021212

by

one hundred and two.

OUR REASON FOR GIVING THANKS
Colossians 1:3-6

Paul starts off the letter with prayer - here in Thanksgiving. As he does with most, if not all, of his letters.
In Colossians, it's a thanksgiving prayer because God has allowed the gospel to work in the lives of the people at the church at Colosse.

This week's guest pastor - Dr. Steve Park - then asked the congregation a question... One of those self exploratory questions that most of us hate because we know it would mean a soft rebuke upon hearing it -

  What do you pray for?

I think my most common prayers are for..
- help during stressful times (exams, feeling lost, etc)
- friends and family's health
- my health

In this passage, Paul prays in thanksgiving for the gospel because he knows the greater weight of it.
When was the last time I thanked God for the gospel? Not quite sure to be honest... But very rarely..

In the passage, Paul asserts that the gospel impacts us by three ways:
1. Faith in Christ Jesus
2. Love for all the saints
3. Hope laid in Heaven

1. The Gospel tells us of the sacrifice of Jesus, for us sinners who deserved the complete wrath of God the Father. Jesus was a blameless, perfect Saviour (fully man and fully God) who laid his life down for us. On top of this, his victory over death means that he lives forever and ever - he is a living God.

Pastor Park then talked about adulthood... The general growing up stage. Now when we are young, we place our faith in our parents and our friends; because we know that no matter what, we can always go to them when we need help. If we need money, "MOOOOM Can I have $20 to go out?".. If we need a lift, "Hey [friend], can you pick me up please?". 
But when you reach adulthood... Very rarely do we ask for help from our parents or our friends... Life becomes very competitive during adulthood and your friends will have their own problems too and sometimes won't have time for you..
This is so because eventually, as we grow older and wiser, we in turn grow more and more independent. We begin to detach ourselves from dependence onto our parents because we have learnt all that is necessary to sustain our physical lives.

BUT where is God in this!??!
I believe we can never grow an independence from God.... God is infinite, and thus, his wisdom and his teachings are in turn infinite. To say that we have learnt everything about God is to say that we know what He knows - WRONG.
There has never been a time in my life where I can confidently say "I don't need you anymore God... I am okay by myself". The moment I begin to believe that is the moment I tell myself the biggest lie anyone can ever say.

Have a child-like faith in God.

2. Love for all the saints

Love is God's character. God is love.
We know that love itself is a strong emotion - there is great power behind it. 
A pastor's friend grew very frustrated and he shared it with the pastor - "Pastor, I am very frustrated right now... it's my son... he's found a girlfriend."
Usually we'd think... isn't that great?
But no... You see, this son never cleans his room and is generally very dirty. The father tells him to clean up his room multiple times, but he never does it (Sounds like me).
But one day, the son comes home and tells his father "Dad dad! I have great news... I have found love. I went over to [girl's name]'s house and I cleaned her garage.. and her parents loved it!"
Instantly, the father was very disappointed... Naturally, because the son wouldn't listen to him when he told him to clean up, but now that he has found a girlfriend, he goes ahead and cleans things without being asked.

But funnily, this is what love does to us. It makes us do funny things - things we wouldn't normally do.

! Selfless love
! Change for the better

If this is the power of love.... if only we could love the church the same.
For us to be compassionate, patient, servant-hearted and God-centered (for God is love).


3. Hope laid in Heaven

Where are your treasures stored up?

I know that for me... my greatest treasures are perishable things... Sadly.

- My car
- Financial security

In this world, we are bound by the power of time - eventually, everything will develop decay and perish under the power of time. Just like in the entertainment industry, popular celebrities will always be replaced by better and younger celebrities. Cars will always get scratched and their paint will always fade away - no matter how much you take care of it. My problem is that I keep trying to secure things that I am incapable of securing - Even if I rack up millions of dollars, I can't take them with me when I die...
But I can take my life spent in servitude for the Lord... I can find security in godly relationships in hope that I will see them in Heaven... I can find security in building up treasures in Heaven.

What we see = temporary
What we can't see = eternal.

The gospel calls us to live God-honoring lives. To live blamelessly and to live a life free from the chains of sin.  The gospel also reminds us of an eternal plan - a plan that isn't bound by our ever perishing bodies and a sinful world.

Our eternal hope is laid out in Heaven.

Thank Him today for the gospel and what He's done in your lives.

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So for dinner/supper.... I bought 2 packets of ramyun... But a lot of mistakes came up... haha.....

- Went to the shops in my Havaianas (-4 degree weather.. not a good idea)
- Put cold water instead of hot water
- Threw away 1/4 of the seasoning
- The seasoning was actually at the bottom of the bowl
- Opened the bowl of rice even though I was already full
- Bought another ramyun packet for no reason AND opened it
- Took two cups instead of one from the cafeteria
- Choked on the noodles
- Choked on an orange

Lovely.

=].


I had a chat with Eddy today after the service about joining/observing the music worship team...
I've been thinking about it lately... Learning about song leading and yeah...
He got me thinking though... if I'm going to be pursuing it just so that I can sing up there, or if I'm doing it because I genuinely want to lead the church in radical worship. I'm hoping it's the latter.

My name, Obed, is Hebrew for [servant] and has origins also around [worshipper]. I don't believe in coincidence... But whether I am called to be a servant in the music area or not, I hope to always be a servant for God.. By His power.

P.S.

There are 22 million people living in Australia... and approximately 4.6 million in Sydney.... Wut...

So.... I had a 1 in a 4.6 million chance of meeting _____ ...

Interesting.

REPLY TO ME DARN IT.





Thankful: AWESOME CHURCH SERVICE.

Prayerful: Music worship team... Pray that if it is what God is calling me to do - to look into being a worship leader... Then I'll gather the courage to pursue it.

Dangers: LAZINESS TO STUDY WOOO!!!!