Missions through a postcard

Hey all you beautiful people, my friend Zoey (from church) is going to Cambodia on a mission trip for a month. To raise funds for the trip, she's selling these handmade postcards which are simple but cool. If any of you would like to support her, you can buy the postcards at $1 each or $4 for a set of 6. Just indicate so in the tag board or sms me personally!

Of course the money you contribute is not for the postcard but will go into her mission fund. I thought it would be a good chance for any of you who are interested in participating or contributing in God's mission work in a small way. For the rest, you can also help by praying for her! (Cambodia can be dangerous!)

Love,

Germs

Baptism

A real Christian

Today, our Bible study was on counting the cost of following Christ. We need to know what we it means to be a Christian before we can call ourselves one. God sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and because of this, we are all saved. We need to believe, repent and receive Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. Having Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives means that we make a continuous effort to place him at the centre of our lives.

Baptism

For many of us, this may seem like a scary word. When we think of baptism, we think of the word commitment. In fact, Baptism is simply an outward expression of our decision to follow Christ. If we are ready to be a real Christian, we are ready to be baptised. There is no standard that we have to meet before we are ready to be baptised.

However, being a Christian is not simply saying you're a Christian. It involves:

1. Believing that you're a sinner and that God sent Jesus Christ to die for your sin.
2. Repenting of your sin and making an effort to change.
3. Receiving Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, making him the focus and centre of your life.

If you are willing to accept the 3 terms listed above, it means that you are ready to be a Christian, and thus, are ready to be Christian and be baptised. You are ready to receive God's gift of salvation!!! Don't worry about not being "perfect enough" yet. We will never be perfect enough! But the difference is whether or not we make the effort to continually submit to Jesus Christ.

Are you ready to step up and be a real Christian?

What does the Bible say about how to find purpose in life?

The Bible is very clear as to what our purpose in life should be. Men in both the Old and New Testaments sought for and discovered life’s purpose. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, discovered the futility of life when it is lived only for this world. He gives these concluding remarks in the book of Ecclesiastes: "Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Solomon says that life is all about honoring God with our thoughts and lives and thus keeping His commandments, for one day we will stand before Him in judgment. Part of our purpose in life is to fear God and obey Him.

Another part of our purpose is to see life on this earth in perspective. Unlike those whose focus is on this life, King David looked for His satisfaction in the time to come. He said, "And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness" (Psalm 17:15). To David, full satisfaction would come on the day when he awoke (in the next life) both beholding God's face (fellowship with Him) and being like Him (1 John 3:2).

In Psalm 73, Asaph talks about how he was tempted to envy the wicked who seemed to have no cares and built their fortunes upon the backs of those they took advantage of, but then he considered their ultimate end. In contrast to what they sought after, he states in verse 25 what mattered to him: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you" (verse 25). To Asaph, a relationship with God mattered above all else in life. Without that relationship, life has no real purpose.

The apostle Paul talked about all he had achieved religiously before being confronted by the risen Christ, and he concluded that all of it was like a pile of manure compared to the excellence of knowing Christ Jesus. In Philippians 3:9-10, Paul says that he wants nothing more than to know Christ and “be found in Him,” to have His righteousness and to live by faith in Him, even if it meant suffering and dying. Paul’s purpose was knowing Christ, having a righteousness obtained through faith in Him, and living in fellowship with Him, even when that brought on suffering (2 Timothy 3:12). Ultimately, he looked for the time when he would be a part of the "resurrection from the dead."

Our purpose in life, as God originally created man, is 1) glorify God and enjoy fellowship with Him, 2) have good relationships with others, 3) work, and 4) have dominion over the earth. But with man's fall into sin, fellowship with God is broken, relationships with others are strained, work seems to always be frustrating, and man struggles to maintain any semblance of dominion over nature. Only by restoring fellowship with God, through faith in Jesus Christ, can purpose in life be rediscovered.

The purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We glorify God by fearing and obeying Him, keeping our eyes on our future home in heaven, and knowing Him intimately. We enjoy God by following His purpose for our lives, which enables us to experience true and lasting joy—the abundant life that He desires for us

taken from http://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-of-life.html

CG updates

CG updates

27 Mar: CG at Zenas' house
Meet at 2.30pm at Sembawang MRT station.

3 Apr: Combined CG outing with one of the sec 1 CG
We will be having a BBQ in Sembawang park with them. (Finally... a BBQ! I've always wanted to have one but am way too lazy to organise one myself) Anyway, I want to encourage everyone to go and use this opportunity to really mix with the sec 1s. Get to know them personally and be a role model to them. Plus, it'll be fun!

10 Apr: CG at Amanda's house
For those who do not know how to go to Amanda's house directly, let's meet at 2.30pm at Woodlands MRT station.

17 Apr: Youth Prayer at Ezekiel House
We'll meet at 1pm at Woodlands Mrt to go to Ezekiel house together. Please make the effort to come for this. The turn out the last time was... disappointing, to say the least...

24 Apr: CG at Germaine's house
Meet at 2.30pm at Admiralty MRT station.

The narrow door

Will the owner of the house let you in?

God is our light,
and our lives should reflect His glory.

zenas.

CG this Sat
Please meet at 1pm at Causeway point this Saturday for CG. It will be at Ezekiel House. Because there is prayer and praise before that, the thing will start at 1.30pm.

Honouring God with our Blogs

It's scary how popular blogging is. Even in our CG alone, Amanda, Nadia, Patrizha, Celestine, Grace, Xin Ting, Kai Li, Marcus, Ian and Zenas blog. For many of us, our blogs are our source of outlet. It is where we turn to to COMPLAIN about horrible experiences we've encountered, horrible people in our lives. With blogs today, our opinions can be made known to the entire world in just a minute! Do you realise how much power we potentially have?

The things we post on our blogs have the power to build people up or to tear them down. What you post on your blog could affect lives. (You must think I'm being dramatic but it's true. If you knew how many teenagers committed suicide because of harsh words to them, you'll understand what I mean) How many times have we asked ourselves, who am I hurting with this post?

Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians tells us clearly that what we say should be helpful for buidling up others. Your leaders have taught you guys over and over again. Honour God with your lives. This means honouring God in every way, including the kind of things you post on your blog. I'm sure that even for yourself, once or twice, you've seen posts by your friends that have encouraged you.

Even for example, when Patrizha make a simple comment like "BS and CG was awesome today" or something like that, she may unconciously spark the interest of non-christian friends towards church!

Application

The next time you start a new post, think about what God would want you to write. How is He using you today to influence the world? You could impact a million people without knowing it...

Problems with dating

Hi everyone,

Below are the notes for our last lesson on relationships. For those who couldn't come, do try to fill up your worksheets with the answers below. Reflect. I know that many of us call ourselves Christians but when it's time to submit to God's will, it's not easy for us. Being in a relationship is one huge way to show if we truly want to follow God's will or our own.

As we continue this somewhat tough study on dating, ask yourself this: Do you really think God wants you to be dating NOW? Why? I can't answer it for you. You have to be convicted yourself. There is also no point in appreciating and enjoying the whole relationship study if you do not let it transform you. Most important, seek to please God with every single action and decision you make. Being a Christian may not be easy but... hey... it's more than worth it.

The Problem with Dating

1. Dating skips the friendship stage of a relationship.
One-on-one dating tends to move a boy and girl towards romance too quickly. In true friendship, you don't feel pressured by knowing you “like” the person and the other person “likes” you back and you are free to be yourself and do the things you like. In dating, the focus is on mutual attraction . (I'm attracted to you, so let's get to know each other) Friendship is focused on 2 people enjoying common interests together. If romantic attraction forms after developing a real friendship, that's an added bonus.

