BSF Leaders meeting 26 Sep 2015

Lesson 25 => Homiletics for Numbers 26-36
10 chapters which was summarised well in this example.

Need more practice and discipline in doing Homiletics.

CG Dinner Fellowship @ Jack's

We had a fun dinner pot - luck fellowship

We brought popiah for the group to enjoy. .... yummy fellowship

BSF Covering Wee Seng's DG (22 Sep)

Covered Wee Seng 's group discussion on 22 Sep ... the men had open and engaging discussion.
HoweLai sat in the discussion and provided positive feedback. Main area to note is watch the "T" during the discussion.

Thank God that the HS leads me as I lead the different groups in their discussion.

BSF Lesson 24 (22 Sep 2015)

Balaam Attempts to Curse Israel

1. God is Sovereign (Numbers 22)
Principle 1: God’s blessings for His people are secure.

2. God is Immutable (Numbers 23-24)
Principle 2: God’s purposes will prevail.

3. God is Just (Numbers 25)
Principle 3: God rewards the righteous & punishes the wicked

Take away … qns to evaluate
○ Do I know about God …. Or Do I know God?
○ Do I rely on religious rituals … or trust in what Christ done for me & His Holy Spirit in me?
○ Do I serve the Lord for material blessings or eternal life?
○ Am I more like Balaam than I care to admit?  

Learning:
Principle 1 … God is sovereign
■ Story of Balaam is a “Warning” to watch myself … especially when I think that I am doing what “seems” to be righteous / Holy … it is the heart attitude that counts
■ Not be like Balaam …. How true that I had been in situations when I look back that I acted like Balaam
■ I seek God in prayer for direction for a decision that I am making …. But deep down I wished God to give me what I wanted or change others to deliver my wants.
■ God allows man to do what is forbidden … God sometimes allows men to sin … only to accomplish his will & purpose
■ I have a choice to make … I choose to be counted on the side of God …

Pray for
☆ clear vision like that of the donkey who sees when I have taken the wrong path
☆ Not be like Balaam … one who knows of God but doesn’t know God …. That I have a God centred heart
☆ God's grace and HS to guide me back when I am astray down the wrong path

BSF Leaders meeting (19 Sep 2015)

Numbers 23-25 Homiletics

PSPC Anniversary Service

172nd Anniversary

Wages of sin is death!!

Verse of the Day: September 16

Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Basic Truths of the Christian Faith - Truth 3

3. Why is knowing God important?
I was created to know God, to serve Him and to fellowship with Him. I cannot know myself, the world in which I live or my responsibilities except as I know the true God.

Genesis 1:26
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, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Colossians 3:9
9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

BSF covering SengHee's DG (15 Sep)

Had the opportunity to cover this group a 2nd time. ... the HS did allow the men to have a frank and open discussion. ... I made a conscious effort not to provide my views but let the men share their views and opinions. .. I definitely enjoyed the session.

Thank you God for the HS to lead me; pray that the men will be spurred on by your word.

BSF Lesson 23 (15 Sep 2015)

First Victories & The Lifted Snake
1. Israel’s First Victory (Num 21:1-3)
Principle 1: God cares about our present faith & obedience, not our failures

2. The Uplifted Bronze Snake (Num 21:4-9)
Principle 2: Christ’s victory over death secures the eternal destiny of God’s people

3. Israel’s Other Victories (Num 21:10-35)
Principle 3: Victorious living is possible when we seek God’s guidance, obey His instructions & trust in His promises.

3 Elements of Saving Faith
Faith has 3 parts that include both the act and scope of believing.
These 3 can be called … “knowledge, belief & trust” … “awareness, ascent & commitment” …

a) Content
Faith rests upon knowledge
Faith is only as good as the object of our faith
The object of true faith is Christ …only He can save!!
We must know that Christ is true man & true God. He has reconciled us to God, our merciful Father.
Christ takes our sin and gives us His life and His righteousness now counts as our own.

b) Consent
It is possible to know content and not have saving faith
Faith must touch an individual personally so I must personally agree with it
Word of God is not received by faith if it flits about in the top of the brain, it takes root in the depth of the heart

c) Commitment
Faith is not merely assent to truths, it is commitment to & trust in Christ Jesus.

