Episoder
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“If Eden represents a loving relationship with God and others, then hell is helpless isolation, and the church is where we find connection and acceptance.” - @timothyshaun
Timothy continued our sermon series “The Freedom We Long For”, with a sharing on Shame and Vulnerability, where he discussed the destructive cycle of shame.
Sharing from Genesis 3, The Garden of Eden and Luke 8, the parable of the woman with the issue of blood, Tim shared how the wounds we pick up form the narrative of a shameful identity. This is reinforced by our helpless isolation, but when we encounter Christ who dignifies us, we can find healing.
God is our pursuer, who asks us “where are you?” when we hide away in shame, and invites us to come to Him vulnerably and experience this reality through embodied acts in community. -
âLiving the way of freedom that Jesus teaches is incompatible with the overconsumption prevalent in our society; the two are mutually exclusive. You must choose between God and Mammon.â - @andrejosiahIn week 2 of our sermon series âThe Freedom You Long Forâ, Ps. Andre spoke on Greed & Generosity, and how there is a war over generosity in our lives.In scripture, Jesus constantly warns us against all kinds of greed, because greed leads us into an insatiable desire and pursuit of wealth that comes at the expense of our health, relationships, and devotion to him. As humans, we have a tendency to hoard because we never remain contented with what we have, but God reminds us that life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Instead, we can find freedom from a spirit of greed through living the way of Jesus, one thatâs fully dependent on God being our provider.May we live lives of generosity by living rooted in the assurance of Godâs abundant love for us.
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Manglende episoder?
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“In contrast to our culture’s view of freedom as liberation from constraints, biblical freedom is obtaining God’s supernatural power to overcome our desires for self-gratification and fulfill our deepest desire for love.” - @andrejosiah
Pastor Andre kicked off a new sermon series, The Freedom You Long For, with a sharing on life by the Spirit.
Through Jesus’ victory over death, He purchased our liberty to choose between freedom and the yoke of slavery. Freedom is thus how we ought to live in light of the resurrection, where we choose, with God’s help, a life free from sin and one that embraces the right desires that God has for our lives.
May we desire to live befitting of the freedom that Jesus has purchased for us at a great price - by turning away from sin and its temptations with the help of the Holy Spirit. -
“One of the great strategies of the enemy is to take the promises of God designed to set us free, and through the worship of self, turn them into shackles that exhaust and bind us.” - @andrew_gardener
Pastor Andrew ministered at our service today and shared a sobering word on Falling Into Forgetfulness, and how idolatry has made its way into our individual lives and as the body of Christ.
Sharing from Exodus 32, and how the Israelites created an idol to worship in their impatience to hear from God, Pastor Andrew asked us to similarly consider the times we’ve turned away from the intangible things of God to embrace what is tangible, due to our lack of understanding of what God is doing in and amongst us.
As we enter Holy Week, may this be our reminder to yield to God, surrender the areas of idolatry in our lives, and to be open to God’s move as the bride that He is returning for. -
"Sometimes Jesus just needs us to go, pray and trust. Jesus will do the rest." - @dpma
Derek Ma challenged us by sharing his testimony of what God has done in his life over the years through the story of Ananias in Acts 9
He expounds from the view of Ananias, who might not have understood God’s assignment initially, but acted in faith and trusted in God command and was used as an instrument in Saul’s conversion.
May we all enter our week learning to trust in God and availing ourselves as instruments of God! -
“Obedience is not just one aspect of a believer’s life. It is the central guiding principle that shapes our identity, purpose and relationship with God.” - @chrisvonne
Christine shared on The Priority Of Obedience, gleaning from the lives of Saul and Abraham, one whose selective obedience ultimately led to his demise, and another who demonstrated wholehearted obedience, without question, despite the personal sacrifice he was called to make.
Complete obedience to God may seem like the antithesis to today’s prevailing culture that champions self determination and personal freedom. Within this tension, Christine encouraged us to rediscover the importance of complete obedience to God as a response to His love, a pathway to our freedom and fulfilment, and ultimately, to be His counter-cultural witnesses here on earth.
May we desire to walk in a deeper level of wholehearted surrender and obedience to God, and take heart that we can ultimately do so by leaning on His empowerment and grace as we continue to walk with Him. -
The brokenness we see in our world today has a common root system, and that is the wickedness of the human heart. Sin does not just have a personal effect; it has a corporate effect and ripples out through the land. Do we carry in our hearts a sense of responsibility for the brokenness in our world? - @andrejosiah
Pastor Andre continued our Vision Series with a sharing from Ezekiel 22 - in a time of great spiritual decline, God sought for a man to stand in the gap as an advocate for the land—but He found no one. As we reflect on the state of our world and church today, are we similarly missing God’s call?
