Life Salad Bowl: Church

Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts

Sunday, April 5, 2020

Religion and COVID-19

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic_on_religion

https://saddleback.com/coronaresponse

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/march-web-only/7-lessons-covid-19-coronavirus-churches-singapore-us-europe.html

https://buildfaith.org/coronavirus-anxiety-children-and-the-church/

https://resourcingworship.com/

Palm Sermon
https://soundcloud.com/the-church-of-england/the-precentors-network-read-the-passion-narrative

https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/palmsunday2020
https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/faith-at-home

https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/
https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-parishes/holy-week-and-easter-2020

https://churchmissionsociety.org/resources/dwelling-word/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic_on_religion

Presbyerian Canada
https://presbyterian.ca/covid-19/

Christians Associates of SouthWest Pennyslyvanian
https://www.casp.org/covid19

Anglican Chelmsford
https://www.chelmsford.anglican.org/palmsunday2020

https://texasbaptists.org/response/covid-19

https://sydneyanglicans.net/covid19

https://www.bethel-madison.org/our-response-to-covid-19-and-online-worship/

https://www.lutheranworld.org/content/resource-intercessory-prayer-midst-spread-covid-19

https://www.elca.org/publichealth

Friday, April 15, 2016

The God I know by City Harvest

The Church is the bride of Christ. She is to be kept pure. In worship song, we seldom sing about The Church. This song reaffirms the God that we know, Righteous and Holy, Faithful and true, Tower of Refuge, Light of the City. This is the God we know. And God expects His Church to be likewise.

Very often, the Church is not like this. We fail God miserably especially when we are silent about injustice, silent about the ungodliness in this world. We do not defend the poor and the weak. We do not take care of the sick and poor. We are complacent.

(verse)

When the stage is bare tonight

There’s no one else

Just You and me

When the curtains close behind

There’s no pretense

I’m on my knees

(pre chorus)

I will lay down my life

For the love sacrifice

You gave to me

It’s all because of You

All because of You

(chorus)

The God I know

Righteous and Holy

The God I know

Faithful and true

The God I know

My tower of refuge

Hearts are healed

Christ revealed

The God I know

Light of the City

The God I know

Strengthens the weak

The God I know

Your heart beats within me

As You are, so are we

(bridge)

This is my cry

My one desire

More of You

(last chorus)

The church He knows

Righteous and Holy

The church He knows

Is faithful and true

The church He knows

A tower of refuge

Hearts are healed

Christ revealed

The church He knows

Light of this city

The church He knows

Strengthens the weak

The church He knows

Is strong and mighty

As He is, so are we

Friday, February 6, 2015

Encountering God Moments

Do I have encountering-God moments in my life ? I am not sure. I may have special moments that I felt touched by God; I had his voices calling my childhood name (only known to my parents); circumstances beautifully orchestrated by the Almighty; promptings guided by the Holy Spirit but encountering God as a decisive moment that changed me ? I need to have a hard think on this.

Growing up, God was a concept of holiness, perfect, all loving, all forgiving. The all-forgiving character of God was very important to me for I lived an angry life, fighting with my brother with real hatred and all-strength.

But certainly, God was an Answered-my-prayers God, yes, he has been, for my younger days. For most prayers anyway, the younger, the more naive, the innocent prayers of mine, they were, interestingly, all answered by God in miracles and unthinkable manners.But there were not answered immediately,some took a decade to realise. But I realised that God has been faithful and I have not been.

Something happened in the middle-age me, God seems to have stop answering my prayers (not all anyway) and I stop feeling close to God. Some called it the big fat rat race of the living, the life trap, the cycle of living, it has been a roller coaster ride of wild trips. I have been too absorbed into making a living, a self-made man (Woman), one that has too much pride and ego to ask for help. Too much of anything is certainly no good. A bit of pride, a bit of ego, a bit of self-made game plans. I always thought life should be prepared with Plan A, B, C and even D ! Just in case, there is always a second plan to make up for the losses in the first Plan. But, is this where God wants me to be ? Or am I experiencing the outcome of my own pride and failures ?

Have I lost my faith, bit by bit ? Have I forgotten how to ask in childlike faith ? Was I being selfish and having second motives in my prayer requests ? Perhaps, I have not been praying in the will of God ! That's it ! The nugget truth, the will of God, big word for small faith folks like me ! How about this one - His ways are higher than my ways (all my ways combined ?) His timing is also out of my infinite world of limitations. He is timeless and limitless, silence could mean golden, a thousand years is like a day to Him. Oh dear, I do not have that long to wait !

Growing up, I often heard this explanation on prayers, God always answers all our prayers and His answers could be any of the three according to His omniscience wisdom. He always reply as :-

1) Yes - you can have it as you have prayed as it is my will too !

2) No - you cannot have it as it is not my will for you !

3) Wait - my timing and my will is to bless you, trust me, not this time, not yet !

O Lord, forgive me for missing your answers to my prayer requests, for ignoring your discipline, for overlooking your loving answers to my unanswered prayers. Amen.

Note :- About 561 Words.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

I thought I heard Him calling my name

Hearing God is an important of Christian journey because it is the ultimate voice of God, from heaven, from the Creator and the Source of life ! Blessed are those who hear Him, is there such verse in the Bible ? Well, that is only partially true.

At least, the first part of Luke 11:28 sounds like it, "Blessed are those who hear the word of God ...", hear the word here of course is referred to the Bible, His Word and Instructions to us. However, the word God utters in our life matters too, that is His voice, some say its audible, loud and clear; some say it comes in a dream, a clear voice in the background or God speaking in a dream; some just simply do not hear or dream about it.

Nonetheless, Christians often shares about hearing the voice of God in their lives, guiding, helping and the very presence of help at times of difficulties.

I never really thought about hearing voice of God until I heard a sharing on how God called him in the middle of the night while he lay on the top side of double-dicker bed by his family nickname, only known to his closest family members. I started thinking would I hear Him call my name ?

One day after a hectic day of conference and being heavily pregnant and my car was seemingly pushed by someone to the middle of the road, at the end of that day as I sat on the floor of my living room, folding clothes for my family of four, I was nearly in tears, telling God that I think he does not love me. Then, I heard it in my heart, "Ah Tyng, you still say I don't love you ?" A load of memories of God has helped me flashed through my mind. I was touched and broke down with tears.

In a moment, I was assured of His love; in a flash, His peace fills my inner core; In a twinkling of an eye, I was touched by Him. The most shocking part it was not only He called my childhood family nickname, only called by my closest ones. The most shocking part was that it was in my native tongue of Hakka. A language I used when I am talking to my inner self. God speaks my language ! Cool !

I was ecstatic after I realised what has happened that night. I was speechless for a while, failing to defend my utterly little faith. I was very touched and assured.

God is Always Near Me
Hymn Lyrics

God is always near me,
Hearing what I say;
Knowing all my thoughts and deeds,
All my work and play.

God is always near me,
In the darkest night,
He can see me just the same
As by midday light.

God is always near me,
Though so young and small;
Not a look, or word, or thought,
But God knows it all.

Note :- Exactly 500 Words !

Monday, November 5, 2012

BCCM KK (English Congregation) 50th Anniversary Celebration

BCCM KK (English Congregation) turned 50 years old in November 2012. It was a celebration like never before. I have offered GB to come up with Cupcakes and Celebration Cakes on top of the "breakfast" menu church has ordered. I have a gorgeous team of GB ladies and one "imported" from USA, Ms Becky who worked with me tired-less-ly for one week with few nights passed midnight ! The attempt to make Fondant Icing was very interesting with one major failure but otherwise it went pretty well.