Focusing on God this holidays....

Dear bro n sis,are you praying for the welcoming activity? Do you seek God everyday? Whatever your answers are, I really pray that all of us can focus on God n still pray for the welcoming activity continuously. It's not easy to stay focus on God during the holidays... maybe we are DISTRACTED by working, watching tv, online playing games,goin out wif frens and so many other things..I know coz I'm distracted myself...

Sometimes we say we love God,we sing tat we love Him, but look at what we use our time for most of the day....Do we even think abt God most of the time? I feel guilty already.

Maybe we can try this. When we wake up in the morning, say: "Good morning God. Thank you for today." Yes, this may sound crazy...but this is wat a Reverend told us in his preaching. A simple act of saying Good morning to God n thanking Him is an act of showing tat u CARE n think abt Him..It helps us to FOCUS on God as the day STARTS. Focusing on God does not necessarily need to be durin our devotion time only. In fact u can praise God n say thank you to God anytime of the day. Say Good nite too. JUST SAY ANYTHIN U WANT TO HIM!!Communicate!!

And if we feel LAZY to read the bible, try this..reading the bible after ur lunch or dinner. Most of us got nothin to do after lunch or dinner, right? Instead of switching on the tv straight away after lunch or dinner, try READING THE BIBLE. You can just read the bible for min 15 minutes...

At least OPEN the bible n flip through..haha..I know how hard it is to open the bible at first. The bible can be on my table and I can STARE at the bible n it STARE back at me but still feel lazy to open it n read. So try this method....This is a suggestion from Jia Yaik,hehe...It works for me, maybe u guys can try. All these may seem difficult at first, but who knows once u start,it will be easier. And maybe u can use this time for devotion and prayers too.

Ok,I hope I am not boring u guys with my sharing, but let us try together. Pray to God to pull us back when we drift away from Him k? Coz if we hav the desire to draw near to God,He will draw near to us also.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Remember that we are goin to be a testimony to the juniors next sem..How are we goin to tell our juniors abt God,how are we goin to shine for Him if we dun even hav a good relationship wif God ourselves??

Anyway,here are the prayer items for this week. Plz pray once u read the prayer items to avoid forgetting abt it later or feeling lazzy to pray... ^_^

1. Pray for our IVCC vehicle.
Well, we are not buying the Avanza 1.5 auto after pastor discussed with the other zhang lao in a church meeting last week. Now we are still lookin for an Avanza 1.3 manual. So keep praying to God that He will provide a vehicle for us according to His will.

2. Pray for Pastor Lee.
She is goin to be very busy next semester because she needs to prepare a lot of things. So pray that God will grant Pastor Lee the strength and good time management in preparing things for our church. Pray that God will grant her rest when she feels tired and grant her wisdom so that she can continue to preach God's message.

3. Pray for welcoming activity preparation work, for all the leaders and cooperation of the team members.

Welcoming night--pray can find suitable actors/actress for the sketch, pray for a good script that will bring out God's message.

Welcoming camp--pray that the game master will hav ideas to put messages into the games. Pray that all team members still keep in contact with one another durin the holidays to discuss wat need to be done.

Pray that God will give us the strength n wisdom to finish the preparation work in time.

4. Pray that God will provide juniors who are non-believers and believers with all kinds of talents n skills,(what kind of juniors do u want our church to hav? Just pray to God abt it) and are willing to stay back in IVCC to serve the church, not just joining the welcoming activity only.

5. Pray for Teck Meng's father and his family.
Pray that God will open up Teck Meng's father's heart to receive Jesus into His life. Pray that God grant strength n courage to Teck Meng's father to fight the disease. Help Teck Meng n his parents to trust in God durin this difficult situation.

6. Pray for the Myanmar's cyclone victims and Sichuan's earthquake victims.
Pray that enough food, water n medicine supply can reach to the victims and more people can be saved. Pray that they will get to know Jesus and trust in Him durin this difficult time. May God's love n peace surround them.

