Grace and the Risk in Obedience (Luke 1:26-38)
By Not Known “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (1:38). What a remarkable statement! Is Mary aware that her statement entails risk? Does she know that her statement made in obedience to God exposes her to the risk of being regarded as a betrayer by…
Hope & Expectation
By Not Known There was a report recently of a passenger’s angst when his budget flight was delayed for almost 24 hours. The airline compensated with a voucher that according to that stranded passenger, “couldn’t even be enough for a bowl of noodles”. His expectation of being compensated adequately was severely dampened. How do we manage our expectation?…
The Blessedness of Being in Christ
By Not Known How shall it be that despite the innumerous sins that we have committed in thoughts, words, and actions in all areas of our lives, Scripture says to us: “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:11). How does this act of believing in Christ remove our shame? This act of believing is to be understood primarily in relational terms. It…
Famine of the Word
By Not Known As we end our sermon series on the book of Amos, there is a sobering warning in 8:11-12, “The days are coming, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Men will stagger … searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find…
We Give Thanks To God
By Not Known “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” James 1:2-3 Recently, the Sunshine Fellowship had a Thanksgiving fellowship. The testimonies of God’s goodness which came from our senior members speak so much of God’s faithfulness – He is…
The Blessedness of Contentment
By Not Known One of the cardinal sins of man is his lust for more. Despite living in a palace with beautiful gardens, King Ahab of Israel was unhappy as long as he could not have Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21). Likewise, Prophet Nathan exposed David’s sin by telling him the story of how a man with many sheep took away the only sheep of a poor man. Hearing the story, David…
Living Sacrifice
By Not Known In the Old Testament, the word sacrifice contains numerous implications. Sacrifice is a word used to describe the Israelites’ worship practice (Gen 8:20, 22:2). Sacrifice represents the offering (of bulls, sheep or birds) that the worshipper must bring when they come to God (Lev 1:2). Sacrifice symbolises the transference of one’s guilt. “When the…
Remembering the Reformers
By Not Known This year marks the 500th year anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, where on 31 Oct 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. That sparked a movement that has continued throughout the centuries, and today, our church is a recipient of what the Reformers stood for and sacrificed their lives for. As much as there…
The Living Hope
By Not Known “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” 1 Peter 1:3 In our Mission Emphasis Month, we emphasise on the reaching out to the lost through evangelism and mission. The Apostle Peter reminds us in the Scripture that we…
Reading the Book of Acts
By Not Known How should we approach the Book of Acts? Even as we consider God’s promises and commands to us in this Book, note that it is the second volume of Luke’s work, addressed to Theophilus, after the Gospel of Luke. Various titles have been suggested for it: “The Acts of the Apostles”, “The Acts of Peter and Paul”, “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”, or more…