burgers in a fast food restaurant that their work is significant? Why?

II. When Paul talked about the significance of work for Christians, he made his strongest case when he wrote to slaves.
What do you know about slaves in the first century?
There were abut 60 million of them in the Roman Empire.
Roman citizens felt that work was beneath their dignity, so they turned most work over to slaves.
Slaves did all kinds of work: they served as teachers, scribes, physicians, manual laborers, farmers; they were also the garbage disposal system.
Slaves had no rights before the law. Aristotle referred to them as "living tools." He argued that a free man would not have a slave as a friend any more than he would make a friend out of a hammer or a saw.
The lot of the slave was not an easy one in the Roman society. Even though they did important work, they were still slaves.

III. Several times in the New Testament, Paul writes directly to slaves and gives them significance in their daily work.
Paul writes that "your job is the will of God for you."
When you think of the will of God, what does that mean?
If God had a missionary map in heaven, where do you think He would put the pins or markers? Why?
How does thinking about your job as "the will of God" give it significance?

24 AUGUST 2008

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Meng Fhui
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Terry Choong
Jaemy Choong
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Tian Sia, Moses Tan
Tom Cheryan, Manjit Singh