1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He HEARS us. And if we know that he HEARS us--whatever we ask-we know that we HAVE what we asked of Him.

So lets persist in praying together. DONT stop praying n believe in the power of prayers!!! Your prayers are important!! Ganbatte everyone!!!

Prayer Requests...

Hello everyone, how's your holidays?? Staying at home or working? Watever that u do in these holidays, plz remember to focus on God n build up your relationship with Him.....spend time with Him by doing your devotion, reading the bible n of course keep on praying. God delights in you drawing near to Him.

James 4:7-8
Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.Come near to God and He will come near to you.
Anyway, here are a few prayer items for us to pray together.

1. Pray for our new IVCC vehicle.

The auto sales man informed pastor yesterday that there is an Avanza 1.5 auto, year 06, but with a low 10 thousand mileage up for sale. The car cost RM 5Xk. So pray that God will grant Pastor Lee wisdom on whether we should buy the vehicle or is there other better choices. We really need a church vehicle to transport the juniors who are goin to join us next sem. So please pray for the vehicle.

2. Pray that we will be able to approach the juniors.

Please pray for the approach and publicity team and also ourselves so that all of us will be able to reach out to the juniors and invite them to the welcoming activity. Pray that the messages announced online, through sms or any other medium will be able to reach the juniors and attract them to join the welcoming activity. Ask God to bless these messages and announcements. Pray also that God will soften n open up the juniors' hearts so that they will not back away when we approach them.

3. Pray for the welcoming activity preparation work.

Pray that God will help us in the preparation work so that all of us can persevere and work hard to prepare for a successful welcoming activity to glorify His name. Pray for all the leaders, especially leaders for the welcoming night and welcoming camp. Pray also for the cooperation of the team members. Even though a lot of things are still in progress, we entrust them into God's hands that we will be able to finish the preparation work in time.

4. Pray for the Myanmar cyclone victims and the Sichuan earthquake victims.

Yes, we are so lucky n thankful to God that we are safe from these natural disasters here in Malaysia. However, we should pray for the poor victims. Pray that enough food, clean water and medicine supply will reach quickly to the victims. Pray that there will be more rescue workers and relief workers to help those trapped in the rubble of collapsed building and also those who are injured. Pray that God will grant good weather so that the rescue work can be carried out smoothly. Finally, pray that God's love and peace will surround and comfort those who had lost their loved ones in the disasters.

Hope all of us can pray continuously.

Philipians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Here is a song that I really like, indulge yourselves in the rythm n lyrics....Christ alone is our source of strength and hope, whom we put our trust in....Amen!!!

Give it our best!

First of all, i think that we should thank God because of the blessings that God gave our motherland. We all should be very thankful to Him that the recent disasters that hit our neighbouring countries Myanmar and China which caused a lot of casualties did not happen here in Malaysia. But we all must not indulge ourselves excessively at midst of these peaceful days. We must remember our mission for God that is to have a successful welcoming activities in order to spread the gospel to more people. As stated in the bible, "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2). We must be responsible and give our best in the work entrusted to us. As God promises us in the bible, "And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." ( 1 Corinthians 10:13). So we must not worry whether we can handle a certain post or not, instead we must be faithful to the Lord as He is the one who blesses us with great power and He is also the one who determines the results of things. So we must do our best and leave the rest to our God. Brothers and sisters, let us pray continuosly for our welcoming activities. And for those who are in need of our prayers, please state it in this blog so we can help to pray for you. (Work hard and enjoy your holidays too!)

pray and talk to God in a more proper way...

START WITH THE PROPER ATTITUDES

In God's eyes, why you do something is far more important than what you do.
On one occasion God told Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”(1 Samuel 16:7, NIV*) It is quite possible to do the right thing but with the wrong attitude.
This was Amaziah's problem, for “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not wholeheartedly.”(2 Chronicles 25:2)
When you come to meet with God in the quiet time, you should have these proper attitudes:

Expectancy - Come before God with anticipation and eagerness. Expect to have a good time of fellowship with Him and receive a blessing from your time together. That was what David expected: "O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You." (Psalm 63:1)

Reverence - Don't rush into God's presence, but prepare your heart by being still before Him and letting the quietness clear away the thoughts of the world. Listen to the prophet Habakkuk: "The Lord is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him." (Habakkuk 2:20; see also Psalm 89:7) Coming into the presence of the Lord is not like going to a football game or some other form of entertainment.

