‘Sermon’

Speaker: Ps. Irwan Ngadisastra
Date: February 28 2010

Faith to Believe
Faith to Act

Definition:
NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrew 11:1

“Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible.”

“Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.”

Story about a young boy

John 6:1-13

1. Faith

• A Boy’s Lunch
  Consider this! A little boy with his lunch feeding 5000 men (uncounted women and children). How much do you think a boy’s lunch amount to? NOT MUCH
• Disciple’s Faith
  John 6:5-9
• Believing what is seen
  The Disciples themselves did not have the faith. They only believed what they saw – 200 denari – not much money
  5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – not enough food
  Remember, FAITH is believing what is NOT yet seen

2. Obedience

What Jesus was asking from the boy seems ridiculous. Asking from a little boy to give up all of his lunch (NOT SHARE), but to give it all.

Many times, God wants us to give all that we have for Him to use for His glory and to let Him to use for doing miracles, but because of our disobedience, we missed the opportunities to receive the miracles ourselves.

What if the boy decided to be disobedient when Jesus asked for his lunch?

Do you think that the 5000 men can be blessed and thus give God the glory?

14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” - John 6:14

Because of our obedience, God can be glorified and acknowledged

3. Surrender

The boy not only he is obedient, but he surrendered to the Will of God. To him, it may not make sense, but he knows that when he surrendered all, something good will come out of it.

When we surrendered all that we have, God can turn it around into abundance! 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish can feed more than 5000 people. That is EXPONENTIAL!!

4. Perception

The little boy did not have any perception of little or much. That’s why he did not question Jesus.

Lack or abundance is a matter of perception
To some 200,000 shillings is abundance,
to some, it is not enough!

Story of Faith

Remember Definition of Faith:
NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrew 11:1

He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you. Luk 17:6

Closing Quote

Richard M. DeVos: The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.

Benjamin Franklin: The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.

Speaker: Desi
Date: February 21 2010

Speaker: Ps. Mark
Date: February 21 2010

Speaker: Ps. Irwan Ngadisastra
Date: February 14 2010

Speaker: Ps. Christopher Chan
Date: February 7 2010

Why Give?

The “stick” approach.

• People give because of the threat of punishment for non compliance under the Law.
• “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?‘ “In tithes and offerings.” Mal 3:8
• You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Mal 3:9

The “CARROT” approach

• People give because of the lure of getting rich through giving.
• Gen 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
• Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

The “Bible’ approach

• Act 20:35 … remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
• Generosity is the key to a Blessed Life!
• Pro 11:24 Ada yang menyebar harta, tetapi bertambah kaya, ada yang menghemat secara luar biasa, namun selalu berkekurangan.
• One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

The water cycle illustrates the circle of life and blessing from our Heavenly Father.

• John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.“
• John 4:14 But whoever takes the water I give him will never be in need of drink again; for the water I give him will become in him a fountain of eternal life.
• So when we give, we are “plugged” into the cycle of life and blessing.
• 2Co 9:6 Remember this saying, “A few seeds make a small harvest, but a lot of seeds make a big harvest.” Orang yang menabur sedikit, akan menuai sedikit juga, dan orang yang menabur banyak, akan menuai banyak juga.
• 2Co 9:7 Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel that you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give. (or God loves a cheerful (hilarious) giver.
• 2Co 9:8 God can bless you with everything you need, and you will always have more than enough to do all kinds of good things for others.
• 2Co 9:10 God gives seed to farmers and provides everyone with food. He will increase what you have, so that you can give even more to those in need.
• 2Co 9:11 You will be blessed in every way, and you will be able to keep on being generous.

Why Give?

1. We trust that God will provide for all our needs.
   • Php 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
   • Allahku akan memenuhi segala keperluanmu menurut kekayaan dan kemuliaan-Nya dalam Kristus Yesus.
2. God is the ultimately giver that cannot be superseded.
   • 2Co 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
   • Karena kamu telah mengenal kasih karunia Tuhan kita Yesus Kristus, bahwa Ia, yang oleh karena kamu menjadi miskin, sekalipun Ia kaya, supaya kamu menjadi kaya oleh karena kemiskinan-Nya.
3. God is the ultimately giver….
   • John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
   • v17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
   • Rom 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
   • v8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

3 Mindsets toward GIVING

1. BAG mindset

   Scarcity mindset – we don’t have enough to give. Living within the limits of circumstances.