In modelling after Jesus, our perfect advocate, the church can live out the calling of God to to stand in the gap for the brokeness of our world. As we reflect on God’s word today, may we resist indifference and rekindle our heart’s desire for God and the outpouring of His spirit. -
“In a world devoid of absolute moral truths, we, as Christians, assert that the gospel embodies the utmost truth—that life in its fullness can only be found in Jesus and His kingdom. Any other attempt to find life is destined to fail.” - @andrejosiah
Pst Andre continued our Vision Series, with a sharing on Recovering Gospel Urgency.
While many Christians today struggle with embracing evangelism, with some deeming it unacceptable to share the gospel with others, Pst Andre called for us to reflect on how we define the gospel and if this aligns with the gospel that Jesus called us to believe in.
Specifically, the good news that God, in His great love for us, has rescued us from sin, death and hell, through the works of Jesus on our behalf, with the ultimate aim of establishing His kingdom through His people and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
May we desire to say Yes to God’s call of evangelism by first rediscovering the good news of the gospel in our own lives, with trust that God is able to work through our acts of obedience, no matter how small they may be. -
“The message of Jesus is not to maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses; rather, it is in your weakness that God’s strength is made perfect within you.“ - @andrejosiah
We started on our Vision Series, with an overarching theme of A Holy Discontent, challenging us to confront the shallowness of our spiritual discontent in a culture that craves immediacy and the temporary. Ps. Andre spoke on the very heart of discipleship today, which is to take our spiritual formation seriously. A dangerous fallacy in our approach to life with God occurs when we believe that being strong in one area will somehow compensate for weakness in another, but God wants us be like Christ in all aspects of our lives.
Let us take some time to reflect on this question: “Where am I unlike Jesus?”Our formation must address the areas where we are not formed in Christ. We pray that we will approach our spiritual growth with intention, taking active steps to be molded into the image of Christ and live out our faith daily. -
“The call to live into a more mature and resilient discipleship is in the wilderness where God longs to lead us to experiences that bring revelation and intimacy which is just not possible any other way.” - @janicechinchern
Janice brought a sermon titled “In the Wilderness” where she taught from Mark 1 and Luke 4. Using Jesus’ example of testings yet deep reliance on God’s provision and mercies, how Jesus retreated to solitude repeatedly to seek God’s face in His time of ministry, he modelled for us a life of not resisting that seemingly desolate place.
She invited us to abide in the place of wilderness, where silence is the ultimate furnace of transformation, allowing God to cut through the noise of our lives and lead us gently to a place where we can heal in greater depths, where in His presence our joy is found.
The question for us to reflect on this week is “What is God speaking to you about?”. As we contemplate and reflect on our wilderness, may we remain in that place with Him, inclining our ears towards His voice and abiding with greater surrender and trust. -
“As we approach the end times, God wants us to reconnect with two realities - the gospel of the Kingdom proclaimed to all nations, and Israel embracing Jesus as their Messiah.’ - @jasonchua.sg
Jason’s sermon on The Antioch Community expounds on God’s desire for His people to be a royal priesthood unto Him, that we may be a sign of His glory and dominion here on earth as we await His return.
As we continue to walk with God in these tumultuous times, may we remember to live in sobriety, and with intentionality to behold God and know the desires of His heart. -
âBetween wasting our gifts and burning ourselves out, Jesus calls us to a more excellent way: a joyful life of service fuelled by His abundant loveâ - @timothyshaunThis morning, Tim brought us a sermon titled âA More Excellent Wayâ, where he spoke on how we can best steward the gifts of the Spirit that weâve been given by God to serve others. He reminded us that serving & loving the body of Christ come hand in hand - when we abide in and are filled with Godâs love for us and for His Church, the overflow of that love looks like serving His people.To serve is to love; and to love is to serve. As we continue on this journey of spiritual formation, we pray that we will mature both in love and service, where the spiritual gifts that God has given us are neither wasted, nor will we feel burnt out serving the body of Christ.
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“A large part of our discipleship rests on fending off cynicism and pursuing wonder; keeping our hearts anchored in hope, joy, and faith in God despite life’s setbacks.“ - @andrejosiah
Pst Andre shared about Small Beginnings at our first service of 2024, where we celebrated a new milestone in our journey as a church family with our official move to Nexus.
Sharing from the life of Caleb, and his different response, in contrast to the doubt, despair and contempt that others had for God’s promised land, Pst Andre reminded us that God often chooses the small, weak, and unseen for His purposes. Insignificant as they may appear to us, they often are how God shows His power and goodness in our lives.