2. Dating often mistakes intimacy for love.
This intimacy here could refer to both physical intimacy and emotional intimacy. When 2 people start sharing more intimate secrets, this bond they form can be mistaken as love. Many couple mistakenly measure the seriousness of their relationship by how physical they are. Often, holding hands, kissing and other physical involvement make them think they're in love.

3. Dating isolates a couple from other vital relationships.
Dating is about 2 people focusing on each other. Everyone else fades into the background. The couple tends to isolate itself from people who have been loving and supporting them. When we allow 1 relationship to crowd others out, we lose perspective. Proverbs 15:22. If we start making decisions about life based only on the influence of 1 relationship, we will make poor judgements They can sometimes get so blinded that they stop taking advice from others when it goes against what they're doing as a couple. They give up maintaining their previous friendships and eventually if they break up, they find themselves more lonely than ever.

4. Dating can distract us from our primary responsibilities.
Dating can distract us from our current responsibilities like studying and serving God. It can hinder us from developing our God-given skills and abilities, character, education and more. Many times, the ups and downs or in the relationships leave us feeling too bitter/upset/emo to concentrate on whatever we're supposed to be doing or learning.

5. Dating creates an artificial environment for evaluating a person's character.
When dating, couples tend to put on a front. They charm each other by acting seemingly perfect but never show their negative points. You don't get a chance to see the person in his natural state. A guy can pay for dinner and be funny but who knows how his real character is like. They need to see each other in real life setting of family and friends. How does the other person treat his/her parents and siblings? How do they respond in negative situations. Often, the true traits only show up late in the dating game and by then, the couple is too emotionally entangled to break up.

6. Dating often becomes an end in itself.
Many people date without a goal in mind. Dating becomes the final goal. This is why dating couples hate when the word “marriage” is raised. Some people are routine daters and they break up just before things get too serious. Without marriage as an ultimate goal, dating is just for the fun of it. It is selfish, unloving and unpleasing to God.

Why we shouldn't start dating too young?

1. Emotions are harder to control
You should be more aware by now, teen-hood seems to be one non-stop emotional roller coaster ride. Small problems are magnified 100 times. A small comment someone makes can leave you feeling emo the whole day. (Ask Marcus) Being in a relationship when you're emotionally unstable is dangerous. You can't control the way you feel. It could distract you greatly. Breaking up could seem like the end of the world. You are emotionally incapable of making correct decisions as we will let our emotions do the talking.

2. It's more difficult not to get physical
Often, as a couple knows each other longer and longer, it gets harder to not get physical. If you start dating at 16, by the time you're 18, you'll be wanting more physical intimacy which can't be fulfilled until marriage. Physical desires are awakened that neither person can justly meet. Further more, it's more difficult for younger couples to fight against temptation because they make lack the maturity and wisdom to do so.

3. It's hard to have marriage as a goal because it's too far away
The whole point of being in a romantic relationship is to explore the possibility for marriage. Are you ready to be a husband or wife? If you're too young to consider that, you shouldn't start dating as it would be for the wrong reasons. Since we are called to glorify God in all aspects of our lives, we shouldn't be dating if it doesn't glorify him. A good gauge is to consider the possibility of getting married within 4 years of being in a relationship. If you can't see that happening. You shouldn't be dating.

13 March 10

Just a reminder, tomorrow's CG will be at my house, Woodlands Ring Road Blk 650. We will be meeting at 2.20pm at Admiralty MRT station. Bring your Bibles, file, pencil case, journals, and the book if you bought it!

Germs

Where is the reverence?

Reverence

To have reverence for God is to have deep respect for Him and to honour Him. Do you see that happening still?

In the Old Testament, you will read about the people and the priest going through great rituals to purify themselves before they come into the presence of God. In fact, before the scribes copied the Holy Scriptures, they would have to purify themselves before. This is because our God is a Holy God and for us to come before Him, we need to be clean.

So why don't we have such rituals anymore?

