Archive for March, 2009
Morning Prayer at Heart of God Church (9th – 13th February 2009)
One would think that waking up before dawn, even before the sun shines its first ray (not to mention even before the first bus leaves the interchange), would be an impossible task for many Singaporeans.
Apparently not!
You can really tell the level of commitment City Harvesters have towards praying and seeking the face of God by how willing they are to sacrifice sleep to be at the prayer meetings.
For five consecutive days, at 6.30am, the crowds would gather to queue at Singapore Post Centre and squeeze into the lifts, which would bring us to the Heart of God (HOG) Church auditorium on the 12th floor. Along the way, we would be greeted by friendly and vibrant HOG ushers. Honestly, I don’t know how they do it!
Every morning without fail, the hall would be fully packed with our members interceding for our Church, families, cell groups, etc. By 7.00am, you would not be able to find a seat.
As we prayed, faith began to arise in our hearts to believe that truly, like in Matthew 21:22, “…whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive” (AMP).
After praying up a storm one morning, God reminded me of 1 Corinthians 13:1 and 13.
1“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”
13“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
Prayer works – it is effective and will produce results – when we pray out of genuine, unselfish love. This is the kind of love Jesus has towards each and every one of us. He is now in heaven, intensely interceding for us (Romans 8:34), wanting us to succeed in every aspect of life.
Just think about how you might pray for someone close to you, whom you care about dearly – a family member, a close friend, a loved one – compared to an acquaintance or a stranger. When we are passionate about something, we will go all out, pray with all our hearts to make sure something happens.
So, let’s pray through our entire prayer list or prayer book with that same passion and love as Jesus us praying for us, and I’m sure we will see God move mightily in our lives in 2009!
ET Zone Adults’ Valentine Night
Special occasions ought not to be missed. ET Zone adults know that very well and so a very special Valentine’s Night was hosted at Riverwalk among all the adult cell groups in the zone.
Grown-ups stirred the night by calling each other pet names like ‘darling’, ‘dear dear’, ‘sweetie’ and ‘honey’ in the opening game. Three married couples from the winning teams were called upon to stand onstage to play it sweet over a romantic dinner that came with a twist.
Serving the spiritual entrée that lovely evening was our zone supervisor Edmund Tay, who highlighted intimacy in relationships through quality time and the right attitude. Newly weds Edmund Tan and Ming Hui, both cell group leaders, shared their God-authored love story and how they were richly blessed starting their life together as husband and wife.
The men in the zone then took turns to make deposits into their wives’ love banks as they boldly proclaimed their love through affirming words, a poem, a video dedication, presents and flowers. “It made all the singles envious”, commented Jing Jing of N149.
All ladies, including the singles, had a fair share of the love-filled atmosphere, as they received delightful long-stemmed red roses courtesy of the men. Wei Liang of N430 declares it a “lovey dovey atmosphere” all over. Newcomer John Chirayath found the gathering truly inspiring, making him understand what showing affection is all about.
It had been a night to remember – a celebration of love in different forms – one that is shared not only between spouses, but also among friends, families and most of all God, who Himself encompasses the very definition of it.
Reported by GJ Gonzales
It boils down to this one word – Amazing.
Everyone came in with much expectancy after the first lesson last week. We were all expecting a life transforming session with Brother Poh and true enough we were not disappointed.
This session was like a hands-on session, where we could put theory into practice. I felt really blessed to have Poh putting time and effort to impart the skills he learnt.
First and foremost, he mentioned that preparation for the songs that we will be singing during cell group meetings is necessary and important. We, as guitarists or song leaders, got to know the flow and what was going to be preached as well. One of the ways was to build a better relationship with our leaders.
“Go to your leaders and not wait for your leaders to call you.” – Poh
Secondly, we must get our hearts engaged and ready to let God speak to us. It is not all about the songs but also about our heart. We need to first open up our hearts to God, open up our spiritual ears to hear from him. Of course, he told us that we should not be complacent in our walk with God – we got to keep on pressing in, seeking His face in our quiet time and allowing Him to speak to us.
A verse that was shared on that day – Psalm 97:12
Psalm 97:12 (NKJV)
Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
From this verse, I learnt that we ought to give thanks to God regardless of all the trials and tribulations in our lives and it is important that we remember that He is always behind us all the time. Everything that is happening in our lives is already planned out by God – He is sovereign. We should walk in the path of righteousness and praise Him for every little thing. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Let our renewed mindsets bring us to the next level of breakthrough!
Poh also mentioned something that made me really think. To be creative, one must be doing something that he or she likes. Something that is new and different from the normal. For example, I enjoy jogging late in the night. And sometimes I like to look for company to jog with me. But, it is also good to spend time with myself. It is a healthy way to ‘get to know myself’ better. What is true in the natural is also true in the spiritual. After a jog, I feel refreshed in the mind and soul, and I would take my time to stroll back home and even sing my favorite worship songs (sometimes even praise songs!). So DO THINGS THAT MAKES YOU ‘TICK’ – Happy! Creative and better ideas will then come out of those happy moments and from there, we can all grow with the sharing of creative ideas!
Here’s what Eugene from W389 has to say..
“It was fun! Brother Poh was very humorous and the atmosphere was really electrifying! I could felt goose bumps every now and then during the few hours we were there. Learnt a lot on the art of worship and how to flow in the Spirit! It was a great meeting!”
I believe all those who attended this session were greatly blessed and it’s time to share the skills that we have learnt with our fellow members J
Reported by Kar Wen N391
