Abundant Life Has Nothing To Do With Man's Religiosity And Legalism

And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." Mark 8:15 ESV.

Dear Heavenly Father i am grateful to the true freedom experienced through Christ's great sacrificial love for me at the cross of Calvary about 2000 years ago. I need to be aware of the subtle and strong influence of the many cultic or occultic groups sprouting everywhere leading the ignorant and gullible astray. Grant me your wisdom to spot their erroneous doctrines whenever i bump into them Father. In Jesus' blessed name i pray.

Evidence Of God's Presence Is His People Everywhere

And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." Mark 8:12 ESV.

Dear Heavenly Father i am seeing that the greatest evidence of your existence to the fallen creation is the people of God, who are filled with the love and power of Jesus Christ wherever they are placed by you. May i desire to walk righteously and with compassion like Jesus, and always ready to reflect God's love.  May my words and deeds reveal your loving presence. And like Jesus, may i learn to speak words of wisdom with divine authority, ready to feed the poor and needy, be prepared to cast out demons to set the captive free, and to heal the sick, afflicted and depressed that they might be ushered into the Kingdom of light. May there be someone i meet today feel your holy presence and begin to seek your Kingdom and your righteousness. In Jesus' blessed name i pray.

God Knows My Every Need

"I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away." Mark 8:2-3 ESV.

Dear Heavenly Father i thank you for another beautiful and blessed day with you. A very wonderful assurance that you know every need i have, be it small or big, for you are a compassionate God. Regardless how huge a group can be, like the four thousands here, you would feed every one for you are a compassionate and a miracle-working God. I submit to you every concern and need to you Father trusting you wholeheartedly for your provision. In Jesus' name i give thanks.

Jesus Looking Up To Heaven For Our Father Always Listens

And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Mark 7:33-35 ESV.

Dear Heavenly Father you are indeed my everything in life for you watch over me from Heaven and listen to every heartfelt prayer, be it healing, deliverance or forgiveness. Like Jesus, may i look up to you always to minister with love and power. Father your love for me is exceedingly great and abundant. O Father let this divine love be flowed into many dry and thirsty souls surrounding me everyday. In Jesus' name i pray.

Lord, You Are Always There For The Afflicted, Needy And Sick

But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. Mark 7:25-26 ESV

Dear Lord Jesus, let my heart increase in compassion and the yearning to see the afflicted, needy and sick receive forgiveness of sins and wholeness by your divine touch. May I grow more hungry spiritually and yearn for more of you Lord and let you fill me with your love and compassion more each day.  I pray in Jesus’ wonderful name.

Heart Influences By Evil Defiles Me

And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person." Mark 7:20-23 ESV.

Dear Heavenly Father once i have evil thoughts, my heart shall begin to be defiled and sins of all kinds are at my doorstep. Holy Spirit, I pray for a pure heart as you renew my mind with the wonderful living Word to empower me to walk blamelessly and with the joy of the Lord. May i fellowship with you in a deeper way this fresh new week. Enlighten my mind and strengthen my heart to see and feel with you the things of the Kingdom. In Jesus' name i pray.

Sunday Service Title: Conquering the Promised Land

Speaker: Pastor Pacer Tan

Church: Lighthouse Evangelism
Date: 6 March 2016

Scripture: Joshua 6:1-20

1   1. Introduction

After living in wilderness in Egypt for 40 years, Joshua led a whole new generation of Israelites to conquer the promised land. The victory began with the collapse of the wall of Jericho. God can break down any wall, regardless how high and challenging it can be, if there is absolute obedience to God and His Word.  It is not man’s capability, but God’s ability as Joshua obeyed God wholeheartedly by circling the fortified city of Jericho once every day for six days, and seven times on the seventh day. God’s prescription for success is always through obedience.

2    2. All His promises are received by faith + action.

It is never one or the other; it is both as faith must have a corresponding action.

Words only - If Joshua and the Israelites had only believed what God had promised them that they would conquer the promised land without taking action to walk round the wall as instructed, the wall would still remain standing and its city fortified.

Reflection: When we only believe that God can use us to serve Him, and never take a practical step to serve in any ministry, we are only paying lip service to God.  Similarly, when we believe the importance of loving one another as Jesus’ disciples and never actually show love in a practical way, we do not walk the talk.

Action only -  If Joshua did not believe God and tried to pull down the wall using his own way – his intellect, capability, machinery and all available resources thinking that God’s way was simply impossible,  his action without faith would only end in defeat and failure.

Reflection: Churches today are prone to carrying out a lot of action like feeding the poor without injecting the Gospel of salvation in all these good works, it will be just another social action by any secular organisation.  When we want to do our own things and not what God wants us to do, we are only an action church without faith.  Conversely, if we have faith and believe what God says, but never take any practical step to act upon what He has said, then we are only a faith church without action.

Application: James 2:17-18 clearly warns us that faith without works is dead.  He is telling us affirmatively that whatever God says it, I will do it!

If your “wall” is cancer or a broken relationship or finances, turn to God’s Word and listen to what He says about all these things, then act upon His Word.

The impossible shall become possible when faith is seen through action.  Just like Jesus told Peter that if he loved Him, then Peter would act out his love by feeding His flock.  It is faith in action.  A balanced Christian life is about having faith and followed up by action.

3. Trust and obey God’s command even if you do not understand.

The problem with us is that we know too much and we begin to doubt when God tells us what to do.  Isn’t it true that when we know too much, we trust too little!  God never wants us to just know but rather to know and to do. God does not require any special skills from Joshua, except that he is to lead the people to walk, shout, blow the trumpets and carry the ark of covenant.  Simple obedience! Great Victory!

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding”.

Reflection: What is stopping you from trusting the Lord with all your heart now?  Is there still a “former Jericho’s wall” remained unresolved in your heart?  God wants to first pull down this wall in your heart.

Application: Is it a wall of anger or disappointment toward God?  Is it a wall of hurt or pain that still lingers deep in your soul? 

Perhaps the wall in your heart that is stopping you from trusting God fully is because you are trusting “God’s substitute” instead of God Himself, and they are your career, bank account, dependable spouse or wonderful physical health?

Find a private corner and start to trust Jesus completely once again by renouncing all the hindrances that are stopping you from giving total obedience to Him who has never stopped and will never stop loving you.

4. God is the Hero of the story

Jesus is our Hero for every success in life, work, career, family, ministry and relationships.  We see Him as the Hero throughout the pages of the Bible. He is the Hero of all the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles. The outcome of their success brings glory to God.  All prophets and apostles put their faith into action.  They could do so because God poured His love and power into these men and women of God so that they could act out their faith.

Romans 8:37 tells us that we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

Reflection: Christians are reaping the benefits of the cross of Christ. We enjoy the blessings of God because all these are God doing. If we trust ourselves, we will be in a mess. Sometimes we have this thought of doing great thing for God without being aware that underneath this statement lies our pride. The sooner we let God humble us, the better we let His love and power envelop us and become His conquerors.

5. Conclusion

Ephesians 2:14-15 reminds us that every wall in our heart has been broken down by Christ, and we can have His divine peace.  Jesus allowed Himself to be a hostile object by dying for us, so that He could bring peace into our heart.

I am going to have faith in what God says and put in action what He calls me to do.

Note: This is a personal sermon note-taking. For a complete sermon, you may purchase the DVD from the church counter.