Alertness - Get wide-awake first. Remember that you are meeting with the Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Redeemer of men. Be thoroughly rested and alert. The best preparation for a quiet time in the morning begins the night before. Get to bed early so you will be in good shape to meet God in the morning; He deserves your full attention.

Willingness to obey - This attitude is crucial: you don't come to your quiet time to choose what you will do or not do, but with the purpose of doing anything and everything that God wants you to do. Jesus said, "If anyone chooses to do God’s will he will find out whether My teaching comes from God or whether I speak on My own." (John 7:17) So come to meet the Lord having already chosen to do His will no matter what.

Source: http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/FreeTools/spiritualGrowth/FirstStepsToSpiritualGrowth.htm

KUCHINGNITES---Gathering on Wed 14/5 at Westwood

Dear Kuchingnites, we are goin to have our first welcoming gathering at Westwood on this coming wed, 14/5/08, at 6.30pm. We will hav dinner together n discuss abt the welcoming activity. So plz reply whether u can join or not...Hope all of u can join......^_^

Purpose Driven Life- Day 3

Just read the book this morning and the subtitle for today is about the things that direct or control your life. The author reminded us to reflect back on ourselves and think deeply on what are the things that are in control of our lives and one of them that i thought is very true- our desire to have more things (materialistic). The author said that these things cant be our purpose in life as it cant satisfy our neverending desires which i think is true because these things can just give short happiness and we will always want more of these. It is not to say that we do not need to work hard and have a better life but a better life doesn't mean having lots of wealth or properties only, we must find a better purpose for us to be alive in this world and to do that we must seek for God's guidance and know what is his desire for us.

Mother’s day

Today, most of us may busy celebrating mother’s day with our mother or some church may celebrating parent’s day with both of our parent. We usually celebrate the day with a carnation, a cake, a special dinner or a special gift. It’s something good for us to appreciate what our parent do for us from time to time, not only the special celebration day.

The Sunday service today shared, “Can we choose to not honor our parent?” The sermon is based on Matthew 15:1-6. In the sermon, our pastor shared two touching stories. For me, I have been listening to the same story for more than two times. But, what impressed me is the title of the sermon! “Can we choose not to honor our parent?” For sure, the answer is NO!

Most of us exceed 20 years old already. Let us observe our friends’ parent! Try to figure how many friend’s parent are divorced, one of them are dead, or both already dead… And how many of them came from broken family...If you are not one of them, you must be enjoying your perfect family life. And now, we know that we should be very happy when thinking of honoring father and mother. Since honoring father and mother is something happy, why we don’t practice it every day? We cannot or we don’t?

This is where pastor’s sermon hit my heart today! He said, “Honoring our parent is not something easy!” Today, most of us are more concern about our career and our “family”. We may be asking ourselves,“Who is going to live with you for the end of your life? Your mother or your wife?” and “What will guarantee your life? Your father or your career?”

After listening these, I feel guilty. I think I spend more time in what I interested in than I spend time for my parent...I’m afraid that I may be one of those who take the wrong steps…End up my parent in old folks home with the default excuse – “Career”.

Dear brother and sister,

Most of us know that we can solve these dilemmas by choosing the right wife or the right career! We can choose a good wife who will honor our parent. We also can choose some job that can provide us more freedom in time to take care of our parent too. Through that sermon, I got a message to share with you all here. “We should do some plan on how to honor our parent today!”

However, there are too much unexpected things that we may not consider in our plan here. So, let us pray more to God before we take the wrong steps…And tell God about your plan in honoring your parent…Now!

Written by,

Chee Kwei Yunn

on 11/5/2008