We have been freed from all these rituals after the death of Christ, who served as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Because Jesus died, we are made clean and can now come into God's presence. But this doesn't mean that we should take God's holiness lightly!

Reverence should be shown in the way we live our lives. When someone makes a crude joke or insults that God who died for you, do you laugh along or do you tell them that it's offensive? Do you make a stand?

Worship

One way we can show our reverence to God is through our worship. Think about the way you've been coming into God's presence during worship. How is your attitude in preparing for worship service? Let's ask ourselves the following questions...

Do you drag yourself there?
Do you come late?
Do you check your handphones during the service?
Do you concentrate on worshipping God or are you looking around?
Do you talk during the songs?

I think it's very sad how lightly we treat worship these days. We are distracted and we don't give enough respect to God. We have severely CHEAPENED our worship to God. I want to remind us that worship to God is a big deal. We should see it for what it really is. When we come to worship God, we should focus on Him and worship Him wholeheartedly. He is our creator and our God... our KING!

I believe God takes our attitude in worship very seriously. Let's reflect on the areas that we are lacking in. Together as a Cg, let's remind each other and spur each other on towards the reverence of God.

Knowing Him

Knowing you
All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this

Knowing you, Jesus
Knowing you, there is no greater thing
You're my all, you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord

Now my heart's desire is to know you more
To be found in you and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All-surpassing gift of righteousness

Oh, to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like you in your death, my Lord
So with you to live and never die

For some reason, every time I sing this song of worship during service, it never fails to bring tears to my eyes. Embarrassing as that may be, it is always the lyrics of the song that reminds me of God's grace in my life.

"All I once held dear, built my life... all I once thought gain I have counted loss..." My heart always echos in agreement as I sing these parts out. My teenage years were a wreck - I wasted years of my life on rebellion and going my own way. It sounds like a cliche, but I really mean it when I say that God changed my life. He gave it meaning.

I know you all have your dreams and ambitions. You have plans for what you want to study and what you want to be. Where does God fit in? Is He someone you're living for? Or merely a person who happens to be in your life? Are you ready to give everything up to Him? To lay every thing down before Him, at His feet? To let God take the steering wheel of your life?

All the dreams that I used to have, things I've wanted to achieve, I now realise that they are but foolishness. I've submitted them to God. I'm more interested in belonging to Him completely. I want to follow Him all my life and do His will.

Yes Lord, knowing you... there is no greater thing...

-Germs

Jamming!

Yo peep, the jamming pic's here! I thought it was really cool and really fun that we could go jamming as a CG. You know we don't sound close to perfect, but we'll get better I'm sure... um... we will right? Anyway, hope you all enjoy the time we spend together. I know I do, most of the time. Those who weren't able to join us, you can come the next time. 

P.S. Sorry IAN! We forgot to take the photo before you left!

No CG this Sat (6th March)

March activities
6th March - Jamming session.
7th March - 1.30pm Open Sunday weekend.
13th March - 2.30pm CG at Germaine's house.
18th - 19th March - Camping at Changi Beach
20th March - 1.30pm CG at Woodgrove office & Amanda's house.
27th March - 2.30pm CG at Zenas' house.

Jamming
Hello all. Because this week is open sunday weekend, there won't be CG. However, we will be going jamming instead. We'll be meeting at 2pm at Admiralty MRT station. Do have your lunch before you come. After jamming, we can have dinner together before heading back. Please bring dinner money and an extra $3-5 for the jamming studio.

Open Sunday
We'll be having our first Open Sun this weekend at our new office, 48 Woodgrove Ave. The V-day comm will be bringing us through a session to process/debrief our last V-day outreach, and Pastor Tim has also invited a street hip-hop Brazilian missionary to Japan, who works with Louis/Chris and Daniel Wong in the Kanto Church House Network, to share about creative ways of evangelism, especially to youths. Don't miss it!

Let's meet at 8.50am at the level 6 cinema to attend the 9am service. Please don't be late because once you miss the 9am slot, you'll have to wait for the next service to go in. I heard the Cinema is very strict. We also will not be able to reserve seats for you. After service, we will head for lunch together before going over to Woodgrove.

