Hey guys, I know it's been 2 days, apologies for the long wait but I'm convinced you will be blessed by this word ! Here's part 2 of the message, it's basically of all Dr Bernard mentioned last week through the movie 'the Lion King'
Let's start off by looking at the life of Simba
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| You were born into the Kingdom of God, with a heavenly father always behind you |
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| Simba, the heir to the Kingdom |
Simba was born into a blessed life of a 'perfect ideal'. He was the son of King Mufasa! Similarly, when we gave our lives to Jesus, we gained the authority as children of God! We became birth into God's kingdom!
However, due to the stampede, Simba's father the King was killed by his uncle while trying to protect Simba.
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| Facing the stampede of life , clinging on to faith! |
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| Sometimes it seems that God is not around, and the enemy is overwhelming |
Similarly, even though we may be born again as a 'perfect new ideal', God puts us in the 'realities of time' where there are good and bad experiences. Sometimes trials hit us right in the face, and we begin to question where God is? We let the negativity get the better of us and we start wandering around in the wilderness , refusing to believe who we really are. Our faith of who we are in Christ begins to get stolen by the thieves. To continue the story....
Shattered by the lost, Simba ran away to an unknown land where he grew up with friends who taught him that life should be as it is and he should be happy! 'Hakkuna Matata'
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| Living as it as, Hakkuna Matata |
Pastor Kong once said that when the trial first started, He was deeply hit and considered dropping the DNA of the church in favor of preference rather than revelation. Thoughts crossed his mind like why don't we just tone down a bit and avoid controversy". Hakkuna Matata, just live as it is. Thank God that he didn't and miracles happened. The Church was called 'City Harvest Church' because we were meant to never stop reaching out in innovative ways for the harvest, so that the world can be blessed by the love of God! Because Pastor maintained his stance and vision, a miracle happened even amidst the crisis. In the week after the case broke out, there was an alter call at service and about 100 people gave their lives to Jesus!
Always know who you are , keep your identity and values. Understand that God doesn't want you to just live as it is. The trials are not there to convince you to tone down, they are there to SPUR you to BREAKTHROUGH IT and when you do, MIRACLES happen!
Later on in the story, we see that Simba's childhood friend Nala found him. Through her conversation with Simba, we learn that Nala was searching high and low for help to restore the kingdom to the glory that it once was.
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| Nala never gave up in seeing the kingdom restored back to its glory, her efforts were not wasted! |
Why was it that of the whole kingdom, only Nala made it out to look for help? The answer is simple. Like the Apostle Paul, this is the 'burden' that we feel when we are 'provoked'
Acts 17:16
'Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. '
Just like Paul, I believe Nala felt a strong sense of responsibility that she has to go out and find help. She could not just let things stay the way they were. I'm sure many of us may have felt that sense of 'burden' just like Paul. Many a times we feel it but we're not motivated enough to take action. A key to get back this motivation is to reflect on how much you believe in the power of the message you hold. How much do you believe that your faith as a key to unlock the doors of blessings! the doors of salvation. Can we be like Paul and start going to the people because he believed his purpose (just like ours) was to share his faith! - Adapted from Dr Bernard
I used to sing a song when I was a young Christian which has a line that says 'it only takes a spark to get a fire going' All it took was a spark from Nala to implant a thought in his heart. At first, Simba was not convinced but a spark was already in his heart. The emotions and curiosity soon burned into a fire when he met Rafiki, who brought him to an encounter with his father's spirit and this totally changed his mindset and spurred him to action! He's father's important words were 'Remember who you are...."
Indeed. Let's be guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth and the life! (John 14:6) In the midst of difficulties, let's remember who we are in Christ! Let's pray, pray and pray, seeking the Holy Spirit for His wisdom. Our authority was never gone, we had it all the time. All it takes is to believe! On the flip side, let's not belittle the little 'push' of encouragement we can give our friends, family and loved ones. Who knows, we may not see the fruits immediately but we can be assured that there will be a spark planted in them! A spark that can one day ignite the fire of the Holy Spirit! Because the spark in Simba turned into a fire, he was in turn able to convince his friends 'Timmon and Pumba' that life should be more than just living everyday! they were motivated to believe in his vision as well and to fight for him! This is how evangelism should be, when we are so passionate and motivated by our message of faith! This is how our Christian walk should be! We,shining as salt and light to spur others into action and when there is a powerful community of believers in the faith, heaven is open and the gates of hell shall not prevail !!!