   • Hag 1:6 You harvest less than you plant, you never have enough to eat or drink, your clothes don’t keep you warm, and your wages are stored in bags full of holes.
     
   • 1Ki 17:12 She (the widow of Zarephath) replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me.

2. Basket mindset

   • More than enough mindset. Believes in a generous God.
   • Deut 28:4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
   • Deut 28:5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
   • John 6: 5-13 (Feeding of the 5000)
   • John 6:9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
   • John 6:12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
   • John 6:13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

3. Barn Mindset

   • Believes that God is the infinite source of supply.
   • Deut 28:8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to.Pro 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops;
   • Pro 3:10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
   • Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
   • v16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.
   • v17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.‘
   • v18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
   • Luke 12:19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘
   • v20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
   • v21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.“
   • The “Barns of blessings” are not for our sole consumption but rather for others.

Speaker: Matthew White
Date: February 7 2010

Why is giving so hard?

• Lack of money is stressful
• How much money for happiness?
  • A little more – John D. Rockefeller
  • 20%
• Sever connection between money and happiness
• Phil. 4:12-13

2 Cor. 9:6-9 – Law of Sowing and Reaping

Laws of Sowing and Reaping

• Good soil matters
• Are we planting on good ground?
• The fruit of giving to God lasts an eternity
• Sowing reaps a harvest
• Don’t be stingy with seeds
• Prov 11:24-25 – Entering the flow of God’s blessing
• RG LeTourneau
• Sowing is risky
• We are completely reliant on God
• Jim Elliot – “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”
• A full life is measured by giving not by gaining

Speaker: Ps. Christopher Chan
Date: January 31 2010

Keys to growing strong

Theme for the next 4 years:

• Building An Unshakeable Generation
• Since then 2 major quakes have occurred:
  • The Padang 7.6 quake on Sep 30, 09
  • The Haiti 7.0 quake on Jan 12, 10.

Luke 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

Unshakeable Generation

Heb 12:26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”
Heb 12:27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Keys to growing strong

Hosea 10:12 (NIV) Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
(KJV) Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

1. Sow into yourself………………..
   You are a good potential ground!
   1 Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
   2 Cor. 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay (earthen vessels) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
   It’s your ground. You have the sole responsibility to make your ground fruitful.
   Problem with the ground - “fallow” or unproductive because it was neglected; it was no worked upon.
   Examples of “fallowness”:
   1. Prayer (intercession) life.
      1Ti 2:8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.
      1Ti 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—
      1Ti 2:2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
      1Ti 2:3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
   2. Devotional Life (Intimacy)
      Psalms 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
      (2) My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
      (7) Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
      Mat 15:8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
   3. Finances – mismanagement
      Luke 16:10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
      11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
      12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Speaker: Ps. Franky Lumingkewas
Date: January 24 2010

Speaker: Ps. Irwan Ngadisastra
Date: January 24 2010

Mark 9:14-29

1. FAITH

• is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. (Source: Wikipedia)
• Heb 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith Moves Things

• Matt 9:22 - But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well. - SICK HEALED!
• Mark 2:5 - And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, ” Son, your sins are forgiven.“ – SINS FORGIVEN!

2. PRAYING

1 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. 3″There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ 4″For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; 7 now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? 8″I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:1-8

Jesus entered into a time of earnest prayer when choosing the Twelve

12 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.  13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: Luke 6:12-13

Maybe this year, there are major decisions you need to make, take the time of earnest prayer.

3. FASTING

Please don’t DIET in the name of FASTING!

(A) Fasting is of no value unless it is done with the right motivation and the right heart:

16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matt 6:16-18

(B) Fasting is closely related to prayer and the reading of the Word of God

4 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Neh 1:4

1Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt upon them. 2The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the LORD their God. Neh 9:1-3

(C) Fasting from food – in the Bible fasting is mostly related to abstain from food

(D) The timing of the fasting is up to your commitment, but corporately we will fast starting after dinner and break fast after 6 pm.

