Sunday, December 7, 2008
Hey guys!
Here's yesterday's sermon that I have shared yesterday during cell. Do copy them in ur notebooks if you have missed out any of the points. =)
We are created for God as well as for one another. No man is an island, we all need one another. Friendships are created and developed bcos we have been there for one another at certain points of our lives. of being there for one another. We have to make time to meet one another and talk so that true friendships can be cultivated. Im sure that all of us dont want friendship to just remain hi-and-bye relationships. But we want meaningful friendships where we know each other well enough to just be yourself, without any pretense.
Just as how Jesus is a Friend to us and has picked us up from the miry clay, we should be like the 'jesus' to them as well. Loving them just as how Jesus has loved us. =)
Being There Requires...
1) Our Attention
Our heart should be fixed on what we can do for others instead of what they can do for us.
President John F. Kennedy once said, "Ask not what America can do for you but ask what you can do for America. Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
Likewise, we need to always ask ourselves, "how can we help others instead of how we can benefit from relationships and from whatever that we do."
If Christians are not so self-centred, the world will be a much better place, lives will be changed, impacted and changed. If your eyes are just fixed on yourself, then how can you look up/ out?
Most of them come from messed-up lives, broken families, broken relationships.
The question is: Are we willing to get involved in their lives? Or do we just ignore them and do our own things, just hoping that they wont try to take advantage of you or interrupt your life? Are you willing to get your hands and feet into the plough and help them out?
But, many a time, our eyes are so fixed on ourselves and are so ignorant of the needs of the people around us. We ask, “What can we get out of the friendship/relationship? Will they thank us for what we have done for them?” But let me tell you, “ they may even forget your kindness or even backstab you after that.” The question is: whether you will still be there for them? Jesus has always been there, being faithful even when we are faithless.
If you are willing to reach out to others, then you would do something about it. E.g. get to know them, hang around with them, etc.
2) Our Action
Being there requires us to do something about. if we don’t, it will just be empty dreaming.
Matthew 9:37-38
37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Labourers are people who labour. People who don’t labour/work = slackers, zhuo bo.It requires us to come out of our comfort zone and go the extra mile. E.g. hanging out with people whom you don’t really like requires your time and effort in getting to know them better instead of just knowing their facade.
Genesis 40 – Joseph and the butler and baker. Joseph told them the interpretations of their dreams. But when butler was released from jail, he didn’t even remember Joseph! Imagine how Joseph felt.
Sometimes, we don’t get anything in return for something done for them. But will you still love them?
A friend is someone who comes in when the world has gone out, someone who accepts the way you are.
A simple act of kindness, like carrying books for a friend/ buying a bottle of drink or meal/ encouraging him or her can go the extra mile and break the ice that is between the both of you.
Proverbs 18:24 – A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
3) Our LOVE
When we know God’s love, we would definitely reach out to the people around us. That’s because His eyes are always fixed on the dying world. Whenever Jesus saw the multitudes, He was always moved with compassion.
Do you stop loving him/her when they have done something that displease or harm you? Jesus never let you go, and still love the way we are when we were yet sinners. With the love that God has shown us, lets reach out with such love that goes beyond all limits!
Most of us know 1 Cor 13, but do we live it out? Whenever, our fellow brothers do something that is not nice/pleasing, we’d quote it and try to convict him/her. Let me ask you, would Jesus do that? Does He do so for the sake of just making you remorseful? More than just remorseful, God wants to cultivate LOVE in you.
Dont criticise unless you have the compassion and love to see them changed.
According to 1 Cor 13:2, If we have no love, we are nothing.
Proverbs 17:17 – A friend loves at all times. – both good and bad times.
We win the world by loving people, when they are unlovable.
All the world needs is God's Love. God chooses us to shine and testify of His love for us to the people around us.
If we don't show His love, who will?
If we don't be His hands and feet, who will?
If we don't meet the needs of the dying, who will?
If we don't feel His heart bleeding for this world, who will?
Guys, lets all be there for one another, as well as your unsaved friends, both good and bad times. Lets work our guts our, pray our guts out, and LOVE our guts out.
Vivien
It's Time for Revolution!