Mark 5:36
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe."
Only believe, only believe!
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| Be guided by the Holy Spirit in the midst of finding who you are. He is always there for you |
Simba believed who he was when he was guided by his father's spirit. He encountered his father's spirit because he was encouraged by his friends and family. He rediscovered his authority, he rediscovered his core identity! In order for the kingdom to have continuity, you must regain and act on your identity! In order for the Church to have continuity, we must never forget who we are, our DNA, our mission and the pillars of faith that we believe in!Like what Pastor Aries said, the confirmation of our faith is when we still see the purposes of God still being fulfilled in our generation, in our Church, in our lives!
Luke 7:22
So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."
God didn't give a straight yes, He built up his assurance and faith by letting him know that his trials were in the will of God as because he sacrificed to 'prepare the way of the Lord' now you see people getting saved!
Indeed later on you see that because of this John was remembered by God as the greatest prophet! Back to the story!
Apart from regaining his believe in continuity and identity, Simba changed and renewed his thinking.
Romans 12:2
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Simba was not satisfied at accepting the facts but he wanted to innovate and make the change in himself in order to obtain the victory. This ultimately led to him winning back the kingdom and bringing back peace, stability and happiness for the animal kingdom.
Just like Simba, if we confess and speak BOLDLY like a lion's roar, salvation, blessings, dreams, visions and LIFE will come to pass!
In the same way, let's be guided by the Holy Spirit and by God's word to rediscover our core identity in who we are in Christ, and our DNA as a Church. Let's focus on the promises and be "innovative as a permanent revolution". Let's harness the creative power God has given us , act on the 'burden for salvation' and innovate in order to reach out to our friends, family, and the world for Christ! All this, so that lives can be built, joy can be shared and the love and peace of God can be bestowed upon the world!
If there are non-believers reading this post, I would just like to say that the reason why we are so passionate about evangelism is because we have experienced God's love. We have experienced how our lives have changed for the better, how we have obtained visions and dreams, and how we have found our purpose in this world! Think about it. There is a heavenly Father who cares and loves us so much that He's willing to give up his son to die on the cross for our sins. In exchange, we can have the assurance that God will always be there for us!
To me, that is an assuring fact and one that helps me live day by day, guided by the spirit through the ups and downs of life and still come out victorious! Further more, it gives me the assurance that all I do here on earth is worth it as it will go forth into eternity . Life and our faith is not temporal upon death, it continues into eternity in heaven!
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| The race of life goes all the way to eternity with Christ! Credit to http://creattica.com/ipad/race-to-eternity/41003 for the picture |
I would like to bring you all back to a promise from God that I'm sure will be a blessing to you!
Romans 8:38
"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love."
To end, I would like to encourage you guys through a song. A song to remind us that we exists in this world for a purpose. Don't just be living life as it is, hakkuna matata. Instead, look around you, there are many people in this world who are struggling with life. You may ask 'why doesn't God help them. To answer this question, why not ask yourself , 'have you done anything yourself?' God wants so much to help them, but he wants to do it THROUGH US. That's why He called us co-creators
Gen 1 :26-28
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
To rule/subdue doesn't just mean to take control. It means to care , to help, to reach out with God's love , to be a servant. To bring forth the glory of God just as it was intended! How to we do this? by using the 'blessings' of God and cultivating the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. By being fruitful and by keeping our faith, portraying aggressive faith, remembering our identity and purpose (taking action for our 'burden') and innovating to stay relevant, we can shine for Christ as influencial people who are 'salt of the earth' and light of the world'! (Matt 5:13-16)
This is I was here by Alison, Rinnata and Bel at CHC. Thank you for taking time to read all the way till this point! If you are blessed by this message, do email me your thoughts and comments @ danielfoo85@hotmail.com
Be blessed !
Daniel Foo
Great post. I wasn't there on tuesday so i didn't get to hear Dr Bernard share the word. Thank you for sharing this. Love it! :)
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