Sermons

Many today do not want to be totally committed to Jesus because it demands too much of them. Following Him wholeheartedly causes much inconvenience to us. As human beings, we are magnetized to comfort and ease. What has God called us to do? How does God work in/through our lives? Inconvenience is what God demands of us, if we do not embrace it, it will be a spiritual peril to us.      

Matthew 14:22-36

“Walking on water” is kind of the picture of doing something I cannot do on my own unless God gives me the power to do it.  This means that, in following Jesus, there is always going to be a choice between the comfort and the safety of the boat and the risk of getting out.  Today, we want to be propelled to live according to faith.  We want to address our fears as well as comfort in our own lives making sure that we get to experience “walking on the water”.

There is a gap between where we are now and where God has said we should/will be.  We mustn’t forget His promises as we patiently wait for its fulfillment.  Whatever obstacles lie ahead, we are called to look beyond them and courageously charge through.  What do you see in your own life?  Where is your Promise land?  Are you there yet?  What do you see now, and what are you willing to do to enter the promised land?

Following last week’s sermon on Faith & Money, we discuss more in details of Biblical giving.  What does the Bible teach God’s people about giving towards God?  In today’s sermon, we learn about tithes and offering—what it is, how and where we should give.  Our unreserved giving will result in the unrestrained blessing from God. 

Title:  Faith & Money

Text:  Matthew 6:19-24

Summary:

Money and our faith in God have long been intertwined as our attachment to money reveals a lot about our perspective and value of living life.  Jesus’ teaching conveyed that our assurance (trust) should lie in Him and that we are motivated by things eternal than the things temporal.  Also, we want to reflect our faith in the way we allocate our resources which we begin by being faithful in giving tithes and offering.

On this Mother’s Day, we see God as the Mother to the motherless.  We all have experienced the feeling of loneliness, being misunderstood, and completely powerless to trek through life.  The Bible describes God as someone who is stubbornly by our side and irrationally loving towards us.  We want to make sure that we do not live outside of such love and care.  Today, we caution ourselves against the orphan-spirit and be rooted in the transformative power of our Father.

Where is your crown? Who is your prize? Where is your joy that will allow you to pick up your cross? This is not a new message! Remember, that was what Jesus asked in his sermon! Put them up there where death and desire and time and rot cannot touch.

Jesus uses the most important social institution of the time to explain how his followers should see each other: as a family. In the first century Jewish culture, kinship ties were of utmost importance and loyalty, where people's identities revolved around their family. For us as Christians, the church is a family, which can be quite messy, but where we grow spiritually, find accountability, and offer authentic loyalty.