As we enter into a new week, may we think about how we may see as God sees, and how we may rejoice in the small beginnings that He wants to use in our lives. Be blessed! -
“The joy that God calls us to is one that is bold and courageous - one that is able to look at death and suffering as temporary.” - @timothyshaun
Tim concluded our Advent series, Rumours of God, with a sermon on Joy. A condition of the heart and a posture of the soul, Tim shared about how the eternal joy that we have because of the good news of the gospel: Jesus’ birth, and the promise of His second coming.
Even in the midst of sorrow and disappointments that we navigate in this life, may we seek to cultivate the fruit of Joy through drawing from God’s presence, plugging into community and embracing the discipline of celebration. -
“Hope is the confident expectation of good based on the person and promises of God.” - @andrejosiah
Ps Andre continued our Advent series, Rumours of God, with a sermon on Hope.
Sharing from Luke 1:5-7 and the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah who waited in long-suffering, resilience and obedience for a child, Pst Andre shared about the disappointment and unfulfilled longings we experience on this side of eternity, and how this can become our meeting point with Jesus when we bring our desires and longings to Him.
In our waiting, will we be righteous and holy, or will our hearts be bitter and lead us to sin? And if our desires are not fulfilled, will we still trust in God?
Even in the face of disappointment, may we remember that God is faithful, and remembers every prayer we utter. We can have a defiant and unwavering hope in Him. -
“Seeking to act in our own time, rather than waiting on God’s, doesn’t accelerate the work of God in our lives; it corrupts it. Rather than seizing our destiny, we sabotage it.” - @andrejosiah
Pst Andre kicked off our Advent series today with examining the contrasting responses of Joseph and Herod to the impending birth of Jesus.
He invited us to reflect and ask ourselves: how do we respond to uncertainties in our lives? Do we gravitate toward seeking control like Herod did, or do we submit our outcomes to God, and to His will, like Joseph?
In disruption, we learn that we are not in control of our lives, but that we can relinquish this burden to God who gives us peace as we surrender and trust in Christ, our true King.
As we journey toward Christmas, may we prayerfully reflect on areas in our lives where we can enter greater surrender to Jesus through acts of obedience and trust. -
“The most criticized aspect of Jesus’ ministry was who he ate with. He often shared meals with tax collectors and prostitutes, individuals considered the most reprehensible in society.” - @andrejosiah
This morning, Ps. Andre shared about how Jesus has modelled a radical culture of hospitality, and challenges us to allow the Gospel to reconfigure our perception differently. By allowing the Word to work within us, we can reprogramme and reshape how we perceive others so that we can view the least of us as genuinely lost, separated from God and in need of Him.
We hope this inspires #thecityfam to think about hospitality and people in a deeper light. -
“Being saturated in the Word, and being led by the Spirit, are large parts of, and critical to growing, as disciples of Jesus.” - Jonathan Tong
In week 3 of our Resilient Discipleship sermon series, Jonathan taught about the importance of being led by the Spirit and living that out daily in our lives is first and foremost rooted in the Word of God and how that is a critical aspect in forging a godly perspective towards money, sex and power.
May we be encouraged that the Spirit indwelling within us enables us to cease labouring in our human effort and propels us to live for His glory with grace. -
“The identifying mark of a resilient disciple is to have love for one another. How can we be offended with others if we have love?” - David Tan
In week 2 of our sermon series on being Resilient Disciples, David brought us a word on being unoffendable, speaking from Matthew 18:15-17, and Galatians 5:16-17. In life, there are many opportunities for us to be offended, but David reminded us that when people offend others intentionally, it’s because they feel hurt. In those situations, as disciples of God, our response shouldn’t be to be hurt by the person causing offence, but to hurt for them, knowing and seeing the hurt that the person carries.
Scripture also tells us that receiving offence is inevitable in life. However, to be offended is a choice that we make. May we instead make the decision to live our lives fixing our eyes on what is unseen and on Jesus, to remain unoffended and live with eternity and love for one another in mind. -
“In the midst of the unresolved tensions in our lives, God invites us into deeper relationship and reliance on Him.” - @xianyi
Kicking off our latest sermon series, Resilient Discipleship: following Jesus in Modern Babylon, Xianyi shared about how we can learn from the example of Jesus, to lean on God even as we live in the tension between representing God and His kingdom well in the present reality while awaiting God’s promised future.
Our points of questioning can be avenues for us to seek God and grow deeper in our relationship with Him. Just as Jesus looked to the Father and did as the Father did, may we desire to hear His voice and do His will even as we are in the world, but not of it. - Vis mere