Camping
We will be trying to organise a one-night camping outing for the CG. We will confirm the details again soon. Basically, we will be having 2 tents, 1 for guys and 1 for girls. We can have an over night prayer and worship session by the beach, under the stars. It all sounds really cool. It's a time for us to fellowship and get to know each other better.

{e-dited.05.03.10 19:31, Amanduhloo'Effervescence}
REMEMBER TO PAY ME $6 FOR THE V'DAY EVENT EITHER ON SAT OR SUN!
THANKS:)
P.S. Make life easy for me! Bring exact or the most $10. No $50 please! Thanks:)

I kissed "I kissed Dating goodbye" hello

The books have arrived!!! They look so pweeeety!

I hope you guys appreciate the effort. I had to go down to the Novena bookstore and lug them home myself. I believe the people who ordered them are: Zenas, Amanda, Patrizha, David, JC, Brandon (x2) & Celestine. Did I miss anyone out? Please bring $13 this sunday for the books.


Also, I need to remind you guys to bring $6 for the Vday event. I know most have paid for the T-shirts already but this $6 is for attendance and for the event itself. Amanda will be collecting the money this week.

Dating Anxieties

I wonder how everyone is reacting to the dating series we're going through now. I imagine that there are differing opinions: Some may find it irrelevant, some may find it awkward, others may find it interesting but applicable. Still, I hope that everyone comes with an open mind and heart, ready to listen to what God is telling you through the studies. I want to challenge EFFERVESCENCE to know what it means to love and be loved.

I know that many of you are emotional teens. You can't wait to fall in love. Some have already started relationships. But loving the way God wants us to is very different. It calls for us to honour Him with our love, and not give ourselves to different people too easily...

When I was at this christian camp, during the sharing session, one of the guys bodly came to the front. In his hand was a poem he had written for his future wife, a person he knew God had planned for him. He wasn't dating anyone and he didn't know who this future wife would be. I don't remember the exact content of the poem, but it was basically about how even though he didn't know who the person was, he was praying for her. Not praying that he would find her, but praying for her well-being. He was caring for a person he trusted God to prepare for him.

It was a very sweet poem. But more importantly, it showed the kind of peace and faith that he had knowing that God had everything in control.

One reason why people date carelessly is because they don't trust that God is in control. They take on the mission of finding their own partners without God in the picture at all! This is also a big reason why people start dating young. Because every time they find someone they are attracted to, they want to hold on to the person in case the opportunity "slips away". Ultimately, there is a lack of faith in God's perfect plan.

My dear Effervescent, stop rushing into meaningless relationships and stop taking things into your own hands. Lay everything down at the feet of Jesus. Trust that God has things in control and has the perfect person for you. Pray for the person, not simply to meet him/her earlier. But pray for the person's well-being, that God will protect the person's purity, pray for the person's character. Pray also for yourself, that God will teach you how to be a good husband/wife.

Memorise the following verse.
Whenever you feel tempted or dissatisfied, recite and meditate upon it.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight

As Christians, we are so lucky to be able to unload our burdens upon our God. So why do we keep taking matters into our own hands. Seek God in all your ways and He will guide you through life.

Love,
Germs

100th post

Woohoo, this is to celebrate the official 100th post of the Effervescence blog. Of course, it's by God's grace that we even got this far. I remember a time when this blog was practically dead and it was so difficult to revive. Thanks to God, it is now active again, serving as a learning platform and where the members can share valuable lessons with each other and simply stay connected.

Let us all put in effort in keeping this blog alive. Not simply for the sake of entertainment, but that God's name be glorified through it. I want to encourage everyone to post. Share how God has been working in your life or even struggles or thanksgivings you may have. Those who don't have access to it, pls let me know and I'll add you to the list of editors.

Here's to many many more posts ahead.

Love,
Germs