Numbers 21:9

Remember that we need to:

(1) Realize that our date with death and judgment is the result of our own sin;

(2) Since our righteousness is like filthy rags, we cannot stand before a Holy God with sin stained clothes and save ourselves. We need Jesus to intercede for us  – He is the Mediator of the New Covenant;

(3) When we are broken over sin and repentant and we look upon the cross, we must see our sin there …. our sin hanging on the cross. We must take 100% of the responsibility for the beatings, tortures, mockery and crucifixion of Jesus. He was punished for every sin I committed.

=> by seeing and understanding this, it makes the Grace in John 3:16 so amazing & awesome!!

Basic Truths of the Christian Faith - Truth 2

2. Who is God?

God is the eternal, infinite, uncreated Spirit, who is perfect in power, holiness and mercy, who is complete in Himself, who exists eternally as a Trinity, one God in 3 persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created all things.

John 4:24 (NIV)
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Exodus 15:11 (NIV)
11 Who among the godsis like you, Lord?
majestic in holiness,awesome in glory,working wonders?

Psalm 139:1-16 (NIV)
1 You have searched me, Lord,and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongueyou, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide meand the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;the night will shine like the day,for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from youwhen I was made in the secret place,when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;all the days ordained for me were written in your bookbefore one of them came to be.

Matthew 28:19 (NIV)
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NIV)
14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

God will provide ....

Verse of the Day : September 5

Matthew 6:26-27

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?

Basic Truths of the Christian Faith - Truth 1

Reviewing the BSF "Basic Truths of the Christian Faith"

1. What above all do you need for this life and the life of the workd to come?

I need to know that God exists, that He has made Himself and this truth known and that although I am a hopeless sinner – guilty, corrupt and disobedient – He will forgive, renew and protect me as I trust in the perfect obedience, atoning death and life-giving resurrection of Jesus Christ.

John 17:3
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Hebrews 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Psalm 19:1
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;no sound is heard from them.

Psalm 19:7
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,making wise the simple.

Romans 3:10
10 As it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;there is no one who seeks God.

Romans 3:22
22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished

1 John 2:18-27

Sunday sermon .... Hoodwinked?  Overcoming Lies by practicing a Discerning Life!

Reminder to guard against
1. Deceptive people (v18-19)

2. Deceptive Doctrines  (v20-23)

We are to discern by
a) Abiding in the Word (v24-26)
b) Abiding in the Spirit (v27)

Covering Tommy's BSF DG

Assisted today to cover for Tommy 's DG .... thank God for the good participation by the men & that the HS led me during the discussion. ... I felt at ease engaging and discussing the questions with the men.

Pray that the men did take away the key message that "Sin does not have the final say in the life of a believer!" That they draw close to Jesus.

BSF Lesson 22 (1st September 2015)

Moses’ Sin & the Death of Aaron

Main Truth: Sin does not have the final say in the life of a believer!!

1. Moses’ Unbelief (Numbers 20:1-13)

Principle 1: Every Sin, big or small, is abominable to God

a) Indictments against Moses:
- He disobeyed God’s instruction => his own way & not God’s
- Did not honor God as Holy => “must we” / took credit
- Defied God in public

b) Lessons:
- Keep anger in check
- Obediance is not open to negotiation => Small compromise is the beginning of spiritual death
- Leaders are held to high standards => James 3:1

2. Edom’s Defiance (Numbers 20:14-21)

Principle 2: No Sin or circumstance can prevent God from accomplishing His purpose

3. Aaron’s Death (Numbers 20:22-29)

Principle 3: God’s faithful followers are redeemed from the consequences of sin by His grace