Speaker: Ps. Christopher Chan
Date: January 17 2010

Laws for living

• “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” (First Things First Everyday, Stephen Covey).
• “If you want to defeat them, distract them,” ancient wise saying.
• The world, the flesh, the devil are distracting us and causing us to lose our grip on the first things we should live by.
• If we allow 2nd things to become 1st, we will lose both the 2nd and the 1st things.
• Many people do not know the main thing in life. Do you?

Living out our faith

The three great Christian duties:

• Charitable giving (Matt. 6:1-4)
  Mat 6:4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
• 2. Prayer (Matt. 6:5-15)
  Mat 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
• 3. Fasting (Matt. 6:16-18)
  Mat 6:18 so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

We have the assurance that the Father who sees in secret will reward openly.

So, why do we give, pray & fast?

Because we want to make God our #1 priority!

Making Jesus #1 by Seeking First the Kingdom of God

Matt 6:33

• Set Your heart first on His Kingdom and His goodness and all these things will come to you as a matter of course. (J.B. Philips)
• You must make His kingdom and uprightness before Him your greatest care and all will be yours over and above (Godspeed).
• You must make His kingdom and uprightness before Him your greatest care and all will be yours over and above (Godspeed).

Seek First the Kingdom of God

What does it mean? It means making God……

• 1st in time and number and value;
• Most important matter in your life;
• Putting God first means removing anything that stands between you and the Lord.
• “Seek” means a persevering and strenuous effort to obtain, to be constantly seeking after that which is important.
• It means that we eagerly pursue that which God has promised us in order to fulfill our destinies and enjoy our lives.
• You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Ps 16:11)

Heb 11:6 “…anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”
God have given us a promise, that if we seek Him earnestly, we shall be rewarded. This is an offer with a guarantee returns.
E.g. Uzziah’s life – [2 Chron. 26]

• Uzziah became one of the most successful and powerful kings in Judah’s history.
• He reigned for 52 long years, the longest of the 8 good kings in the Southern Kingdom.
• And was only 16 years old when he was made king.

Importance of seeking God

The Bible wanted to stress one point – Uzziah was successful because God helped him:

• 26:5 “God made him prosper.”
• 26:7 “God helped him.”
• 26:15 “for he was marvelously helped”

No wonder he was rich – “he had much livestock in the lowlands and in the plains” (v.10),
No wonder he was so successful – his fame traveled all the way to Egypt.
But WHY? Why did God bless him so much? Verse 5 has the answer.
The four words that come before ‘God gave him success (NIV)’ or ‘God made him prosper’ (NKJV) is the key.

• HE SOUGHT THE LORD. And the 3 words that come before this qualifies it.
• AS LONG AS. When he continues to seek God, God continues to PROSPER him. It was difficult for anyone or anything to bring him down.
• HOW DID HE SEEK THE LORD?

WAYS OF SEEKING GOD

1. He was conscious of his weakness and his inability to rule Judah rightly in his own strength.
2. He knew he needed God’s help to fight the enemies. He prayed often asking for God’s help.
3. He gave God the glory for his success in wars, projects, fame, kingdom (his reign), etc and not take any credit for himself.
4. He consulted with his spiritual advisors (the prophet Zechariah).
5. He sought to honor God in all that he did and asked God to lead him in carrying out all his projects.

Importance of seeking God

• But Uzziah became proud and stopped “seeking the Lord.” v. 16
• He tried to usurp the authority of a priest (v18). He was anointed as a king but not a priest.
• He lost sight of what had made him strong in the first place.
• He began to believe that it was HIS talent and HIS leadership that had accomplished it.
• Verse 16 says “He was unfaithful to the Lord his God (NIV)” or “Transgressed against the Lord his God.”

Uzziah’s story is a warning to us all.

• Do not allow the blessings of God color our vision and cause us to turn our eyes away from the Giver.
• Don’t be too preoccupied with the gifts – look at how successful I am; how talented, look at my grades, look at how much I’ve achieved – and be so filled with SELF that God is pushed out.
• Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness – ALL will be added to us. The “all” is guaranteed. But beware – don’t let the ALL blind us of the FIRST.

Practical applications

Seek 1st His kingdom involves three major areas of our lives:

• Our time
• Our finances
• Our affections

Let’s set our hearts to make Him #1 by seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.